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Ukraine’s farm land market is to start July 2021, according to a new law signed on April 28 by President Zelenskiy​. “This is a historic moment for all Ukrainians and for me personally,” Zelenskiy said on signing the bill. “Ukraine has been waiting for this law since independence.” The law bans sales to foreigners and limits sales to Ukrainians to 100 hectares. On January 1, 2024, this limit is to expanded to 10,000. Allowing foreigners and companies with foreign capital to buy land is to only be decided in a national referendum.
Former Odessa governor and ex-Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was offered the job of deputy prime minister responsible for reforms ​by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but he was unable to raise enough support for the confirmation by the Rada amongst his Servant of the People (SOTP) fraction, according to reports. As April came to an end Zelenskiy was backtracking and said Saakashvili will act as a special advisor to the president, but have no formal post. Saakashvili is a polarising figure in Ukraine, but Zelenskiy proposal could be seen as an attempt by the president to both shore up his popular support and also distance himself from oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky by bringing a total outsider.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko fired the heads of the new State Customs Service and of the State Tax service and their top deputies ​on April 24​. “​They lost the trust of people and must leave,” said Marchenko, who on March 30 became Ukraine’s third finance minister in one month. Both officials had about eight months on the job.
Max Nefyodov, the fired head of Customs, is an internationally respected anti-corruption fighter.​ He worked for five years at Dragon Capital, then for five years as a deputy Economy Minister, where he directed the creation of the ProZorro online government procurement platform. Serhii Verlanov, the ousted head of the tax service, is a familiar face to foreign investors, giving online briefings in recent weeks to the American Chamber of Commerce and the European Business Association.
Olha Buslavets, a veteran energy ministry official, was appointed by the cabinet on April 17 as acting minister of energy and environmental protection​, the ​pravda.com.ua​ news site reported, citing an anonymous source in the cabinet. She has ties to PM Denys Shmyhal andbillionaire Rinat Akhmetov, the owner of DTEK Holdings, the ​pravda.com.ua​ news site reported. “The urgent resolution of systemic problems in energy is an issue of national security and I am conscious of the key role of the minister position in this time. During the week, a list of measures will be formed that the energy sector needs immediately. These measures will be aimed at technical, fuel and economic balancing of the energy sector,” she said in a statement.
Ukraine has climbed into the top quarter of nations in the world for budget transparency​. Of 117 countries, Ukraine ranks in 26th place, according to the Open Budget Rankings, an annual score compiled by the International Budget Partnership. Based on 109 indicators, Ukraine’s latest ranking is a huge improvement since 2015, when the nation ranked in 57th place.
Vladislav Manger, the head of the Kherson Regional Council, was confirmed by Ukrainian law enforcement authorities in statements published on April 27 to have organized the murder of Kateryna Handziuk​, a civic activist in Kherson who had worked closely with Western-financed NGO community. The determination of Manger’s guilt and the close of pre-trial investigations was announced by the Security Service of Ukraine and Prosecutor General’s Office. “All the materials are ready. SBU employees worked with professionalism and gathered evidence that offers the possibility to prove clearly the prosecution’s case in court. I hope this case will
10​ UKRAINE Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com