No mass buying of agricultural land expected in Ukraine - expert
2011-04-12 12:27:47
There will be no mass buying of agricultural land in Ukraine unless the official laws on land market take effect, says Arkadiy Kornatsky, Peasant Front NGO chairman, an expert in the field of agriculture and land legislation.
In his opinion, when it is possible to buy agricultural land, Ukrainian farmers will have no means and potential paying customers will not be allowed to the market.
"One should understand that the purchase of land for agricultural production takes a great investment. Ukrainian farmers do not have surplus funds, or they should take them out of circulation, that is not to buy fertilizers, new equipment, stop paying decent wages and even, perhaps, partly the rent," Kornatsky said.
In addition, in his opinion, even if there were funds, it will be impossible to buy a substantial amount of land because of restrictions. Therefore, the same as before abolition of the moratorium, the bulk of the market will stay in shadow, the expert said.
Bank capital, according to Kornatsky, will also be unable to come to the land market either through specially created or through the existing agricultural companies, because in the official draft laws on the land market even Ukrainian legal entities will not have the right to buy land.
"Only a natural person shall be entitled to buy agricultural land. It is also proposed to set a restriction on the purchase of land by one person at 300-500 hectares," the expert reminded.
As reported, Ukraine has a moratorium on the sale of farmland until the end of 2011.
In all, Ukraine has more than 60 million hectares of land, including 41.8 million hectares of arable land, of which 33 million hectares are plowed.