Due to the opening of the land market in Ukraine, the price of land will at least double over the next three to five years, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

"The opening of the land market will lead to an increase in land prices at least twice over the first three to five years, these are our estimates," Shmyhal said at the Ukraine 30. Land Forum on Tuesday.

Commenting on the expected results of the introduction of electronic land auctions, the prime minister said the potential for increasing receipts to local budgets with effective land management is up to UAH 12 billion.

He said the existing experience in conducting electronic auctions for the land lease can increase the cost of their lease from 7% to 18% of the amount of their normative monetary value.

Shmyhal said that during the years of Ukraine's independence, about 5 million hectares of agricultural land were withdrawn from state into private ownership with the help of "schemes" for the free transfer of land.

The prime minister also said the government has time to prepare all the necessary regulations to launch the land market.

According to him, the launch of the land market will be beneficial for Ukrainian business, since the lack of a civilized turnover of agricultural land does not allow agricultural manufactures to plan long-term activities, produce high-margin agricultural products and invest in the agricultural sector.