Deputies of the Khmelnytsky Regional Council sent an official appeal to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubia, calling for an extension of the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land by January 1, 2025.

In addition, the Khmelnytsky deputies called on other regional councils to support them in this initiative and send relevant appeals to the heads of state.

"We call on you to support the position of the majority of Ukrainians - to stop the hasty implementation of the agricultural land market. It will lead to destabilization of the agrarian sector, cause irreparable damage to the Ukrainian economy, which, in turn, will destabilize the socio-economic situation in the state," the official text says.

According to the appeal, regional deputies demand to extend the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land for another 6 years, as well as begin a broad discussion of the step-by-step introduction of transparent and civilized land circulation.

Thus, during the period of the moratorium, it is necessary to carry out a complex of measures for preparation of such an extremely important step. In particular, in the Coalition Agreement of November 27, 2014, only three steps out of 12 were implemented. In Ukraine, inventory of land has not been conducted. The land cadastre is filling up too slowly. In 61 administrative districts of Ukraine, the area of ​​the land plots registered by State Geocadaster exceeds the actual area of ​​these areas.

Moreover, according to the text of the appeal, raider attacks and corrupt mechanisms for the transition of land rights to circumvent the moratorium are in operation in Ukraine, as there is no rule of law in the protection of property rights. The raider hunts are the result of an imperfect court system. There are no market mechanisms that should help in shaping the price of land. There are no programs for preferential lending to the national Ukrainian farmer, in particular, small farms, which puts the rural host in the impossibility of competing against agroholdings and corporations able to use foreign investment.

"It is clear that in the absence of protection of property and investments, as well as acute cash shortages, in particular, in the form of credit resources. The only thing that the right to sell land will cause - is the purchase of land shares by large agroholdings, corporations and individuals who are not always legally have gained significant financial resources and are ready to buy the rights to land for the receipt of property income for this land ", - Kherson deputies point out. They add that in case of introduction of free circulation the land may become hostage. This is a speculative action, which will disrupt the coordinated work of the agroindustrial complex, which can affect food security and lead to destabilization in Ukraine.

Recall that in Ukraine a moratorium on the sale of agricultural land is valid until January 1, 2019.