Ukraine’s land market law: World Bank calls for additional legislation

“The World Bank welcomes the approval of the Land Turnover Law by the Ukrainian Parliament as a first step towards establishing a transparent and efficient market for agricultural land. To safeguard the interests of the Ukrainian people by making sure that land sales are done transparently, we urge the authorities to move quickly on additional legislation," World Bank Ukraine wrote on its Facebook page.

This includes legislation to provide open access to the cadaster data, strengthen land management, streamline land transfer procedures, regulate state land sales including mandatory electronic auctions, restrict discretionary handouts of state land, and enhance access to finance for small farmers.

It will also be important to bring forward participation of legal entities in the market to encourage healthy competition and to relax restrictions on the size of land purchases.

“These reforms would help unlock investment in agriculture, enable access to finance for farmers, and allow Ukrainian landowners to realize the value of their asset," the report says.

As reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine early on March 31 adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Circulation of Agricultural Land". A total of 259 MPs voted for the adoption of the corresponding bill, No.2178-10.

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