Ukraine may open farmland market only after consultation with landowners: PM

Ukraine may open its farmland market only after consultations with landowners, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said on Wednesday.

"There would be no decision on the establishment of the land market without extensive consultations regarding the model of the market," Groysman told a cabinet meeting.

Even if the parliament cancels a ban on the farmland sales, it would not mean that the Ukrainian land plots can be traded immediately, he stressed.

Last month, the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry said it had prepared a draft law on agricultural reform, envisaging lifting the moratorium on land sales. The legislation would be submitted to parliament after the government's approval.

The liberalization of the land market is a deeply controversial issue in Ukraine. Its supporters claim that the continuation of the moratorium limits the rights of about 6.9 million Ukraine's plot owners to dispose of their property.

Meanwhile, critics claim that small landowners may lose their plots once the moratorium is lifted as big agricultural firms may use shadow schemes to appropriate their farmland.

In 2001, Ukraine adopted a new land code, reviving a ban on farmland trade, which was first imposed in 1992.

Last year, the Agriculture Ministry estimated the market value of Ukraine's farmland of 42 million hectares, of which 32 million hectares are arable, at nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars. Endi