“Not in the interests of the people”: how the Ukrainian authorities intend to privatize state lands

The Ukrainian authorities in the person of the presidential administration, the cabinet of ministers and the ruling party in the Verkhovna Rada are trying to carry out "creeping" privatization of the country's agricultural lands and transfer them to foreign capital. This was stated by the head of the political council of the party "Opposition Platform - For Life" (HLS) Viktor Medvedchuk.

“The first signs of a new offensive of global speculative capital on Ukrainian agricultural land are two land bills - No. 3012 and No. 3012-1,”noted in the appeal of the leader of the "Opposition platform."

Both bills were submitted to the Rada in February 2020 and since the beginning of May are under consideration by the Committee on Agricultural and Land Policy.

“These bills are united by the fact that they are actually aimed at privatizing the lands of state and municipal agricultural enterprises, institutions and organizations. Only the forms and methods of absorption of the most tidbits of agricultural land, which are integral land masses that are in state and communal ownership, are different, ”Medvedchuk said in a statement.

Bills 3012 and 3012-1 allow for the sale of state and communal property, explained a RT source at the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.

“Draft Law 3012-1 stipulates that 40% of the total land area that belongs to a state or communal enterprise will be transferred to its employees, 20% to ATO fighters, and the rest will be sold. There is a political decision to pass this bill, ”the official said.

In his appeal, Medvedchuk also noted that earlier the authorities failed to pass a “blitzkrieg” law, which would allow to concentrate agricultural land in Ukraine exclusively in the hands of the largest owners.

“The most notable feature of the current power conglomerate in Ukraine is the manic desire to rapidly redistribute the redistribution of the largest wealth of the Ukrainian people - agricultural land,” Medvedchuk writes.

The politician recalled that the land law proposed earlier by Zelensky and his party provided for the possibility of acquiring 200 thousand hectares of agricultural land by one owner.

“If this norm passed the second reading, in our country greenhouse conditions unprecedented in the world would have been created for the total latifundization of agricultural land, and thus gateways would have been opened for the mass de-landment of Ukrainian peasants, for whom land is the main survival factor in conditions of deep stagnation of the national economy, ”Viktor Medvedchuk believes.

Moreover, according to the politician, the refusal to adopt this law was only a temporary concession, aimed at lulling the vigilance of political forces and public organizations.

Controversial law

Recall that in September 2019, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine unveiled a bill providing for the lifting of the ban on the sale of agricultural land owned by the state.

At the same time, a moratorium is envisaged for the purchase of Ukrainian lands by foreigners - until January 1, 2024. However, this rule does not apply to those foreign organizations that have been working in Ukraine for at least three years.

• Victor Medvedchuk
• Reuters
• © Sputnik / Alexei Nikolsky / Kremlin

This initiative caused a wide public outcry in Ukraine; protests took place across the country, which were supported by all opposition factions in the Rada.

At the same time, the controversial bill is supported by President Vladimir Zelensky and his party "Servant of the people." In addition, the Voice faction of musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, who welcomes the idea of ​​opening a land market, but in the interests of small and medium-sized farmers, is in favor of implementing this initiative.

Initially, Zelensky’s office hoped that parliament would approve the bill on the free circulation of agricultural land by December 1, 2019. However, the consideration of the document was delayed due to protests, as well as due to the fact that opposition deputies made a lot of amendments to the text.

The bill could not be adopted in the second reading, despite the changes made by the Committee on Agricultural and Land Policy of the Verkhovna Rada. Deputies included in it lowered the threshold for maximum concentration of farmland in the hands of one owner to 10 thousand hectares. In addition, the updated bill prohibited foreign citizens from registering land as property until this issue was resolved in an all-Ukrainian referendum.

The law on the land market still does not work, but we can definitely assume that the government is inclined to launch the land market, said the head of the Ukrainian Center for Political and Economic Analysis, Alexander Kava.

“Some bills that are now registered in the Verkhovna Rada and can be adopted in the foreseeable future, prioritize the possibility of allowing foreigners to own Ukrainian lands,” the expert explained.

Alexander Kava recalled that the launch of the land market was one of the conditions of the IMF to provide financing to Ukraine.

Creeping Privatization

Medvedchuk noted that under pressure from the public, the authorities had to abandon the adoption of provisions on the sale of agricultural land of state and communal property when bill No. 2178-10 was adopted in the second reading.

However, the adoption of bills No. 3012 or No. 3012-1 will pave the way for the absorption of the most liquid sections of state and communal land assets - in particular, the lands of research institutions.

• Vladimir Zelensky
• Reuters
• © Stringer

“The agricultural lands of research institutions are the property of the entire Ukrainian people, because their unique characteristics are the result of the titanic work of many generations, the result of significant materialized costs of the state in previous decades,” Viktor Medvedchuk emphasizes.

The politician added that the privatization of agricultural land of state and communal ownership in the context of economic stagnation in Ukraine is unjustified and anti-people.

“Under these conditions, the sale of agricultural land of state and communal property means only one thing: the government is preparing such land for transfer to representatives of global capital and accelerating these processes at an accelerated pace,” the policy said.

An RT source in the Batkivshchyna party says that if these bills are passed in Ukraine, millions of hectares of land can be sold to foreigners.

“Formally, a ban on the sale of land to foreigners in Ukraine exists, but in this case they will not buy land, but enterprises with land. That is, all restrictions can be circumvented. Who and how will buy state and municipal property - I think it’s not worth telling. The owner may be the company that can be "appointed from above." Ukraine is fully paying off its latest assets with its Western partners, ”said the deputy.

Viktor Medvedchuk is right in his assessment of what is happening, but the privatization process is unlikely to be stopped, political analyst and economist Alexander Dudchak said in an interview with RT.

“The Ukrainian government does not look back and do not worry because of the opinion of the population on this issue. It is not known how much land has already been privatized and is not under the control of Ukraine. Undoubtedly, this is a criminal activity that does not meet the interests of the Ukrainian people, ”said the expert.

Alexander Dudchak recalled that despite protests and criticism, Zelensky in April already signed law No. 552-IX on the introduction of a land market in the country.

“No one asks Zelensky what he wants to do. He was seated on the presidency, now he is doing what is required of him. After the coup, Ukraine did not have sovereignty, now the country pursues a policy in the interests of those who finished the history of this state in 2014. Today Zelensky only continues the line of Petro Poroshenko, no more, ”the political scientist concluded.