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Arendator- literally a "lease holder" (Ukr."Орендар" (Orendar), Russ."Откупщик" (Otkupshchik)). The term derives from "Arenda" (lit. "rent"), a Polish term referring to the lease of fixed assets, such as land, mills, inns, breweries, distilleries, or of special rights, such as the right to collect customs duties etc. Trusted individuals were often given such rights to collect rent or revenue and were allowed to keep a portion of the money in exchange for this service, sometimes as a reward for other services to the state. Many estates of absentee landlords in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16-18th centuries were managed by arendators. This extremely lucrative fiscal practice was also common in tax collecting in medieval Spain and France, and invariably led to corruption.
