Permanent complaints on socio-economic situation in rural areas and the available disappointing statistics have become a sort of background for any discussions about the “fate” of Ukrainian villages. Small wonder, but according to the Institute for Rural Development, 37,5% of employable rural residents (almost 3 million people) have no permanent jobs. It should be noted that almost a third of the Ukrainian population lives in countryside.

Кyiv. 18 July. UNIAN. Svatove rayon authorities in Luhansk oblast will purchase agricultural produce primarily from small-scale producers (private plot holders, small-scale farmers etc.), Deputy Director of Institute for Rural Development Alexandre Tsepko said to ForUm

High unemployment rate is a major problem rural residents are facing today. As a result, 60% of rural population have their incomes below poverty level. Remuneration of employed rural people is around 48% of average salary in Ukraine. As is well known, this is below the level of moderate means.

The Law “On Obligatory State Pension Insurance” came into force 3 January 2004. The law introduced a new notion “record of insurance” instead of “record of service”. From now on when calculating pension not only length of service but also the period of insurance payment to the Pension Fund and the corresponding salary will be taken into account. Another law, “On Private Plot Holding”, that was adopted last year, provides for the following: PPH members belong to the category of employed population if work on such holdings is their main job, and estimated monthly income per PPH member equals or exceeds minimum salary amount. In addition, the Law sets forth that PPH members are subject to pension provision

Among numerous rural problems in Ukraine there is a specific issue of disputes and conflicts related to sharing of property of former collective agricultural enterprises (CAEs). Time and again such disputes between property share holders come to a deadlock. But even in case of their court consideration the execution of relevant court decisions takes plenty of time. Third party arbitration can be an alternative dispute resolution for rural residents.

Unemployed peasants will have a chance to receive interest-free loans for farming. This statement was made by the Institute for Rural Development expert Nadezhda Timoshenko. According to Ms. Timoshenko, interest-free crediting, including that of PPH members, will be possible provided the adoption of the Law “On modifications to be introduced to the Law of Ukraine “On obligatory state social insurance in case of unemployment” by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The Law of Ukraine «On Private Plot Holding” will promote land use.

Rural dispute resolution will be simplified.

The problem of small producers is not new. Nevertheless, it remains acute. Particularly, this refers to agricultural producers, i.e. owners of private plot households, small and medium-sized farms. Lack of marketing skills and poor market information make small producers unable to compete with large agribusinesses on the market. This is happening in the situation when the share of small producers in overall agricultural production makes 60% to 80% (depending on type of produce).

According to Deputy Director of NGO “Institute for Rural Development” Alexandre Tsepko, late in July, Vladimir Prosin, Head of Svatove Rayon State Administration in Luhansk Oblast signed an order providing for priority to be given to small-scale producers (private plot holders, small-scale farmers etc.) when purchasing agricultural produce for local public sector entities (hospitals, nurseries, schools etc.).