There appeared the first amalgamated hromada of Cherkasy Oblast, which has already begun the process of transferring state-owned land outside settlements to the communal ownership of the AH. On 8 February, Liplyavska AH signed a memorandum with the StateGeoCadastre.

“The issue of transfer of land within hromadas has been very acute since the beginning of the reform. Previously, we were assisting 11 AHs of the region to prepare an appeal to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and MPs regarding the adoption of a resolution that would allow them to dispose of land outside settlements,” says Serhiy Slynko, director of the Cherkasy Local Government Development Centre, established with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme and MinRegion. “And so far, this has led to situations when a developer or landowner appeared on the AH territory, started work there, and the hromada could not influence it at all.”

“Resolving the issue of transfer of land to AHs will allow us to control its use, prevent raider attacks, establish order in the procedure of land rent payment, increase social contribution of land tenants to hromada development,” believes Volodymyr Mitsuk, head of the Bilozirska AH, head of the Cherkasy Oblast Department of the All-Ukrainian Association of Village and Rural Settlement Councils. “We have little land outside settlements left, but we can transfer it to the investor and bring benefits to the hromada. This governmental step has long been awaited by all AHs of Ukraine.”

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