The draft bill №5438-1 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Land Consolidation” was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. It is an alternative to the government one and aims to simplify the procedure for solving the issue of agricultural land consolidation, which in turn allows farmers to avoid strip farming in the fields. The UAC experts actively participated in the formulation of a document development.

The UAC Deputy Chairman Mykhailo Sokolov empathized this issue during the round table "Land Market: state and agribusiness readiness for the efficient start", organized by the UAC with the support of the USAID Agricultural and Rural Development Program - AGRO.

"It's not just about agricultural land consolidation, although most of the bill is dedicated to this issue. It is a question about complex consolidation, which includes the decision of purchase of land plots for public needs, for the manufacture organization, for the recreational purposes, that means - all that is necessary for a community. After all, the community needs to periodically consolidate the land in order to implement certain economic and social projects. In this regard, this bill is really comprehensive and solves the issue of consolidation," Mykhailo Sokolov said.

In 2018, a similar law was adopted, but its rules, unfortunately, did not apply. The document provides for the need to resolve cases in court with each owner of the land, who for one or another reason does not agree to exchange it for another. This method, says the UAC Deputy Chairman, is a dead end, because it only complicates the situation, but do not solves it.

"Now we have a situation: for example, 20 people do not agree to exchange their land. We need to go through 20 courts. However, it is practically impossible to implement. The main idea of ​​the new bill is if there are disagreements with consolidation, the court process should be only one. It is up to the court to consider whether all the rules of consolidation have been followed, whether no one's property rights have been violated, whether all players are really protected and no one is restricted in their rights. Then the consolidation project is approved by the court," Mykhailo Sokolov explained.

The UAC Deputy Chairman mentioned that the draft bill took into account the interests of landlords. In particular, land plots can be exchanged only for ones of the same value. It is forbidden to exchange land plots if the normative-monetary assessment of the new plot decreases by more than 10%. It is forbidden to exchange if as a result the owner gets a plot of inferior quality: for example, the land plot was under irrigation, and he is offered a land plot without irrigation. Exchange is impossible if, for example, the plot was in the field, and they want to move it to the ravine, even if the regulatory and monetary assessment is the same. However, if all the details and interests of the owners are taken into account, the court may decide on the forced consolidation of land, regardless of the owners’ opinion.

"However, if those who do not agree with the consolidation and own more than 20% of the land in the territory where it will take place, this is really a reason for refusing to conclude this agreement and approve the project. That means it cannot be that 50% + 1 impose their will on others. Forced consolidation is possible when the number of opponents is small. This is a basic principle. According to the same principle, the rights of use and lease are being consolidated,” said the UAC Deputy Chairman.

The bill also provides for another type of consolidation, we call it “land management consolidation”. It occurs when it is impossible to consolidate land simply by exchanging plots. When it’s needed to change their type. In this case, a professional land surveyor is involved, who redevelops the consolidation area. All the above requirements must also be met.