Ukraine’s Agricultural Land Market under Wartime Conditions: Problems and Development Prospects

Abstract

For more than four years, market-based transactions involving agricultural land have been legally permitted in Ukraine. The purpose of this article is to examine the advantages and shortcomings of the national organisation of the agricultural land market and to formulate directions for strengthening the role of the state and municipalities in regulating this segment. The methodological framework of the study incorporates methods of analysis and synthesis, critical comparison, as well as tabular and graphical presentation of empirical findings.

The results demonstrate that, notwithstanding the evident benefits associated with the legalisation of agricultural land circulation, the operation of this market segment remains accompanied by a number of structural and institutional challenges. These include the instability of the regulatory framework, the risk of questionable or unlawful land purchase agreements, and the tendency of certain agribusiness actors to prioritise short-term financial returns while disregarding adverse implications for land resources. Additional constraints comprise limited access of small-scale agricultural producers to land transactions, which undermines the socio-economic development of local communities, inaccuracies in land records caused by wartime disruptions, threats to property rights for smallholders, damage to and temporary inaccessibility of land parcels because of hostilities, and soil depletion resulting from non-compliance with proper land-use practices.

Conclusions. To strengthen the role of the state and local communities in the agricultural land market, it is necessary to ensure legislative stability in this sphere and to expand the supervisory powers of local authorities regarding land transactions, systematically monitor compliance with agronomic standards and impose sanctions for non-compliance, ensure access to credit resources for farmers seeking to acquire land, introduce fiscal instruments designed to prevent excessive land concentration in the hands of individual actors, conduct a comprehensive inventory and update cadastral records of agricultural land, modernise geospatial information system data, and promote the development of market infrastructure in territories liberated from occupation through the provision of tax incentives.