Recently, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the draft law No. 7588 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving the Efficiency of Land Use by Individuals and Public Sector Entities". The document introduces the following changes: it allows state-owned enterprises to sublease land, and the Cabinet of Ministers to transfer inefficient state-owned enterprises to other agencies.

Denys Marchuk, the UAC Deputy Chairman comments:

"During the years of independence, there were large corruption components in the use of state-owned agricultural land. The land was cultivated illegali, and the state did not pay taxes. In order to regulate the cultivation of such land, the UAC supports the opinion that state-owned enterprises which own the land bank should be transformed into limited liability companies. Accordingly, they will pay a legal tax of 12% of the nominative monetary valuation of the land. If they are unable to cultivate the land on their own, they have to lease it through a Prozorro auction, and the taxes will be paid by the lessee."

State land is a reserve from which assets can be provided to farmers who were forced to leave their farms in the temporarily occupied territories

"After the temporary occupation, a significant number of producers remained outside their business activities, and only a few managed to take out their agricultural machinery. But it is difficult for them to enter the market, there is almost no land that is not cultivated. However, there are still 470,000 hectares of land in the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. The new law will allow farmers from the occupied territories to get land through auctions, work on it, earn money and create new jobs," said the UAC Deputy Chairman.

Denys Marchuk emphasized the UAC's position on the next stage of land reform.

"Starting from 2024, legal entities will be allowed to enter the market. The UAC opposes its introduction in 2024 of an increase in the limits for the purchase of agricultural land to 10,000 hectares. In the context of a full-scale invasion, this creates unfair conditions for different market participants. It is advisable to leave the limits at 100 hectares "for one owner" until the end of the war and two years after. Then small and medium-sized agribusinesses will have full access to the land market," the expert summarized.