The President is asked to veto a bill to protect the interests of shareholders

Draft Law No. 11150 is intended to regulate the protection of the rights of owners of land shares, amend the regulation of land relations in times of war and bring legislative acts in the field of land relations in line with the Law of Ukraine "On Administrative Procedure". On May 22, this law in the version proposed for the second reading was adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine and then sent to the President of Ukraine for signature.

The EBA experts generally support the adoption of this draft law, as it should simplify and improve the regulation of land relations.

At the same time, in the process of preparing this draft law for the second reading in the Verkhovna Rada, additional provisions were introduced to regulate the legal status of land under the waters of seaports, in particular, in terms of distinguishing between municipal and state ownership of such land and determining the bodies authorized to dispose of such land.

The vast majority of additional provisions were also supported by the business community. However, some of the proposals related to the land under the seaport areas caused very serious concerns and comments from EBA members.

We are talking only about those provisions of the draft law that relate to the legal status and procedure for allocating land under the waters of seaports, which are partially located within and partially outside the territories of the respective territorial communities (including outside any administrative-territorial units). In particular, the draft law classified such lands as municipal property of the territorial communities on whose territory they are partially located and empowered local governments to dispose of such lands.

According to the EBA experts, this provision creates legal uncertainty regarding the procedure for allocating such land. This situation will lead to the fact that the mentioned seaports and the business entities operating in them will be put in unequal and non-competitive conditions for development and investment compared to those seaports whose waters are fully covered by the boundaries of the respective territorial communities, which is unacceptable.

The European Business Association appealed to the President of Ukraine with a proposal to veto this law and return it to the Parliament for revision, but only in terms of those provisions that relate to the legal status and procedure for allocating land under the waters of seaports that are fully or partially located outside the boundaries of administrative-territorial units. We hope for your attention to our appeal!