Ukraine prepares pilot project on selling farmland by auction

The Ukrainian government is preparing a pilot project to partially open the country's farmland market by selling state-owned agricultural land by auction, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Wednesday.

"We need to perform an experimental scheme, under which we will sell state-owned farmland publicly and transparently by auction. It would allow us to observe the market conditions, mechanisms and prices," Yatsenyuk told an offsite cabinet meeting in central Poltava region.

At the first stage of the project, the land market will be opened only for Ukrainian citizens, Yatsenyuk said, adding that buyers will be limited to purchase only one land plot via the auction.

In the nearest future, the pilot project on farmland sales will be implemented in several regions in western, southern and eastern Ukraine, the Premier added.

Currently, agricultural land cannot be bought or sold in Ukraine, as in 1992 the country has imposed a moratorium on farmland trade, which expires on Dec. 31 this year.

The country's Agriculture Ministry has estimated the market value of Ukraine's farmland of 42 million hectares at nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars. Endit