Ukraine's agriculture minister sees land reform as top priority for 2017

Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Kutovyi said on Wednesday that the implementation of the land reform, envisaging a launch of the farmland market, will be a top priority for his ministry next year.

"Through the implementation of the land reform, we should build the system that will remove all the populist obstacles and give Ukrainian citizens the instrument to manage their property," Kutovyi was quoted as saying by the government's press service.

Among other key tasks for his ministry in the upcoming year, Kutovyi listed increasing financial support for farmers, boosting the quality of Ukraine-made agriculture products and developing the organic food production.

Since 2001, a moratorium on farmland trade has been in place in Ukraine, prohibiting about 6.9 million of Ukraine's land owners to sell their plots.

This year, the International Monetary Fund has recommended Ukraine to lift the ban to attract additional funds to the state budget.

However, the Ukrainian lawmakers have extended the moratorium, citing corruption concerns. Critics claimed that small landowners may lose their plots once the ban is lifted as big agricultural firms may use shadow schemes to appropriate their farmland.

According to the Agriculture Ministry estimates, Ukraine's economy annually loses some 3.3 billion U.S. dollars from the ban, which blocks investment in the agriculture sector. Endit