Business news from Ukraine

Cost of agricultural land in Western Ukraine has reached new high

The regions of Western Ukraine became the leader in terms of agricultural land prices in the summer of 2023, according to the data of the Opendatabot service.

According to the infographics of the resource, in June of this year, the most expensive agricultural land was in Lviv (139.4 thousand UAH/ha), Ivano-Frankivsk (84.391 thousand UAH/ha) and Kyiv (61.611 thousand UAH/ha) regions. The minimum price was recorded in Kharkiv region – 26.3 thousand UAH/ha.

In July, the leading regions in terms of land prices were Rivne (144.2 thousand UAH/ha), Ivano-Frankivsk (140.9 thousand UAH/ha) and Lviv (103.647 thousand UAH/ha) regions. During this period, the cheapest land was bought in Donetsk region – 19.08 thousand UAH/ha.

Ivano-Frankivsk region was the leader in terms of the cost of agricultural land in August, although prices were lower – 111.5 thousand UAH/ha. Lviv (91.987 thousand UAH/ha) and Khmelnytsky (53.019 thousand UAH/ha) regions were in the TOP-3. Zaporizhzhia region became the anti-leader in the last month of summer – 26.57 thousand UAH/ha.

The average cost of agricultural land in Ukraine in June amounted to 39.86 thousand UAH/ha, in July – 44.9 thousand UAH/ha, in August – 39.85 thousand UAH/ha.

At the same time, the area of land sold during the summer decreased from 14.9 thou hectares in June to 13.4 thou hectares in July and 10.45 thou hectares in August.

According to the report, the average cost per hectare for the entire period of work on the land market is about 37 thousand UAH/ha. In the first month after the resumption of work in May 2022, prices reached 43 thousand UAH/ha.

As reported, the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), with the support of the USAID AGRO Program, is conducting a study of the land market in Ukraine. During the last analysis, analysts identified two systemic problems: the low level of price registration in the State Register of Rights and the underestimation of land prices during transactions.

“Since the beginning of 2023, the share of transactions with a registered price has amounted to only 18.8% of all sales transactions, while in 2022 this figure was 34.4%, and in 2021 – 55.0%. At the same time, in 60% of cases where the price of the land plot was indicated, it was at the lowest possible level, i.e. at the level of the normative monetary value (NMV). The ratio between purchase and sale prices and lease prices at electronic land auctions at 1:4.5 indicates that the registered prices of purchase and sale transactions are twice lower than the market prices,” the study says.

Source: https://opendatabot.ua/open/land

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Price of buying and selling agricultural land in Ukraine in 2023 increased by 20%

Purchase price of agricultural land in Ukraine in January-April 2023 increased by an average of 20%, since the beginning of the year there have been 13 thousand such transactions, said the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy on digitalization Denis Bashlyk at a press conference.
“Even if we take away the inflation factor, we see that the growth (of prices) continues. But there is no such growth in the regions that are close to the fighting,” he said.
The deputy minister said that in Lviv region at the beginning of May this year the average cost of one hectare of agricultural land amounted to 162 thousand UAH, while at the opening of the market it was 51 thousand UAH. In Kyiv region, according to him, the price has grown from 48 thousand UAH to 148 thousand UAH per hectare.
At the same time, in Chernihiv region one hectare of land costs on average 23 thousand UAH, while before the war it cost 16-17 thousand UAH, Bashlyk added, suggesting that the price increase is due to inflation.
“In 2021 in Ukraine there were 66 thousand land sales transactions for a total area of 153 thousand hectares. In 2022 there were 53 thousand such transactions, with the market actually did not work for almost half a year due to restrictions on access to registries,” the Deputy Minister also said.
СЕО “ProZorro.Selling” Sergey But reported that from the moment of launching electronic land auctions in October 2021 the system “ProZorro.Selling” already completed auctions for the purchase and lease of agricultural land for more than 1.2 billion UAH.
As reported, the market of agricultural land in Ukraine began to work on July 1, 2021. At the first stage of the reform only citizens of the country got the right to buy and sell agricultural land, one individual will be able to hold no more than 100 hectares.
The right to purchase agricultural land from January 1, 2024 will be granted to legal entities created in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, and the ultimate beneficiary of one or more legal entities will be able to consolidate through them a total of not more than 10 thousand hectares.

Netherlands will provide Ukrainian farmers with EUR 50 mln for demining of agricultural land and purchase of seeds and agricultural equipment

The Netherlands will provide Ukrainian farmers with EUR10 million for the demining of agricultural land and EUR40 million for the purchase of seeds and agricultural equipment as part of a total package of EUR180 million in aid to Ukraine, members of the Dutch Parliament’s Agriculture Committee said at a meeting in the Verkhovna Rada.
“We would welcome the Netherlands’ assistance in demining to speed up this process. After all, this is one of the most pressing problems of farmers, especially in the southern and eastern regions,” said Oleksandr Haidu, head of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.
He suggested paying attention to projects to restore and modernize irrigation and drainage systems, expanding new logistics routes with the EU to help Ukrainian farmers export agricultural products.

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More than 7,000 hectares of agricultural land sold in Ukraine from October 3 to October 17

Over the past two weeks on October 3-17, 4.05 thousand transactions were concluded in Ukraine with agricultural land plots with a total area of ​​7.33 thousand hectares, which is 2.9 times and 2.6 times, respectively, higher than the figures for the previous period September 19-October 3.
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Monday, in general, for the period from July 1, 2021 to October 17, 2022, during which the agricultural land market operates in the country, 126.21 thousand transactions took place on land plots with a total area of ​​289, 31 thousand hectares.
According to the agency, for the period October 3-17, an average of 289 transactions with agricultural land with a total area of ​​​​0.52 thousand hectares / day were concluded daily, while for two weeks September 19 – October 3, the daily indicators of the land market averaged 93 transactions per total area of ​​0.17 thousand ha/day, for the week of September 12-19 – 210 transactions with a total area of ​​0.4 thousand ha/day, for the week of August 22-29 – 164 transactions for 0.28 thousand ha/day, and for August 15-22 – 198 transactions on 0.69 thousand hectares.
This figure is still significantly lower than before the Russian invasion: according to the latest pre-war data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, during the period February 11-18, an average of 621 land transactions with a total area of ​​1.65 thousand hectares were concluded in Ukraine daily.
In terms of the total area of ​​sold agricultural land plots, the Kharkiv region is in the lead with an indicator of 38.2 thousand hectares. It is followed by Dnepropetrovsk – 25.4 thousand hectares, Poltava – 23.3 thousand hectares, Kirovograd – 23.1 thousand hectares and Kherson – 21 thousand hectares of the region.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, 25.24 thousand transactions have been concluded with agricultural land with a total area of ​​44.78 thousand hectares. Most land plots sold during the war were in Khmelnitsky (4.92 thousand hectares), Poltava (4.89 thousand hectares), Vinnitsa (4.87 thousand hectares), Kirovograd (4.71 thousand hectares) and Dnipropetrovsk regions (4.08 thousand ha).
It is specified that over the past two weeks, the average price of 1 ha of agricultural land has not changed compared to the previous two-week reporting period and remained at the level of UAH 37.21 thousand / ha.
As reported, the agricultural land market, launched in Ukraine as part of the government’s land reform, began operating on July 1, 2021. At the first stage of the reform, only citizens of the country will be able to buy and sell land. One individual can have at his disposal no more than 100 hectares.
The right to acquire agricultural land on January 1, 2024 will be given to legal entities established in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, while the final beneficiary of one or several legal entities will be able to consolidate through them a total of no more than 10 thousand hectares.

9% OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN UKRAINE CULTIVATED BY 25 LARGEST AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS – ANALYSIS

The share of land plots cultivated by the 25 largest agricultural holdings is 9% (3.88 million hectares) of the total area of ​​agricultural land in Ukraine, the investment company Concorde Capital (Kyiv) said during the presentation of the agricultural online platform KupiPai.
According to it, the land bank of Kernel agricultural holding (the main beneficiary is Andriy Verevsky) is 510,000 hectares, Ukrlandfarming (Oleh Bakhmatiuk) 475,000 hectares, MHP (Yuriy Kosiuk) 370,000 hectares, Agroprosperis (George Rohr and Maurice Tabasinik) 300,000 hectares, Astarta (Viktor Ivanchik) 243,000 hectares.
Continental Farmers cultivates 195,000 hectares, Epicentr Agro 160,000 hectares, Harveast 127,000 hectares, Ukrprominvest-Agro 120,000 hectares, Agroton and Agrain 110,000 hectares, Vitagro and Privat-agro 85,000 hectares.
Concorde Capital said the land bank TAS-Agro and Nibulon are 83,000 hectares each, Agrovisty, Svitanka and LNZ ​​80,000 hectares each, Agrotrade 71,000 hectares, Ristone Holdings 67,000 hectares, Grain Alliance 57,000 hectares, AgroGeneration 56,000 hectares.
The investment company said the total area of ​​Ukraine is 60.3 million hectares, including 42,700 hectares are suitable for agriculture (of which 31.1 million hectares are privately owned, 10.4 million hectares are state-owned, 1.2 million hectares of another form of ownership). At the same time, 89% of the 31.1 million hectares of land plots in private ownership are private shares of citizens.
Concorde Capital said that according to data for 2019, 56% of land plots were cultivated by individual tenants, 29% were individual owners, 8% of the land was leased from the state, and 7% were not cultivated at all.

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UKRAINE URGES MINISTRY TO START RESTORING IRRIGATION SYSTEM IN SOUTHERN LANDS IN 2021

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine is obliged to begin restoring the irrigation system of agricultural lands in the south of the country by the end of this year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during a meeting devoted to irrigation held on Thursday.
According to the press service of the Cabinet, in addition to Shmyhal, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Roman Leshchenko, representatives of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Finance, Head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration Vitaliy Kim, Head of the Odesa Regional State Administration Serhiy Hrynevetsky and acting Head of the Kherson Regional State Administration Serhiy Kozyr attended the meeting.
As the Prime Minister said, the President of Ukraine set the Cabinet of Ministers the task to begin the restoration of irrigation systems this year, which means that the government must ensure the prompt transfer of the property complexes of the Ministry of Ecology to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
“Today, most of the land reclamation and irrigation infrastructure is managed by the State Water Resources Agency. Accordingly, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, which is responsible for the restoration of irrigation systems, cannot yet begin practical work in this direction. A quick solution to this issue will allow the Ministry of Agrarian Policy to begin implementation of pilot projects to restore irrigation systems this year, and will help farmers to significantly increase their harvest,” Shmyhal said.
As Leshchenko said, irrigation reform is among the main priorities of the ministry.
“This year is defining for us. We understand how to form an institutional and legislative framework, and according to this plan we are ready to move,” the minister said.
Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mykhailo Khorev reported that on behalf of the Prime Minister, a meeting had been held, following which a roadmap for transferring property to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy was drawn up.

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