Ukraine suffers huge losses from ban on farmland sale

 Ukraine incurs huge economic losses due to a ban on the sale of the country's farmland, local media reported Thursday, citing a senior Agriculture Ministry official.

"Each year, our economy loses some 3.3 billion U.S. dollars due to the moratorium," Maxim Martyniuk, First Deputy Agriculture Minister, told reporters.

He explained that the moratorium has limited the rights of the state and the private land owners to trade their plots, leading to fewer budget revenues and lack of investment in the agriculture sector.

In addition, the fertility of Ukrainian farmland is decreasing as tenant farmers primarily are growing sunflowers, grain and fodder crops, which deplete the soil from necessary nutrients, Martyniuk said.

In 2001, Ukraine adopted a new land code, reviving a ban on farmland trade, which was first imposed in 1992.

Since then, the moratorium was extended several times, forcing the land owners to work with farmers under lease agreements. The ban is due to expire on Jan. 1, 2018.

Last year, the Agriculture Ministry estimated the market value of Ukraine's farmland of 42 million hectares, of which 32 million hectares are arable, at nearly 100 billion dollars.

source: Xinhua