The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has started considering claims filed by individual owners of privatized plots of farmland in Ukraine in connection with the impossibility to buy or sell their property due to the moratorium on farmland sale, according to the Ukraine`s Agrarian Union`s press service.
”Owners of privatized plots of farmland in Ukraine have lodged their complaints with the ECHR because they believe the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land restricts their right to manage their property, namely land. The ECHR has already started considering the claims,” the press service said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the moratorium on the sale of farmland is in effect in Ukraine now. Only individuals can own farmland, but they are virtually unable to sell or buy it. Thus, all agri-businesses in Ukraine lease land for crop production. Yet, experts claim a shadow land market exists in Ukraine.
The moratorium on the sale of farmland is expiring on January 1, 2017. The Ukrainian government should have developed by March 1, 2016, a draft law on agricultural land turnover, which would determine Ukrainian land status. However, the bill has not yet been tabled in parliament for consideration.
Experts have different opinions as to the issue of lifting the moratorium. The Agriculture Ministry insists on postponing the launch of the land market in Ukraine, suggesting that only the sale of land tenure rights should be allowed, which may be used as collateral when applying for bank loans.
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