The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine has proposed that the president veto law No. 2666-VIII extending the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land until Jan. 1, 2020.
According to the website of the ministry, the relevant conclusion of the ministry was signed by Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv.
The ministry argues that the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land violates the constitutional right of citizens to own, use and dispose their property, as confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.
“According to the World Bank’s estimates, the introduction of the land market would create opportunities for Ukraine’s GDP growth annually by an additional 0.6–1.6 percentage points and would attract about $1.5 billion in additional investments per year,” the Economic Development and Trade Ministry said.
In addition, according to the ministry, the non-availability of the land market lowers rental prices by about 5 times, which worsens the welfare of 6.9 million owners of land shares. The moratorium on farmland sale also forces farmers to grow mainly non-perennial crops, which leads to the losses of $1,000 per hectare, while local communities and the national budget annually post a shortage of about Hr 2.8 billion of tax revenues due to no legal registration of transactions on the actual sale of land plots.
