January 31, 2012

Ukraine's land reform cost to reach US$0.75 billion

The increase in the regulatory pecuniary valuation of land in 2012 with the increase in payments for the lease of land will only benefit rural areas, said First Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Bezuhly.

He, in particular, said on this occasion, "Due to the increase in the regulatory assessment of land, rent amounts will increase, too, but the money obtained will be targeted specifically at rural development. The payments will go to rural councils for addressing urgent issues. The new draft law on the market of land stipulates that all the taxes collected from the rental of agricultural land shall be allocated to support rural communities. And it's about UAH6 billion (US$0.75 billion) annually! Isn't it a solution to the problems of the village?"

Starting January 1, regulatory pecuniary valuation of land almost doubled in Ukraine. Thus, the average cost per hectare of land in this country from January 1 is about UAH20,000 (US$2,489.11) against UAH11,800 (US$1,468.58) at the end of last year.

Based on the fact that the minimum rental rate in Ukraine is 3% of the normative monetary value of land, average rents will be around UAH700 (US$87.12) per hectare.