The Verkhovna Rada has rejected a bill submitted by BYuT-Batkivshchyna MP Volodymyr Yavorivsky and Communist Party faction leader Petro Symonenko regarding the extension of a moratorium on land sales until 2014.

In particular, only 111 lawmakers voted for bill No. 11106 from the opposition, and 104 MPs supported a similar document from the communists, a UKRINFORM reporter said.

According to Yavorivsky, under current law, a moratorium on the sale of agricultural land is extended until January 1, 2013. "Next year, after the end of the moratorium, land in Ukraine could be bought and sold. And this will be done by oligarchs, rather than by peasants, who are buying up nearly all land in Ukraine and, in fact, returning aristocratic times," he said.

Despite calls by the opposition and the Communist Party, the parliamentary majority, in particular, the Party of Regions, did not support their bills introducing amendments to Paragraphs 14 and 15, Section X "Transitional Provisions" of the Land Code of Ukraine concerning the period for the sale of land.

Ukrinform