Ukraine's President wants ‘legal’ land market

Victor Yushchenko believes the Verkhovna Rada has violated the constitutional right of the citizens of Ukraine to freely use their property by overriding his veto on the Law on Changes to the Land Code Ukraine, banning the sale of agricultural lands, Secretariat Chief of Staff Viktor Baloha said, President's press office reported.

He said the President would sign the readopted law but would also demand that lawmakers create a legal land market by the end of 2007. 

“The President’s position is unalterable: a transparent land market must be created in Ukraine within a year.” 

Baloha added that Ukraine’s land market should be created by January 1, 2008, under the National Unity Pact. To achieve this goal, he said, the Verkhovna Rada must immediately pass cadastre and land market bills.  

“If this decision is slowed down, it will be seen as an attempt to conceal the actual price of land from farmers and preserve illegal schemes to distribute land resources,” he said.