Embassies of three EU states addressed Presidential Office of Ukraine regarding participation of foreigners in farmland market

Embassies of three EU member-states, Check Republic, Sweden and Denmark, addressed a letter to the Presidential Office of Ukraine regarding the discriminated position of companies with foreign owners in the future farmland market, AgroPolit.com reports.

The letter also addresses Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Razumkov, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, Mykola Solskiy, Ukrainian Prime Minister, Oleksiy Honcharuk and leader to the Sluga Narody parliamentary faction, David Arakhamia.

As noted in the document, companies with foreign owners which are already active on the market have been entering into the lease agreements with lessors based on a shared understanding (reflected in pricing) of a long-term partnership and pre-emptive rights to the land when the ban is lifted.

"Excluding companies with foreign owners would violate these rights and defy the legitimate expectations of foreign investors. Foreign investors will incur massive losses due to prompted sales of their Ukrainian assets. Such a development would fundamentally damage the long-term investment reputation of Ukraine and prevent the productivity growth in the agriculture sector which is a core objective of the land reform itself," the letter reads.

Authors to the letter are "deeply concerned at the promoted differentiated approach that puts the companies with foreign ownership that are already present in Ukraine in a discriminated position compared to companies with Ukrainian ownership."

"Much is at stake in this matter, not only concerning the reputation, but also the overall production of Ukraine's agricultural sector," the document stresses.

As a reminder, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Parliament) will consider the draft law No.2178-10 on farmland market in the coming plenary week, December 17-20.