European Commission welcomes opening of land market in Ukraine

"I want to congratulate the President and the entire leadership of Ukraine on the implementation of this courageous step. The opening of the land market is really an important moment, an important impetus for the whole of Ukraine. Despite all the emotions, all the disinformation around this issue, the reform will help, first of all, small farmers who work hard on the land," Katarína Mathernová, European Commission's Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, said at the Forum "Ukraine 30. Land", an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

She noted that the European Commission continued to support land reform in Ukraine and worked closely with international partners such as the World Bank in this area.

"We strongly support the benefits of these reforms. In fact, over the past two years, we have allocated EUR 15 million in grants to support farmers, especially small farmers, and to enable them to finance the purchase of land. These efforts go hand in hand with the need to develop a proper market system, the launch of reliable ways of long-term financing. We are happy to join these efforts at every stage… It also means that all safeguards and monitoring mechanisms, in particular, in matters of land concentration must work," Mathernová said.

She noted that the Verkhovna Rada had passed two critical laws on land reform over the past two weeks, one of which was signed today during the opening of the forum. Another law, which is also due to take effect shortly, concerns the provision of loan guarantees and should open access to financial support for farmers.

"I congratulate you on this great step. European Union welcomes it greatly, and you can count on us. We will continue to support this process [land reform]," European Commission's Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations added.

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