Final version of the land market bill released

The final version of the draft law No. 2178-10 on farmland market in Ukraine is made public, AgroPolit.com reports.

The Agrarian Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Parliament) approved the amended bill as follows:

1. Ownership of agricultural land may be acquired by:

• citizens of Ukraine;
  
• legal entities of Ukraine created and registered under the legislation of Ukraine, the participants of which are only citizens of Ukraine and/or state and/or territorial communities;
  
• territorial communities;
  
• state.

2. The right of ownership of land plots can be acquired by banks and credit institutions in an order of foreclosure as collateral. Such land plots must be sold by banks and credit institutions at auctions within 2 years from the date of acquiring the ownership right.

3. Legal entities, the founders or ultimate beneficiaries of which are persons who are not citizens of Ukraine, may acquire ownership of agricultural land subject to approval by referendum.

4. Excluded from property rights to land plots (even if the admission of foreigners is approved at a referendum) are the following groups:

• legal entities the participants or beneficiaries of which are foreigners cannot buy the lands of state and municipal property, as well as the lands allocated to unit-holders, and which are located closer than 50 km to the state border of Ukraine (except for the state sea border);
• legal entities the participants or ultimate beneficiaries of which are Russian Federation citizens;
• persons who were or belong to terrorist organizations;
• legal entities the participants or beneficiaries of which are foreign States;
• legal entities the ultimate beneficiary of which cannot be identified;
• legal entities with beneficiaries registered in offshore zones;
• sanctioned natural and legal entities;
• legal entities registered in countries listed as non-cooperating in the fight against the laundering of proceeds of crime.

5. The limit of concentration — the total area of farmland in the ownership of a citizen may not exceed 10,000 hectares.

6. The ownership of a legal entity (except banks and credit institutions) may not exceed the total area of land plots, which may be owned by all its participants, but not more than 10,000 hectares.

7. Payments for land plots are made in non-cash form.

8. It will not be allowed to acquire ownership rights under repayable contracts in the absence of documents confirming the sources of origin of funds or other assets involved in the transaction.

As a reminder, the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court started the consideration of the submission of 46 MPs on the interpretation of the Basic Law regulating the right of ownership of land by the people, namely the first sentence of paragraph one of Art. 13 and paragraph one of Art. 14.