REUTERS
Ukraine’s key creditor, the International Monetary Fund, has not officially confirmed its readiness to exclude land reform from the list of structural beacons in its Extended Fund Facility for Ukraine, a source in the Cabinet of Ministers familiar with the course of negotiations has told UNIAN.
"To say that any beacon has been lifted, we need to see the official written confirmation from the Fund, but such has not yet been received, as far as we know. References to the anonymous verbal statements in this case are simply inadequate and indicate a lack of understanding of how the work with the Fund is being built and the importance of compliance with the procedures in this cooperation," the source said.
According to UNIAN’s source, the land reform, along with pension, medical, judicial reforms and that of public sector enterprises, remains one of the highest priorities in Ukraine and is the focus of attention of the country’s international partners. However, their format is not subject to international recommendations and, as before, remains entirely at the discretion of the Ukrainian side.
The source noted that consultations at the government level and discussions with market participants and agrarian associations on the launch of the land market in Ukraine are continuing at an earlier pace. The coordinated position will be reflected in the draft law on farmland turnover, which is yet to be submitted to parliament.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on July 3, a number of Ukrainian media wrote that the IMF would not insist on Ukraine carrying out land reform, so the issue will not become an obstacle to the allocation of the next loan tranche. However, no official confirmation of these reports has been received.
On July 5, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said that the IMF would postpone the allocation of the next tranche to Ukraine in the amount of up to $1.9 billion because of the parliament being not ready to adopt land reform until the end of the current session (July 15).
At present, the working group under the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food is finishing up on the formation of a model for launching the land market in Ukraine and developing a corresponding draft law on the farmland turnover. It is expected that within a month this document will be submitted for consideration by the government, and in the autumn it will be brought to the Verkhovna Rada’s session hall.
Read alsoDanyliuk to Bloomberg: No IMF loan in summer, Ukraine may get fifth tranche in autumnAccording to the Cabinet-proposed model of land reform, only Ukrainian citizens will be entitled to purchasing land in case of the moratorium on land trade is lifted while the maximum threshold of ownership per person will not exceed 200 hectares. At the same time, the working group under the agrarian ministry allows the possibility of selling land plots subject to a number of restrictions to small-scale legal entities.
Since 2001, a moratorium has been enforced in Ukraine on the farmland purchase and sale. In October 2016, the Verkhovna Rada extended it until the end of 2017. The memorandum with the International Monetary Fund indicates that Ukraine schedules to adopt by the end of May 2017 a law regulating farmland turnover, and starting 2018 (after the moratorium expires) - to launch farmland sales.