DESCRIPTION: The decree called for disbanding collective farms and dividing their assets and land among farm workers by April 1, 2000.
LATEST DEVELOPMENT: by March 6, only 72 percent of the collective farms across the country have even begun the process of implementing this reform, the Agriculture Ministry admitted.
Unfortunately, this ground-breaking decree has been somewhat overshadowed in recent weeks by the drastic shortage of fuel facing both reformed and old-style farms as they head into harvest season. The farms, most of which are too poor to afford their own fuel, have criticized the government for not ensuring fuel deliveries for them. Viktor Yushchenko's government has grudgingly agreed to help out with fuel supplies. The government said Hr 1 billion will be available in commercial loans for agricultural producers, with the state paying interest on the loans. But those loans have yet to be released as the state has yet to find any solvent farms to float those loans to. Yushchenko has vowed this will be the last year the government bails out the country's farms. Yushchenko has also vowed that collective farms will not exist in Ukraine at this point next year.
ANALYSIS: When the decree came out just three days in the second term of the president, it was considered a politically motivated concession to the West that Ukraine was serious about land reform. But it soon became clear that the decree raised more questions than it answered. Will the new private farms inherit old debts? Where would they get the capital to pay for fuel and other inputs that their collective predecessors couldn't pay for? Who will write the laws regulating relations between the reformed farms and the banks, equipment providers, creditors, and the government? When would a mortgage law be put in place to enable farmers to use their land as collateral? So far, the answers are not there. And April 1 is two weeks away.
Grade: C
