Parliament adopts land market law

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Circulation of Agricultural Land" at an extraordinary sitting on March 30.
As an Ukrinform correspondent reports, 259 MPs voted for the adoption of the corresponding bill No.2178-10.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called on the Parliament to urgently adopt two laws needed to receive assistance from the international partners, including the land market law.

On February 6, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine began to consider at second reading the bill No.2178-10 "On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Circulation of Agricultural Land". There were more than four thousand amendments to the bill, and the lawmakers failed to consider all of them.

On November 13, 2019, the Verkhovna Rada adopted at first reading the bill amending certain legislative acts on the circulation of agricultural land (No. 2178-10), which in particular provides for cancellation of the ban on agricultural land sale from October 1, 2020.

The bill, prepared for the second reading, stipulates that only Ukrainians will be able to buy agricultural land; one individual should not own more than 10 thousand hectares; a land plot can be bought exclusively with a cash-free payment with verification of the origin of funds; it is forbidden to buy land within a 50 km border zone; a minimum price for a land plot is set; banks will not be able to buy land plots, only take as a pledge; part of the proceeds from the sale of state and municipal property will be spent on the establishment of the Rural Development Fund.