"I believe that it is needed to sell 1 million hectares exactly of public lands, which are in a shadow and corrupt turnover, at an open transparent auction," Yatseniuk said
Ukrainian prime minister suggests selling one mln ha of state lands at open auction
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk considers it necessary to sell 1 million hectares of lands in state ownership at an open auction as part of the land reform.
"It is needed to continue the land reform. I believe that it is needed to sell 1 million hectares exactly of public lands, which are in a shadow and corrupt turnover, at an open transparent auction," Yatseniuk said on the air of the '10 Minutes with the Prime Minister' program on the Ukrainian television channels on Sunday evening.
The prime minister did not disclose if he meant farmland a moratorium on the sale of which is prolonged in Ukraine from year to year.
On November 10, 2015, a total of 309 lawmakers supported bill No. 3404 that foresees the prolongation of the moratorium on the sale of farmland for one year, until January 1, 2017.
The bill envisages that until the entry into force of the law on dealings in farmland, but not earlier than January 1, 2017, the purchase and sale of state-owned farmland and farmland in municipal ownership is not allowed.
On December 7, 2015 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the bill into law.
Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Maksym Martyniuk said on December 18, 2015 that the service has drawn up a bill on the turnover of farmland that proposes the gradual lifting of the moratorium on the sale of farmland in the country.
"Frankly speaking, today I'm not very optimistic about the lifting of the moratorium in the clear time period. The law [on the prolongation of the moratorium] envisages that the government will submit the bill on the turnover of farmland. I understand how it will be submitted, but I don’t understand if any bill can be flipped through 180 degrees," he said.
He said that the bill foresees the gradual lifting of the moratorium and the introduction of the land market. At the first stage, it will be allowed that state-owned land parcels will be sold at auctions. When the prices are formed, maybe in two years, the possibility of selling private farmland will appear, he said.
"The bill has this concept, but I'm not optimistic that even this smooth model of introducing the market would be supported by the parliament. The bill is rather balanced," he said.
If the lawmakers do not pass the bill on the turnover of farmland, there is another option to allow citizens to realize their ownership rights to land: sell it, present it or use as collateral in banks. The plan is to allow citizens to sell land, and to introduce a monopoly of buying land by the state.
He said that another provision of the plan is to make the right to lease land a commodity and sell not land parcels, but the right to lease them.
If the second option is realized, the price will be formed, taking into account rent rates.
It is planned that the state will consolidate land parcels to lease them in the future. At present, the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine manages around 1 million hectares of farmland.
