200,000 Hectares of Land Per Person: The Committee Supported the Alternative Land Market Bill

Today, at a meeting of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy of the Verkhovna Rada, the deputies voted for the bill 2178-10. The only ones who abstained from the vote were People’s Deputies Dmitry Solomchuk, Sergei Bunin and Andrey Bogdanets, writes “Agro-Center” with a reference to “Agravery”.

Bill 2178-10 was submitted by Mykola Solsky, Marina Nikitina, Artem Nagaevsky, and others. The new bill will allow the purchase of up to 200,000 hectares of land per person, starting in 2024.

The Bill:

states that from 01.10.2020 the ban on the alienation of agricultural land of all forms of ownership shall be lifted;

— determines the subject composition of persons who can acquire ownership of agricultural land: citizens of Ukraine, territorial communities, the state, legal entities of Ukraine and foreign citizens and stateless persons in the case of acquisition in succession and the obligation to alienate the land during the year;

— establishes the rule that until January 1, 2024, the acquisition of the ownership of agricultural is forbidden for legal entities, beneficial owners of which are foreigners, stateless persons, legal entities created under the law other than the legislation of Ukraine, and foreign states. These requirements do not apply to the cases of the acquisition of land by their tenants, who are agricultural producers, if at least 3 years have passed since the state registration of the legal entity – the acquirer of ownership, as well as to the cases of the acquisition of ownership by the said persons of the land.

— sets a minimum starting price for the sale of land of the state and communal ownership at land auctions at a level not lower than the regulatory monetary valuation;

— places limits on the aggregate area of ​​agricultural land that may be owned by a citizen and a legal entity and related persons. Restrictions do not allow the acquisition of more than 35% of agricultural lands of the united community, 15% of agricultural lands of the region and 0.5% of agricultural lands of Ukraine;

— secures a preferential right of the tenant to purchase the land;

— states that the state registrar must enter information on the price (value) of real rights, including rights of use;

— secures the right of citizens to purchase land for the maintenance of a farming economy which they belong to the right of permanent use and the right inherited possession is guaranteed. It is possible to buy with installments of up to 5 years at a price equal to the normative monetary valuation of such land.