Today, Tymofiy Mylovanov, the Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, jointly with his deputy Taras Vysotskyi, held a briefing where they answered key questions about land reform.

Tymofiy Mylovanov stated that the task of the government is to create truly equal conditions for all citizens of Ukraine and to ensure that they have equal rights to dispose of their land and may establish fair price for it.

“I’d like to emphasize that we are not launching the land circulation – it has been already launched. We want to bring it out of the shadow, make it transparent and ensure the same rules of game for all Ukrainians”, noted Tymofiy Mylovanov.

Tymofiy Mylovanov also stressed that in order to implement the land reform, it is important to create effective mechanisms for combating “black money”, in particular through careful monitoring of potential buyers, legitimacy and purity of their money.

“We need to know who are an ultimate owner and buyer of Ukrainian land. We need to make that money work for Ukraine. In case of any doubts about the transparency of sales we will additionally check the buyer and the origin of his money”, said the Minister.

During the briefing, Deputy Minister Taras Vysotskyi stated three important aspects that should be ensured to create transparent and fair land market.

“First of all, we are committed to secure a pre-emptive right to land for farmers working and cultivating it. We also plan to develop a fair mechanism of government support for those who really need it and who do not have an access to big capital. In addition, before launching the land market, we must implement an effective reform of Geocadastre, remove all shadow schemes and ensure its transparency to the fullest extent”, said Taras Vysotskyi.

For reference:

Public discussion of the draft Law of Ukraine On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Circulation of Agricultural Lands is available at: https://bit.ly/2m1aFzj