Farms, where a part of the permanent land use was divided among members, faced the impossibility of registering the remaining plot. Due to the discrepancy in the area in the documents, state registrars refuse registration, leaving the only way out through a judicial process. The problem was described by lawyer-expert Yaroslava Ovcharenko of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Farmers.
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According to her, the situation arises when a part of the original permanent land plot was allocated to individual members or founders of the farm in the form of shares. The remainder continues to be in permanent use, but in the documents – the state act – the original, larger area is still indicated.
When the farm or its legal successors try to register the right to this remainder, the registrar sees a discrepancy between the area in the act and the one declared for registration. Without a documentary explanation of how and when the area changed, the registrar refuses to carry out registration actions. Establishing this chain of legal facts today can only be done through a court.
The complexity is exacerbated by the fact that partitioning often took place decades ago, decisions were poorly preserved or lost altogether, and current owners or heirs may simply not know the details of this process. Even if the allocated shares were schematically marked in the state act, registrars do not consider this sufficient evidence.
Deputy Head of the StateGeoCadastre Igor Kyryluk explained the technical side of the issue. Since the issuance of state acts has been suspended since 2013, any plot for the registration of rights must first be entered into the state land cadastre. For plots with documents issued before 2013, there is a mechanism for entry through technical documentation with the establishment or restoration of boundaries on-site. However, if the area in the act does not match the actual one, even this mechanism does not automatically solve the problem.
The Congress of Farmers proposes to develop an additional mechanism to confirm the remaining area to avoid mandatory court proceedings in each such case. In particular, the option of introducing a special document form that would record the fact of partitioning and the remaining area based on available decisions and materials is being considered. Kyryluk and Ovcharenko agreed to hold a separate explanatory webinar for farmers on the technical mechanisms for entering such plots into the cadastre.