Ukrainian State Property Fund creates first state agricultural land operator

MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian State Property Fund has finished corporatizing the state Agrarian Investment Fund enterprise and turning it into the first state agricultural land operator, State Land Bank LLC, Ukrainian media reported, quoting a statement on the government website.

The LLC is wholly state-owned. Its creation is the final stage of the Land Bank project ahead of the official launch of the first online auctions for the lease of state land.

"We have come a long way in reforming the state land market, from regulatory changes and creating the first land bank operator to re-registering the first land pool and corporatizing the enterprise. This is unique in Ukraine, because for the first time a state enterprise has turned into an LLC, 100% owned by the state," SPF Vitaly Koval was quoted as saying.

The head of the State Land Bank, Yaroslav Yaroslavsky, pointed to the economic advantages of the project, including a change in the mechanism for use of land parcels. He said that instead of 1% of the standard monetary assessment for permanent use, the rental rate will now be 12%. This will boost budget revenues at least 12-fold.

The government said it was confident State Land Bank LLC would make better use of state land, increase budget revenue and make conditions transparent for all market participants.