Next week, Ukraine’s parliament will consider two bills crucial for land reform, according to Alexander Kornienko, chairman of the Servant of the People party.
The first of them — bill No. 2194, dubbed the “new land constitution” — would amend the land code and decentralize land ownership, transferring state land to local communities.
The second, bill No. 2195, would allow the government to carry out land auctions in real time online, granting the right to own land on the spot to the highest bidder.
These two bills are vital for Ukraine to be able to open its land market in July after nearly two decades of a ban on farmland sales. Passing them is also a necessary condition for receiving financial support from the World Bank.
Currently, there are more than 2 million hectares of state-owned agricultural land in Ukraine.
Bill No. 2194 would transfer the State Geocadastre functions to local authorities in an effort to decentralize land management.
The adoption of bill No. 2195 would be a breakthrough in terms of accessibility and transparency in land relations — open online auctions could minimize corruption risks.
The Ministry of Finance hopes to receive the second $350-million tranche from the World Bank after adopting the laws. The total World Bank assistance is $700 million.
In June 2020, the World Bank approved a $350 million loan for Ukraine in support of reforms critical to economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Economy Minister Pavel Kukhta noted that bill No. 2194 “is one of the conditions for receiving $700 million of very cheap credit support from the World Bank. This money is critically needed to overcome the budget crisis — if not this year, then in the future.”
The drafts of the bills have already been approved in the first reading, but the parliament lacked votes for its adoption in the second reading, prompting their further review.
Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a lawmaker with the Voice party, told the Kyiv Post that the passage of these two bills has been a primary obstacle for opening the land market. He hopes the parliament will adopt these laws.
After a 19-year moratorium on farmland sales, Ukraine’s parliament voted to lift the ban in March 2020. Lifting the land moratorium was among the primary demands of the International Monetary Fund to approve a $5.5-billion loan program for Ukraine.
Ukrainians will be able to buy land starting in July 2021.
