In accordance to the instruction of the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman, by decisions of the State Land Agency of Ukraine, the first phase of activities on reformation of the sphere of land relations in Ukraine, has been implemented. The activities are intended to insure transparency of land relations and expand the competencies of local councils.

For instance, starting from October 15, 2014, it is mandatory to take the opinion of local self-government bodies into account in matters concerning disposal of lands with agricultural intended use, which belong to state property. When an issue of transfer of ownership or usage rights for land plots with agricultural intended use, which belong to state property, is considered, territorial land resources authorities shall request village, settlement, city councils (according to the land plot location) to express their opinions as to the possibility of permission for development of land surveying documentation, based on which the land plots in question can be transferred into ownership or usage.

In order to enable local self-government bodies to exercise their responsibilities, new mechanisms are introduced to provide these bodies with relevant information from the State land cadastre. As part of a pilot project, online acces to information on lands will be provided. 50 village, settlement and city councils will be involved in pilot project implementation. The lists of these councils are to be coordinated with associations of local self-government bodies of Ukraine.

In order to ensure transparency of land relations, starting from October 15 of this year, the rights for land plots intended for marketable agricultural production will be sold on competitive basis. The information on the list of such plots and results of open public auctions will be regularly published on the official web-site of the State land agency of Ukraine.

In order to simplify the procedures of registration of rights for land plots, it is intended to complete an automated transfer of data on 1.5 million land plots, registered in the State register of lands prior to January 1, 2013, to the State register of property rights, before the end of this year. With dynamics of replenishment of the State land cadastre with the information on such land plots taken into account, the data on 1.7 to 1.8 million of land plots can be transferred to the register. This will greatly simplify the procedures of registration of rights for owners of these plots.

Presently, the land department, whose activity is steered by the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman, is developing a series of draft laws, targeted at implementation of a broad spectrum of issues concerning reformation of land relations sphere based on the principles of transparency, competitiveness, and accessibility of information on lands for general public. The draft laws will facilitate prevention of corruption, increase of icome of local budgets, authority decentralization support, rising efficiency of territorial planning and improved quality of managerial decisions.