Minister Solskyi about "gray" schemes of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences: State land was illegally leased for cash
Kyiv • UNN
Mykola Solsky states that the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine illegally leased state land and received money for it. In many cases, it could not even confirm its right to use these land plots.
The National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine illegally leased state land and received cash for it. In many cases, however, the NAAS and its state-owned enterprises could not even confirm their right to use these land plots. In an interview with Forbes, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky told how the mechanism of "gray" land schemes of "scientists" worked, UNN reports .
Details
According to him, two of its state-owned enterprises in Sumy region are probably involved in the NAAS schemes, claiming their rights to land received by ATO participants
We must understand that the lands of Iskra and Nadiia are part of the Agrarian Academy of Sciences. This academy is a vestige of the Soviet Union. Having a large stock of land, it leases it out in 90% of cases through "gray" schemes. At the same time, they cannot lease land, but must cultivate it themselves. They have no right to use it, I am absolutely sure of that. What do you mean they couldn't re-register? For some reason, they managed to accept cash for 25 years so that others could cultivate this land, but they could not register it? They tried to make documentation that did not meet the requirements of the law
He added that the two state-owned enterprises were unable to document their right to use these land plots.
"Back in 2017, at the initiative of MPs, an inspection of these lands was initiated. The inspection revealed that these companies had no right to use these land plots. Because these state-owned enterprises did not have rights to the land plots, the StateGeoCadastre classified them as state-owned reserve land. And then, in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers' order, it transferred the free land plots to ATO participants as part of free privatization," Solsky said.
According to Solsky, a certain chaos in the consolidation of land rights has led to such situations. Moreover, specific people are interested in the NAAS's "gray" schemes. To avoid such stories in the future, the NAAS should be deprived of the right to use state land.
"The fact is that such cases are not uncommon, and the lack of a total inventory of land, in particular by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, today leads to disputes such as whose land is whose, who has the right to use it, and who is actually its manager.
There may be a lot of documents and letters, you can write them every day, but their number and content will not in any way give rise to the right to use the land, as the legislator has clearly defined that the right is confirmed exclusively by a state act.
It was harder to pass laws on the Agrarian Academy in the Rada than on land reform. Because behind all these enterprises are specific beneficiaries in many bodies. For example, this year, a law will come into effect that requires all the land of the Agrarian Academy of Sciences (NAAS) to be auctioned off on Prozorro. There was huge resistance against it.
Therefore, the Agrarian Academy in its current form will become a thing of the past. My opinion here coincides with the entire market. This should have been done a long time ago," summarized the Minister of Agrarian Policy.
Context
NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors served Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi with a notice of suspicion of allegedly organizing a scheme to seize 2,500 hectares of NAAS land.
Solsky himself saysthat the circumstances of seven years ago relate to the period of his lawyer's activity, long before his appointment as minister. His defense lawyers claim that Solsky did not benefit from the fact that ATO soldiers acquired the right to the land.
In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that Iskra and Nadiia had no legal grounds to claim the land that ATO participants had received.
"During the consideration of the case, the courts of previous instances found that there were no state acts for the right to permanent use of land plots both for SE Iskra, SE Nadiia and the companies whose legal successors they are.
In addition, the courts found that the decisions on granting the disputed land plots for permanent use to SE Iskra and SE Nadiia, in accordance with the procedure established by the Land Code of Ukraine, were not made at the time of filing a lawsuit," reads the decision of the panel of judges of the Commercial Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court of August 5, 2019
