Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Timofey Milovanov said that he does not consider foreigners an evil for the Ukrainian agricultural industry, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
He stated this during a press marathon on the bill on introducing an agricultural land market in Ukraine.
“I personally do not agree that foreigners are an evil for the Ukrainian agricultural industry. I think the big evil is those bandits who today steal state land, cultivate it quietly and do not allow the Ukrainian economy to develop,” Milovanov said.
According to him, if the moratorium on land is extended, agricultural holdings will become large, some of which in Ukraine are financed by foreigners.
“Well, if Ukrainian society does not want foreigners to finance work on the land, then in fact land reform is needed,” Milovanov noted.
The head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, Nikolai Solsky, said that in preparation for the second reading of bill No. 2178-10 on the introduction of a land market, amendments regarding reducing the number of hectares of land in one hand and the sale of Ukrainian land to foreigners were submitted to the committee for consideration.
According to Prime Minister of Ukraine Alexey Goncharuk, the issue of selling land to foreigners will be decided by the Ukrainian people in a referendum.
In turn, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that a package of bills on democracy (referendum) will be adopted in the near future.