Verkhovna Rada overrides veto and extends moratorium on sale of agricultural land
On 19 January the Verkhovna Rada overruled President Yushchenko’s veto on the law extending the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land up till 1 January 2012 (making amendments to Part X of the Land Code). As reported here, the President vetoed the bill soon after it was passed on 22 December.
300 votes are needed to overrule a veto, and the law today received 366, on the whole, across party lines.
As reported already, the moratorium is supposed to protect those with agricultural land received after the collective farms were dissolved until such time as laws on a State land cadastre, on the land market and on land plot registration are passed. Arguments against the moratorium can be found here: Human Rights in Ukraine – 2007, and following the links below. There is concern that while the land owners are prevented from selling their land, they are anything but protected with all sorts of deals, changing the designation of the land, etc, going on behind the scenes.