The Verkhovna Rada has passed bill No. 2279 on amending the Land Code of Ukraine regarding the holding of land auctions regarding the leasing of state-owned land parcels at first reading.

A total of 266 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday.

The bill proposes that the clauses which permit the leasing of state-owned and municipal land parcels without holding land auctions should be removed from Part 2 of Article 134 of the Land Code of Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, Ukrainian laws have many gaps and flaws which allow for leasing land parcels without auctions. For example, this leads to the creation of farms that are in fact not created, and local budgets lose large funds, as leasing agreements are signed for a large period of time and at the smallest rent rates," the author of the bill, MP Oleh Kulinich said on Tuesday.

Farmers have generally supported the adoption of bill No. 2279.