Viktor wants to sell his land
After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., those who worked on collective farms in Ukraine were awarded plots of land from their government as compensation. Roughly 32 million hectares of arable land were given to seven million of Ukraine citizens. The government also introduced a “one-year” moratorium on selling that land. Nineteen years later, the moratorium is still in place. The landowners have aged. Many are now retired. And they want to sell their land.
Viktor’s parents had worked for many years on a Soviet collective farm, and as recompense for their years of labor, they were granted 3.5 hectares of farmland by the Ukrainian government in 2001, but they were tool old to work it. Like them, many of the recipients of the land are now retired. Nearly a million have already died, including Viktor’s parents.
Viktor felt that he was an “owner” in name only because he couldn’t utilize his property in any meaningful way. He couldn’t even locate the exact location of his plot of land in a vast field. Therefore he started a legal fight to sale his land.
