Ivan Drohobetskyi, head of the Polyanska AH of the Zakarpattya Oblast, proposes to the Parliament to authorise the change of the intended use of abandoned land plots.

Speaking at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre within the framework of the “Speakers of Hromadas” project, Ivan Drohobetskyi, head of Polyanska AH of the Zakarpattya Oblast, drew attention to the land problem in his region.

“About half of the land shares belonging to people are not cultivated now,” said Mr. Drohobetskyi. “Most of them are on mountain slopes, remote from the settlements. Many people who received these land shares have already died, and their descendants are in no hurry to cultivate the land. Probably, in Kyiv they think that it goes about 5-hectare land shares. There is not so much land in the Zakarpattya Oblast. Here people usually received 90 hundred parts of land, scattered on four or five different mountains. Now these lands are overgrown with grass and forest. In my opinion, the Verkhovna Rada should decide on the change of intended use for such abandoned sites.

The head of the Polyanska amalgamated hromada also drew attention to the unresolved issue of land outside the settlements.

“When we were moving towards amalgamation, we were promised to have the right to dispose of these lands,” he says. “But the relevant draft law has not been adopted by the MPs. It passed only the first reading. If we talk about hromada development, we must go beyond the boundaries of settlements, there is no other way. Therefore, I appeal to all MPs. Decentralisation cannot be partial. It’s true, we were given the powers, but we still do not have all the resources.”