30.10.2019
Selected aspects of public attitudes toward the Land Issue
- According to a survey conducted by Rating Group on October 24–27, 2019, about one quarter of respondents reported owning a land share (land plot): 6% cultivate it themselves, while 17% lease it out. Land-share owners are most common in the West, among rural residents, and older age groups.
- 70% of land-share owners say that if the agricultural land market is introduced, they will continue cultivating or leasing their land; 16% intend to sell it.
- The main reasons for not cultivating land independently are lack of financial resources and health conditions (primarily age-related), cited by more than a quarter of respondents. Other reasons—having alternative income, lack of knowledge/skills for farming, or living in another locality—were mentioned by 10–12%.
- The majority of land-share owners (73%) believe the current lease price is unfair; only 15% consider it fair.
- 42% think the lease price for agricultural land should be set by the state, while 38% believe it should be determined by the market; about one fifth are undecided. Market-based regulation is more often supported by land-share owners who cultivate their land themselves and by those who consider their lease price fair. Younger respondents tend to favor the market, older respondents state regulation. Support for market pricing is strongest among voters of Holos and European Solidarity.
- 18% would rather engage in farming, 75% would not, and about 3% say they are already farmers. Among land-share owners who cultivate their land themselves, more than a quarter are farmers.
- More than half (53%) do not support lifting the moratorium on the purchase/sale of agricultural land; 31% support it. Nearly half of supporters are land-share owners who cultivate their land themselves.
- More than half believe a land market can be introduced in Ukraine: 22% favor opening it as soon as possible, 10% in one year, and 21% in several years. At the same time, 28% oppose introducing a land market at any time.
- A clear majority (69%) oppose allowing foreigners to buy land at any time. Only 7% support this in the near term, 4% in one year, and 8% in several years. Even among those who support opening the land market, half oppose sales to foreigners.
- 68% believe that once the market opens, land should be sold to farmers who work the land; 61% to all Ukrainian citizens; and about 40% to state companies and domestic agribusiness holdings. Support for selling agricultural land to foreigners or foreign companies is around 10% (with 82% opposed). Over the past two months, acceptance of sales to farmers, Ukrainian citizens, and state companies has increased. Younger respondents are more accepting of all potential market participants.
- 70% believe land-share owners should have the right to sell or gift land exclusively to domestic companies or Ukrainian citizens. About two thirds support Ukrainians’ right to freely purchase agricultural land. 60% approve allowing land-share owners to use their land as collateral for bank loans. A similar share (57%) supports caps on the maximum area of agricultural land that one person can own. These ideas are more strongly supported by younger respondents and by those who own and cultivate land shares.
- The idea of transferring state-owned land to amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs), granting them the right to manage it at their discretion (sell, lease, etc.), is supported by 38% and opposed by 33%.
- Respondents are more likely to oppose increasing the land tax to boost local budgets (48% against, 22% for) and oppose allowing land-share owners to sell land to all buyers, including foreign entities (71% against, 16% for).
Methodology
- Audience: Population of Ukraine aged 18 and older.
- Sampling: Representative by age, gender, region, and type of settlement.
- Method: Face-to-face formalized interviews.
- Margin of error: Not more than 2.2%.
- Fieldwork period:October 24–27, 2019.
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