The State Land Resources Agency is initiating the giving up of the idea of opening the farmland market. Instead, long-term farmland lease is to be introduced, the agency’s head Serhiy Rudyk told a briefing on Tuesday. “We propose to reject the notion of a farmland sale moratorium in order to prohibit farmland sale at all, not for opening the market. We propose to introduce the notion of proprietary interest as the right to long-term lease of farmland, not to its sale, with a minimum lease period to be set at 14 years,” Rudyk said, pointing out that a corresponding initiative is set out in a bill designed by the agency. He specified that the bill proposes establishing a maximum farmland lease term at 50 years. Rudyk stressed that giving up the land market idea and switching to long-term land lease will ensure the interests of land owners, the state, and investors. “The investor, having land cultivation prospects of up to 50 years, will therefore be able to figure on long-term investment, because he will be able to forecast what the land parcel will be like in 5, 10 or 25 years,” Rudyk said. At the same time, he promised that this draft would pass public discussions prior to coming to Parliament for consideration. As a reminder, the Law “On amending the Land code of Ukraine” came into force in December 2012, extending the farmland sale and purchase moratorium till January 1, 2016. At the same time, ag minister Ihor Shvaika unexpectedly stated that farmland transactions can be made in Ukraine even without opening the land market, but in the form of lease. According to him, lease relationship is sufficient for both Ukrainian and foreign producers.

UkrAgroConsult