Ukraine's Cabinet to safeguard farmers against raiders

"Such an approach when any abuse can be eliminated by a government decision is right ... The problem of illegal seizures in the agrarian sector is now on the radar screen," Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.

In particular, the resolution provides for the impossibility of registering a non-existent land plot due to mandatory vetting with the data of the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre. At the same time, the state registrar is obliged to notify the service about his or her actions.

Read alsoFarmers in Ukraine's Odesa region report seizure of their harvestIn addition, the registrar shall establish the identity of the subject of legal actions and the legal capacity of the latter to eliminate the possibility of committing actions with property with the use of forged documents, including on behalf of the owner. The resolution also allows access to the real estate register via Mobile IDs, as well as receiving updates on legal actions with the property. In this case, text messages about legal actions with the property shall be sent by mobile phones even if it is rented.

Moreover, the Justice Ministry has launched an online registration of state property lease contracts in the register of property rights without visiting the state registrar. This will require only a scanned rental contract and an electronic digital signature.

"Online registration of lease contracts will simplify the bureaucracy, while the automatic vetting [of the data of] with the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre will safeguard against manipulation with land and illegal seizures," First Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Natalia Sevostyanova said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian Justice Ministry introduced a mechanism for automatic data exchange between the State Register of Property Rights and the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, which will make it impossible to register double land lease contacts and will combat illegal attacks on agrarians.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed to complete the creation of the land registry by the end of 2019.

On August 9, the Cabinet decided to establish operational headquarters in the regions together with regional state administrations, territorial subdivisions of the Internal Ministry, the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, the Justice Ministry, and agrarian associations to prevent illegal seizure of harvest and land from farmers.

According to the poll conducted by the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council association, about 25% of the agricultural producers surveyed have faced illegal seizures of their assets. According to Ukraine's Agrarian Self-Defense NGO, the number of attacks on farmers in order to seize their property is constantly increasing, while law enforcement agencies do not respond to the illegal actions or delay the consideration of such cases.