Coalition Agrees to Cancel Moratorium on Land Sales

According to Ukrainian News, the coalition agreement between the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine provides for the abolishment of the moratorium on land sales (effective January 1, in 2008), with the passage of laws on land cadastre and agricultural land market. The agreement also includes a clause for simplifying the process of acquisition of nonagricultural land by foreign entities and corporations. President Yushchenko has spoken out in favor of land reform, particularly for cancellation of the land moratorium in 2008. Olha Pankiv: Passage of land reform depends on how quickly the new government is formed and begins focusing on its core work, meaning that the laws might only be approved in early 2008 at the earliest. Outgoing Minister of Finance Mykola Azarov (Party of Regions) said yesterday that he expected the law to come onto effect only in spring 2008. Prior to the announcement, our expectation was that the moratorium will be lifted in 2008-2009.