Bill on land market in present form not in line with interests of agrarian sector, says expert
(Please, read company is not interested in paragraph 14) Kyiv, January 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The bill on the land market, which the Ukrainian parliament passed at first reading on December 9, 2011, is absolutely not in line with the interests of the Ukrainian agrarian sector, President of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) Alex Lissitsa said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday. "Starting from small farms and ending large agrarian companies, it's unlikely that you'll find those who will support the bill in the present form," he said. He also said that uncertainty in the adoption of the law on the land market affects the planning of the spring sowing campaign. "The spring sowing campaign is coming. The major part of farms is buying seeds now… It's a question: who will invest now in spring crops without understanding what's going on? Who will invest in soil preparation for the 2013 harvest?" Lissitsa said. He added that the UCAB, which unites largest Ukrainian food producers and processors, had submitted its remarks and proposals to the draft to the profile parliamentary committee, although they were not taken into account. Director foe development and relations with investors at Astarta-Kyiv holding, Mykola Kovalsky, said that the uncertainty and sharp changes that the present form of the bill brings could unfavorably affect welfare of not only farmers, but the whole country. "In a year we held around 600 meetings with our shareholders and potential investors, and at each meeting the issue of the land market bill was raised. Frankly speaking, the present situation is vague, and changes will do much harm to trust in our business and the whole agrarian sector of Ukraine," he said. Vsevolod Kozhemyako, CEO of Agrotrade Group, expressed doubt that the state would be able to finance the farming institute proposed in the draft. "If the agrarian sector is transformed into the non-corporate one, the state should provide adequate aid if it is guided by European models of the agriculture structure," Kozhemyako said. He said that capital investment per hectare total at least $1,000. "100 hectares equals to $100,000. I don't understand where farmers will take this. I don't know banks which are ready to issue such credits. When we hear that the state will finance this, we understand that this is impossible, as the state does not have such money," he added. He also said that Agrotrade Group does not have a large desire to buy all of the land plots. "I don’t know what to do with [land]. We cultivate it, and it's enough for us," he added. In turn, Charles Vilgrain, CEO of AgroGeneration, said that his company is not interested in the acquisition of land. "We don’t want to possess land. The leasing is comfortable for us. We'd like to simply lease land to have a chance of long-term cooperation," he said. As reported, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club was founded in 2007 to safeguard the economic and professional interests of agrarian business operators in Ukraine. It incorporates leading farm producers and processing companies.