Farmers stage show of force
On June 7, Ukrainian farmers picketed Verkhovna Rada (see photo), thus beginning what they call an unlimited protest action. They think the absence of adequate land legislation is retarding agricultural reform and hindering the normal development of private farming. In addition, settlement of the land-ownership issue still remains the farmers’ main demand. As Vice President of the Association of Farmers of Ukraine (AFU) Leonid Kyrychenko told The Day, the absence of adequate land laws prevents farmers from receiving credits because the problem of land ownership has not yet been solved, while “it is impossible to cultivate five or ten hectare land plots without special machinery.” In his words, under the 1991 law On Private Farms and the draft Land Code of 1992, farmers have been allotted land with the right to hand it down as an inheritance. However, Mr. Kyrychenko noted, the new code only envisions the leasing of land, which naturally does not suit the farmers. “The point is the rent can be raised at any moment, or you can have your land taken away,” he said. Still, AFU President Ivan Tomych believes farmers have already proved they can work well even under such far from ideal conditions. He pointed out that farmers sow only 7-10% of land, they produce 70-89% of some crops.
Meanwhile, Solidarity faction leader Petro POROSHENKO told The Day that, despite the lengthy adjustment of positions and emasculation of some fundamental provisions of the Land Code, “there is no critical mass of deputies prepared to support it.”
He is also certain that passage of the code will be far from smooth, but, “taking into account that the countryside has been in fact stripped of investment resources today, it should be adopted as soon as possible.” According to Mr. Poroshenko, the code’s adoption is a political, not departmental or professional, question.
The same was also confirmed to The Day by SDPU(o) fraction member Leonid Kravchuk, who said Ukraine would not be able to carry out true economic reforms and tap its wealth without civilized legislation regulating land relations. However, he was not certain the current parliament could pass the Land Code. According to Mr. Kravchuk, not only the Communists but also some on the Right use this issue as a weapon in their political struggle and speculate on it. But the deputy thinks these political forces will face an adequate reaction of voters in the parliamentary elections.
Leonid, a Kherson oblast farmer:
“The point is we are not confident in a safe tomorrow as long as the land ownership problem is still unsolved. I want to work for myself and my children, knowing that nobody will rob me of the land I cultivated and cared about.”
Dmytro, Cherkasy oblast farmer:
“Many of our problems are now connected with land ownership. We can’t get loans or buy machinery and fertilizers without land of our own. And it is impossible to farm the whole plot of land by hand. Besides, we need funds to purchase fertilizers, seeds, etc.”
Petro, Poltava oblast farmer:
“Unfortunately, not all of our problems are connected with land ownership. We have to endure harassment by local authorities and often encounter hostility from our neighbors who don’t want to farm their land by themselves and try not to let others do so.”
