Ukraine's Justice Minister: Notaries should undergo mandatory identity verification

Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Malyuska has said that starting from this week, notaries and state registrars are required to undergo mandatory two-factor identity verification to be able to handle acts of registration.

According to the minister, this is one of the tools to prevent abuse linked with the illegal seizure of property, or so-called raiders' attacks, in particular after the farmland reform has been launched.

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"We have an action plan when the land reform is launched, when the turnover of farmland begins, so that we can avoid a potential surge in raiders' attacks. For example, this week notaries and state registrars are required to undergo mandatory two-factor identity verification. They will get a mobile ID code within the next two months and any registration act will be accompanied by double identification," he told RFE/RL's Ukrainian service.

"On the one hand, this will be an e-key of a particular registrar, and on the other hand, a message will be sent on the mobile phone – the information will require confirmation," the minister said.

Malyuska assured of an effective purge of registrars and notaries, which took almost a year.

"For almost a year, we have worked effectively with people, we have cleaned up the ranks of the most controversial state registrars, we have ousted them from the market. We have established an effective sanctions mechanism, as we deny their access to the registers as soon as they do something wrong," the minister added.