Ukraine: Protesting farmers urge Kiev to maintain ban on sale of arable land

Around 300 farmers gathered outside the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) in Kiev on Thursday, to demand the extension of a moratorium on the sale of agricultural land. The protest, organised by the All-Ukrainian Committee for Native Land Defence, saw activists carry banners reading "Don't kill farmers on their land" and "Farmers from Zhashkov region against the sale of land." Protesters are worried that if Kiev abolishes the moratorium on the sale of farmland, state-owned agricultural holdings could be sold to private business at auction, thus threatening farmers' livelihoods. Currently, all agricultural land in Ukraine is privately owned by citizens. The ban on disposal of agricultural land was first introduced in 2004 and prolonged at the end of 2012, for three more years - until January 1. President Petro Poroshenko has supported a proposal to lift the ban on the sale of agricultural land.