Ihor Petrashko took part in the Land Forum under the auspices of the President of Ukraine
Today, October 15, under the auspices of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Land Forum titled "Land for the People" took place in Chernihiv region. The event was attended by Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Ihor Petrashko, representatives of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the leadership of Chernihiv State Administration, the Head of the State Geocadastre Roman Leshchenko, representatives of local CCs and businesses.
"The Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture welcomes the historic decision to adopt land reform and the implementation of appropriate accompanying steps. Today's event is a symbolic start to transfer land to communities that will soon receive more than 2 million hectares of land in communal ownership, of which almost 1 million hectares is free land. I assure that communities and people on the ground know best how to use land resources effectively, fill local budgets, develop the region, create new living standards," said Ihor Petrashko.
According to the Minister, land reform reflects social requirements, namely - the right to purchase agricultural land will be given exclusively to Ukrainians. In particular, there are clear restrictions on the maximum area of owned land - up to 100 hectares.
It is important that preferential conditions for market access have been introduced for Ukrainian farmers. Farmers can buy land plots provided to them for permanent use or lifelong inherited possession, as well as re-issued for land lease (payment in installments of up to 10 years, the value at the level of regulatory monetary valuation of such land plots, without land auctions).
The Minister also emphasized the provision of a legal basis for the successful implementation of land reform. Thus, by the end of the year, the adoption of Bills 2194 and 2195 is expected. The first of those introduces deregulation in the field of land relations, minimizes citizen contact with officials and introduces the digital transformation of the State GeoCadastre (State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre. The second - involves the introduction of electronic auctions. This is an opportunity for every Ukrainian to take part in the auction and start their own farm after winning it.
"Ukrainian agrarians and farmers have always been and remain the focus of land reform. The Government continues to systematically support the agricultural sector, which is currently amounting to UAH 4 billion, concentrating it on the most important sectors. It concerns supporting the development of animal husbandry, farming, Ukrainian agricultural engineering, horticulture, viticulture, irrigation restoration, etc. In the future, it is planned to increase funding for the agricultural sector," Ihor Petrashko stressed.