Legalization of harmful plowing of degraded land (draft law #12058)
Draft law #12058, co-authored by the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Oleksandra Hrydu, along with MPs Artem Chornomorov and Maryna Nikitina, introduces provisions allowing the cultivation of energy and oil crops on degraded, low-productivity, and technogenically contaminated lands for biofuel production, and potentially for food purposes as well.
Critics argue that the initiative effectively legalizes the continued plowing of lands that should be withdrawn from agricultural use due to exhaustion or environmental hazard. In doing so, it undermines the very concept of land conservation as a process of ecological restoration and return to a natural state. This concern has been emphasized by experts from the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group.
At the same time, the cultivation of oil and energy crops may further intensify soil degradation, contribute to erosion, and require significant amounts of fertilizers and water. The proposed use of contaminated lands—including those affected by war—also raises potential health risks.
The authors of the draft law propose 10-year lease agreements at minimal rates, along with state subsidies to support monoculture expansion of crops such as sunflower, rapeseed, willow, and others.
Overall, the draft law raises concerns about corruption risks and is seen by critics as transforming a nature conservation measure into a mechanism for cheap industrial exploitation of land rather than genuine ecological restoration.
Bill information page on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
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