KYIV, Oct 4 – The bill on agricultural land turnover in Ukraine should be passed in 2018, the World Bank has said.

According to the World Bank's Special Focus Note on reforming land markets in Ukraine, the key design principles of the bill on agricultural land turnover should be the provision of individuals, legal entities s (with temporary restrictions), municipalities and the state with the right to buy land. Banks can own foreclosed land temporarily; they need to liquidate via e-auction within a certain time frame.

The World Bank said that safeguards in the bill should be the following: no foreign ownership; minimum price; temporary maximum size limit of land ownership for individuals & legal entities; limit on concentration ownership/control; and transparent land management plans for state and communal land.