Agrarians, villagers and activists took part in a protest action today at the President's Office, demanding that the guarantor to sit down at the negotiating table on land reform and listen to their proposals.

One of the main requirements is the existence of a transition period when starting the land market. Initially, the right to buy land should be granted only to individuals-citizens of Ukraine with a limit of up to 500 hectares. And only after some time – to legal entities with a limit of up to 5 thousand hectares. 

 “We want to convey to the President the major threats that we see in the law that they can take today. In particular, according to the draft law, the land market is opened simultaneously for both individuals and legal entities. All our neighboring countries, where the market is already operating, warn us: we cannot do it because it threatens to manipulate and concentrate large tracts of land in one hand. It is necessary to go gradually,” UAC Chairman Andriy Dykun stressed.

Agrarians note that they support the land market entry, but stand for clear and transparent rules in it. 

“We want landowners to get a fair price for the land. But the price goes up when there is competition and fair game rules in the market. Then there will be investments”, - said the member of the Board of UAC Oleksandr Koseniuk.

However, as noted by UAC board member Oleksandr Holub, "turbo mode" in the issue of launching the land market could lead to a fall in production in the agricultural sector this year.

“If the land market works, we will have a decline in agricultural production in 2020. This will lead to a decrease in grain exports and, consequently, to a decrease in foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine, ”Ruslan Holub said.

Farmers also required affordable financial instruments for small-scale agribusiness to buy land. First of all, these are available loans from banks. After all, it is not a heavy burden for the agrarian to pay the loan and to develop the economy.

The other side of the issue is that many small farmers will not be able to get a loan at all. They do not have the necessary credit history, financial statements. Banks do not work with such clients, so access to the land market may be closed to them. However, the gradual introduction of the land market would allow small farmers to work with banks, regulate state aid and thus minimize the negative effects of land reform for them.