The National Agrarian Academy of Sciences (NAAS) calls on the current government and the State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine to engage in a constructive dialogue on agricultural land that is under the Academy’s jurisdiction.
This was stated at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency by Valeriy Adamchuk, Chief Scientific Secretary of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Director of the Institute of Mechanics and Automation of Agricultural Production, Doctor of Technical Sciences.
He reminded that NAAS is a state self-governing scientific organization that includes 82 scientific institutions, including eight national research centers, 32 research institutes, 39 research stations, the Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve, and 91 legal entities, including state-owned enterprises. Out of a total of 175 legal entities, 12 are currently under occupation, eight are in bankruptcy, and seven state-owned enterprises are inactive.
“As of January 1, 2025, NAAS has fulfilled its obligations to the state, which should have preceded the optimization of the land plots that were and are on the balance sheet of the academy. If last year we had 462 thousand hectares of land, then after fulfilling the relevant government orders, 210 thousand hectares were transferred to the State Property Fund. Thus, NAAS has 276.7 thousand hectares in use, including 217 thousand hectares of arable land,” the representative of the Presidium of the Academy emphasized.
Adamchuk emphasized that the SPF has initiated the preparation of a draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers, which provides for the withdrawal of land not only from NAAS research farms but also from research institutions and their transfer to the permanent use of the State Enterprise “Reserve”. He believes that this will lead to the deprivation of land for scientific institutions, which will be left with only the buildings and territories on which they are located. At the same time, all issues related to the establishment of experiments and breeding work are under threat. Scientific institutions and the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences held relevant meetings, discussed the situation regarding the SPF’s intentions to seize 135,000 hectares from the National Academy of Sciences and sent relevant appeals to the authorities.
The Chief Scientific Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences drew attention to the fact that Ukraine opened its borders in the face of a full-scale invasion and abolished control systems for the unimpeded importation of all components of agricultural production: imported fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, machinery, fuel and lubricants, etc. Instead, Europe is in no hurry to open its market to Ukrainian agricultural products. Such dependence on imports, especially in times of war, creates high risks for the agricultural country and its food security.
According to Adamchuk, the NAAS agricultural land in relation to the land of Ukraine is less than 0.5% and its withdrawal will not bring super-effects to the state. In addition, he stressed that the SPF has not yet released information on the privatization and its effectiveness of the agricultural land of the Academy, which was previously transferred to the state.
Oleksandr Korniychuk, Director of the Institute of Feed and Agriculture of Podillia, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, said that the institute is located in Vinnytsia and has accumulated 1669 hectares of land over the years, including about 180 hectares of forest plantations. All the land is used for scientific research, in particular, research on the creation of new varieties, the development of new technologies, in particular, in seed production. The Institute has created about 210 varieties, 130 of which are currently included in the State Register of Plants Suitable for Distribution in Ukraine. The Institute breeds 30 different crops and is a leading institution specializing in the development of fodder production.
Korniichuk noted that the institute’s scientists provide advisory services in Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, and Ternopil regions. In Vinnytsia region alone, there are about 274 individual farmers, about 2.4 thousand farmers, about 800 medium and large farms, and agricultural holdings that use the services of scientists.
“It is important for the institute to preserve the land resource in the amount that the institution has today. Limiting it will reduce the amount of scientific work. In general, all this will lead to large losses for our country in the future. The main task that we see today is to create new innovations, disseminate them and implement them in agricultural production,” he said and called on the SPF and the Cabinet of Ministers to review the draft decisions and preserve the land resource for scientific institutions, and to enable the retention of labor collectives.
Korniichuk emphasized that the 210 thousand hectares of land that belonged to the National Academy of Sciences transferred to the SPFU have not been fully utilized. Currently, about 40 thousand hectares are up for auction. The state has not yet received the expected result.
“The land is empty, it does not bring profit, and thus loses its main efficiency, let’s say, soil fertility,” the scientist emphasized.
Vitaliy Kabanets, Director of the Institute of Agriculture of the North East of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, noted that his research institution and its research enterprises are the only elite pig producer in the region. The institute owns 287 hectares of land where it breeds buckwheat and hemp. After conducting a survey of a number of crop and livestock farms, the Institute compared them and its performance and concluded that it was an efficient farm. The scientific institution pays taxes to the state and pays UAH 9 thousand for renting 1 hectare, and its research farms pay UAH 6-6.5 thousand per 1 hectare, while the figure for commercial agricultural enterprises is UAH 5-7 thousand per 1 hectare.
He expressed concern about the fate of the herd raised by the institute, because if 100% of the arable land is seized from the institute, the feed base for animals will completely disappear.
Kabanets noted that any reform should be clear: it should have a beginning, an algorithm of actions and a predictable result. Before implementing it, the problem should be discussed and compromises should be sought so that the whole country can get a positive result.
Nataliia Buniak, director of the Nosivka Breeding and Research Station of the Myronivka Institute of Wheat of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, said that the station has been operating in Chernihiv Oblast for 114 years. It specializes in breeding rye, oats, barley, and perennial grasses. Over the past five years, it has included 19 varieties in the State Register of Varieties Suitable for Distribution in Ukraine. As of January 1, 2025, the institution is represented in the State Register by 45 varieties in 13 crops.
At the same time, the state allocated UAH 611 thousand for the maintenance of the Nosivka station in 2021 and UAH 348 thousand in 2023. The institution, in turn, has transferred UAH 158 million to the state’s special funds over five years, an average of UAH 31.6 million per year, of which UAH 24.2 million in taxes were paid annually. In 2024, this amount amounted to UAH 5.7 million, which averaged UAH 5.8 million per hectare with a minimum tax liability of UAH 1.3 million. In 2018-2024, the station spent about UAH 95 million on science and at the same time provided farmers with high-quality seeds.
In January 2025, the Nosivka breeding and research station, like all agricultural research institutions, passed state certification. Its team hopes that all misunderstandings will be resolved through constructive discussions. Scientists will remain with the accumulated land and will be able to continue to provide producers with quality seeds, which help them to finance their work and maintain the land they use.
Valeriy Adamchuk, Chief Scientific Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, and the heads of scientific institutions hope to have a constructive discussion with the government and the SPF before any decisions are made.
