The gradual implementation of the land reform and the lack of legal entities in the first stage of its implementation is an opportunity to avoid speculation with agricultural land. Head of the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) Andriy Dykun highlighted it at the press conference on the introduction of the land market. 

"We are not under the Verkhovna Rada today, but we hold rallies on the routes in ten regions of Ukraine. Why did we get on the roads? According to the latest information we have received, the limiting of the concentration of land in one pair of hands will be from 20 to 60 thousand hectares. We require this position to be no more than 5,000 hectares and the land market to be phased in. In the first stage, we see only the participation of individuals-citizens of Ukraine with a limit of up to 500 hectares in one pair of hands. And only after 5 years legal entities can be allowed to participate in the land market with a limit of up to 5 thousand hectares in one pair of hands. What do we see as a threat to the involvement of legal entities in the first stage? Because they are, mainly, the reason of that most speculation with the land”stressed UAC Chairman Andriy Dykun.  

Regarding the land reform model, it should focus on the development of small and medium-sized farmers, who cultivate up to 80% of all agricultural land in Ukraine today. This approach is most advantageous for Ukraine, as it is the medium-sized business that provides more jobs and value added per 1 hectare of land. The average agricultural business in Ukraine is farms that cultivate on average up to 10 thousand hectares of land. That is why the concentration of land in one pair of hands in the amount of 5-7 thousand hectares of land is the most optimal in terms of development of such farms.  

On the other hand, the introduction of a liberal model of land reform, with the ability to concentrate large tracts of land in one hand, is an opportunity for large-scale growth for agricultural holdings and for increasing their impact on the country's economy and policies.

“What will we have if the explosive growth of agricultural holdings that we had in 2007-2014 happens again? We can get a 2-fold increase in land use, but this will result in a 3-4 year drop in GDP and a further increase in the influence of oligarchs on politics. And if you have the overwhelming political influence of such great players in your country, then this is called an "oligarchy." And in no country in the world it did nothing good. Therefore, when we implement land reform, we must also think about how we can not only ensure the stable economic development of the country, but also change our policy,”said UAC Deputy Chairman Mykhaylo Sokolov.

UAC emphasizes that in making such an important country-wide decision to implement land reform, one must proceed from its cost-effective model that will develop the country and will help it to move forward, not vice versa.