Problems in the land management sector and the challenges that exist before the launch of the land market were discussed today during online conferences with representatives of the agrarian business of Cherkasy and Donetsk regions, the StateGeoCadastre, line ministries, local governments.

The meetings are a part of the project to support the reform of the StateGeoCadastre by agribusiness and rural communities of Ukraine, implemented by the UAC with the support of USAID AGRO, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine and the State.

The issue of lifting the moratorium on agricultural land, which has been going on for 30 years, is too politicized. Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Roman Leshchenko emphasized this issue during his speech.

"The opening of the land market is a chance to bring order to land relations," the minister said.

According to the words of USAID AGRO Legal Adviser Viktor Kobylyanskyi, there are currently many schemes to circumvent the moratorium and acquire land plots (in fact, land plot are being expropriated). The lifting of the moratorium will make it possible to buy land legally and not be afraid that the agreement will be terminated or invalid.

"When a lease arrangement for farmer is expired he has no guarantee that it will be renewed. If you own land, this risk is eliminated. Having the right to own land plot is a reliable protection of land rights. At the same time, the land market opens up economic opportunities, in particular, additional lending. After all, land plot can be a subject of a mortgage. It will also increase the financing of agriculture sector at the expense of credit funds," he said.

According to various forecasts, explains Viktor Kobylianskyi, after the launch of the land market, the level of GDP will grow by 3-5% per year, which is a very significant indicator for Ukraine.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agro-Industrial Development and Land Relations Olena Rybakova, spoke about the situation in the land sector in Donetsk region and the importance of land decentralization.

"Donetsk Regional State Administration takes an active part in information work on the implementation of land reform. Today, the Verkhovna Rada passed an important bill № 2194 for communities. This bill transfers to communities the right to dispose of land outside human settlements. This law is a good signal for legal land users who have not been able to register the land they use for years. It is also a good signal for communities that can work with illegal land users, force them to register a land plot and pay money to the land budget,” she concluded.

The UAC Legal Adviser on Land Issues Victoria Kipriianova spoke about the problems that our farmers had and discussed ways to solve them

"Farmers often complain about technical errors in the StateGeoCadastre. So how do you solve them? If the error is made by the cadastral registrar (typo, typographical, grammatical, arithmetic or other ones), it is corrected by the cadastral registrar free of charge upon a written application of the interested person on the same day. In turn, the error in the SGC because of the error in the documents on the basis of which such information was entered (land management documentation, decisions of public authorities and local governments) is corrected by the cadastral registrar after correcting errors in documents in which the error was made. The fee for this is 0.13 of the subsistence level for able-bodied persons (UAH 295.10). Other errors are corrected on the basis of technical documentation on land management regarding the establishment (restoration) of the boundaries of land plots in kind (on the ground) or land inventory materials or a court decision,” the lawyer explained.