The Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Land Code of Ukraine regarding the procedure for holding land auctions” signed by the President of Ukraine on March 31, 2016 limited the number of cases for alienation of land plots and rights to them without auctions. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law on February 18, 2016.
The Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) experts analyzed the law and positively reported on its overall impact on government regulation.
The BRDO Food&Agriculture Sector Head Andriy Zablotskyi said that provisions regarding the alienation of leasehold rights, emphyteusis and superficies only by auctions and avoidance of cases of land auction circumvention with involvement of government bodies and local authorities could be considered as positive aspects of the signed law.
“The law significantly limits opportunities for circumvention of auction sales reducing corruption risks. In addition, the provision that removes the duplication of exceptions to acquis land rights without auctions when land plots are purchasing for public needs is positive to harmonize the regulatory legislation. Despite this fact, provisions precluding the possibility of acquiring rights to land plots used for concession activities, in particular, on creating new facilities, without auctions carry obviously negative aspects. This complicates the implementation of such projects significantly,” Andriy Zablotskyi said.
The law signed by the President comes into force 30 days after its publication.