The State Agency for Land Resources of Ukraine is planning to amend a list of buyers of farmland, excluding farms from the list, or leaving only those farms created before Jan. 1, 2011.
"The draft law says that there are three buyers of farmland – the state, farms and Ukrainian citizens. There are two options: To leave as it is now – excluding farms completely, or leave only those that were created before Jan. 1, 2011," the agency’s deputy head, Mykola Kaliuzhny, said in Kyiv on Tuesday.
"It’s likely that farms will be excluded completely," he said, adding that recently the number of farms that want to buy land has increased greatly.
He also said that it is planned to add a clause to the draft law that restricts the size of farmland leased in specific districts.
In addition, as a part of the draft revision, it is planned to include a separate a clause on gardening, land-reclamation and land consolidation.
Agency Head Serhiy Tymchenko published the wishes of farmers regarding the creation of a state land bank in Ukraine: The size of the credit rates for farmers should not exceed 8%, land and long-term leasing can only be used collateral for credits.
Currently the sale and purchase of agricultural land is banned in Ukraine until laws on the state land cadastre and the land market are adopted.
Ukraine’s parliament on July 7, 2011 passed at second reading a law on the state land cadastre, which takes effect from Jan. 1, 2012, apart from some clauses, while cabinet draft law No. 9001-1 on the land market was sent for elaboration by the parliament on Nov. 18, 2011.
An ad hoc working group will be created to elaborate the draft.
