REUTERS
The funds will be used to improve the performance of the country's agri-sector.
Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oksana Markarova and World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Satu Kahkonen signed an agreement, under which the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide $230 million on the project titled "Program-for Results on Accelerating Private Investment in Agriculture." This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Finance.
The Finance Ministry said on its website that the loan would help take a number of steps, including creating a public agricultural register, stocktaking for state-owned land, satellite mapping of Ukrainian territories, introducing an information system on food products safety and requirements of export markets, and others.
"Ukraine, [...] which now has the potential to become a global supplier of products to the world, needs projects such as this one, in particular, to prepare land reform and transparently open the land market. I am sure that its successful implementation will be a good example for subsequent projects with other IFIs, which will allow us to increase the number of instruments for private participation in the development of the agricultural sector," the press service quotes Markarova as saying.
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The project will be implemented as part of the Strategy to promote private investment in agriculture until 2023, approved by order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 5, 2019, No. 595. Its goal is to support the efforts of the Ukrainian government, in particular the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Justice, the State Geocadastre, and the State Food and Beverage Service, aimed at creating an enabling environment for private investment, including small and medium enterprises in the agricultural and agribusiness sectors.
As UNIAN reported earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with World Bank Group President David Malpass confirmed his intentions to implement land reform and demonopolize the economy. According to Malpass, lifting the moratorium on farmland sale and creating an effective market will stimulate improvements, including an investment boost.
In December last year, the Verkhovna Rada extended the moratorium on the purchase and sale of farmland in Ukraine until 2020. It has been in effect since 2001.
According to the World Bank, the lifting of the moratorium will bring the economy of Ukraine $0.7 bln-$1.5 bln annually.