land issue is one of the most delicate…

We can say that now there is a “natural market”, not an “organized market”. Yes, there is a certain part of agricultural land that does not fall under the moratorium and is freely bought and sold. But there are some lands that are essentially already sold under long-term leases (up to 50 years) and emphyteusis or the right to use someone else’s land for agricultural purposes. This certainly cannot be called a competitive market with a market price, ”said lawyer Anna Fedun from Poltava, answering LB.ua’s questions. Ukraine (the case of Zelenchuk and Tsitsyura v. Ukraine, Antonenko and Others v. Ukraine). “The European Court of Human Rights has emphasized that the state must take appropriate measures to ensure a fair balance between the interests of agricultural landowners, on the one hand, and the general interests of society, on the other. Given this, we can assume that the state has taken such measures and confirmed its status as a state governed by the rule of law with the principle of legal certainty for its citizens, “the lawyer added.
“Ukraine has, in fact, entered the land market – as unprepared for its civilized use as possible,” said Maksym Chornyi, a lawyer with the Rule of Law Foundation. “This is especially true of state support for small farms, which are unlikely to have the funds to expand their land now. The State Geocadastre is trying to convince farmers and farmers that a full-fledged land audit was conducted in 2020-2021, at least to determine which land is in state and which is in private ownership. There are also promises from government offices to solve problems that will arise in the current regime. The Verkhovna Rada, which passed a number of land laws in two years, also promised to respond promptly if necessary to adopt legislative changes. However, Ukrainian farmers mostly do not believe in the success of land market reform and are afraid of losing the foundation of their existence. ” – says Kryzhanivsky.
The fact that there are and will be problems in the functioning of the Ukrainian land market is acknowledged by the authorities, as this is a law enforcement practice, which is a new phenomenon for both notaries and ordinary citizens of Ukraine. It takes some time to understand the processes and practices of regulating the system of Ukrainian land purchase.
“We have introduced criteria for very high publicity and openness of data. Everyone wants to get the maximum amount of information and we open registers and provide these opportunities,” said Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Roman Leshchenko and pointed out that the ministry conducts outreach work among people. about their rights and responsibilities, opportunities, government support programs, data openness mechanism. According to him, the government does not want to hurry in this matter, because land reform is a “living organism” that will be improved “in terms of people’s interests.” This explains the fact that Ukraine has adopted a “conservative version of land reform.”