31 March 2020, Tuesday, 12:31 362

Rada Cancels Moratorium On Farmland Sale From July 2021

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has cancelled the moratorium on the sale of farmlands from July 1, 2021.

A total of 259 parliamentary members backed respective bill 2178-10 in principle, when 226 votes were enough to pass the decision, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

According to the report, the right to buy farmlands belongs to the citizens of Ukraine, Ukrainian legal entities, whose participants (stockholders, members) are only the citizens of Ukraine, territorial communities and the state.

At the same time, Ukrainian citizens can buy a land plot with the area of up to 100 hectares until January 1, 2024.

During the period, purchase and sale or alienation of the plots in favor of legal entities if the plots are in private property and refer to the lands for commercial farming is prohibited.

The rule excludes the transfer of the collateralized lands to banks, inheritance or exchange.

After January 1, 2024, the overall area of farm land plots owned by a citizen will not be allowed to exceed 10,000 hectares; a legal entity (except banks) will not be able to own the area exceeding the one owned by all its participants, not over 10,000 hectares.

The property right to the land plots can also be acquired by banks, however, only in the orderthe collateral.

At the same time, such plots have to be alienated by the banks via land auctions within two years from the day of acquisition of the property right.

Foreigners are prohibited from acquisition of a share in the statutory capital, shares, stakes and membership of legal entities (except for the statutory capital of banks), which own farmlands unless otherwise is decided by the citizens of Ukraine at a referendum.

However, under all conditions, legal entities, whose participants or ultimate beneficiaries are foreign citizens, are banned from acquiring farmlands in state and municipal ownership, land plots allocated by the share owners, and the land located closer than 50 kilometers to the border of Ukraine.

The law also envisions a ban on the acquisition of lands for legal entities, whose ultimate beneficiaries are the citizens of a state recognized as an aggressor or occupant by Ukraine; the persons belonging to terrorist organizations; foreign states; and also for the legal entities, whose beneficiaries cannot be detected or the ones registered in the offshore zones.

Besides, it is banned to sell state and municipal lands.

Settlements related to the payment of the price for the land plots under the civil law contracts are rendered in a non-candidates form.

Until January 1, 2030, the price of the land plots apportioned by physical demarcation to owners of land shares cannot be lower than their normative-monetary value.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on November 13, 2019, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the first reading of the bill on cancellation of the moratorium on the farmlands from October 1, 2020.

It envisioned restrictions on the acquisition of the land by foreigners until 2024.