A relevant Bill ‘On Amendments to Several Legislative Acts appertaining to Change of Use of agricultural lands, and tightening of Criminal Liability in the area of Land Relations´, was Registered in The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The Bill (Reg.No.2028) proposes amendments to the Land Code, Criminal Code and Procedural Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The amended version of the Land Code will read that, ‘decisions on the ‘change of use´ for all agricultural lands, independent of their usage, shall be taken exclusively by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in agreement with The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine´.
The Cabinet of Ministers may take decisions on changing the intended purpose of agricultural lands for the following requirements:
Construction of buildings and structures to be used by State Authorities and Local Governments;
Construction of buildings, structures and other State-owned industrial facilities;
Nature preservation and other nature protection sites;
Cases of Diplomatic or similar representation of Foreign States and International Organisations, etc.
A new Clause is added to the Criminal Code as follows: ‘use of agricultural lands for unintended commercial purposes, and not for agricultural production, shall be punished by a fine equal to five to one hundred thousand non-taxable minimum incomes, or by a custodial sentence between three and five years. The same offence committed by a person, or a group of persons, previously charged of a crime defined in this clause, will be punished by a custodial sentence between five and fifteen years´.