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Draft law on amending the Land Code of Ukraine regarding acquisition of land have passed the first reading in the parliament

19 September, 2012 Newsletters

On September 18, 2012 the Parliament of Ukraine adopted at first reading the Draft Law On Amendments to the Land Code of Ukraine regarding acquisition of land ownership registration No. 11128 dated 03.09.2012 (hereinafter referred to as “the Draft Law No. 11128”). In case the Draft Law No.11128 is adopted and enacted into force in its current wording, the current procedure of acquisition of land by legal entities would sustain the following significant changes.

1. Legal entities established under the laws of Ukraine by the Ukrainian citizens or legal entities of Ukraine might lose their right to acquire ownership of agricultural land.

Under proposed changes to para. 1 Art. 82 of the Land Code of Ukraine, legal entities established under the laws of Ukraine would reserve a right to acquire only non-agricultural land. However, these dramatic changes would conflict with the other provisions of the Land Code of Ukraine (e.g. Art. 22 and Art. 130), which allow legal entities of Ukraine to acquire agricultural land under certain conditions.

2. The right of legal entities established under the laws of Ukraine by a foreign entity having 100% share to acquire ownership of land would finally be recognized at the legislative level.

(In the current edition of Art. 82 of the Land Code of Ukraine, which sets out a list of legal entities subjected of land ownership, there is no mention of a subsidiary/ 100 % affiliate of foreign entity, which provoked a widespread opinion of authorities that such entities shall not have the right to acquire and dispose land plots (even non-agricultural), which is motivated by “lack of legal grounds” for such acquisition.)

Further progress in adoption of this draft law in full, please see here.

The above commentary presents the general statement for information purposes only and as such may not be practically used in specific cases without professional advice.

Kind regards,

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