It's time to withdraw Ukrainian land from corrupt management of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences and give it to the Armed Forces - expert
Kyiv • UNN
The National Academy of Agrarian Sciences disposes of significant land assets, creating the basis for corruption schemes; it is time to withdraw land that is not used for scientific purposes and transfer it to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
For many years, the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences has been disposing of significant land assets, which has created grounds for corruption schemes. Now is the time to withdraw the land that is not used for research purposes and transfer it to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was stated by political scientist Ruslan Bortnik in an exclusive commentary to UNN.
The problem is that the National Academy of Sciences operates with significant land and production assets, and control over its activities is conditional. These large assets, multiplied by the dishonesty of some of our science officials, really create huge corruption risks
According to him, the most common schemes that are "walking around the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences" are the understatement of the value of land that is leased, the reduction of its volume, and the understatement of the value of the transfer of other assets into the hands of agricultural producers and large holding companies. This, in turn, generates huge shadow profits, the expert added.
"It seems to me that it is time for the state to withdraw the land that is not needed by the National Academy of Sciences, which it does not use for its research purposes, but leases out, to withdraw it into state ownership and sell it at an open auction or transfer it to the same soldiers of the Armed Forces, divide it up, or use it for state commodity production of crops needed by the state. It is obvious that these assets under the leadership of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences are often used inefficiently and corruptly, they do not serve the interests of the Ukrainian people and the state," Bortnik said.
Recall
In August 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine transferred 25 state-owned enterprises that were previously subordinated to the National Academy of Sciences to the State Property Fund. The main value of these enterprises is their land bank. The SPFU plans to put these lands up for public auctions on Prozzoro.Sale. The first auctions are to be held in 2024.
