Land Bank. The State and the Agrarians: Who Scrambled Whom?

“Land Bank is a unique opportunity for tens of thousands of Ukrainians to start or develop their own business. A business that will operate under clear and transparent rules: land lease for up to 14 or up to 25 years through an open auction… This is a Win-Win. The state and citizens win: the budget is replenished, jobs are created, business grows.”

Such attractive advertising hangs on the site of the State Property Fund, which in August 2024 contributed to the creation of the LLC “State Land Bank.” The enterprise appeared through the corporatization of the state enterprise “Fund of Agricultural Investments” and launched the market of lease of state agricultural lands through online auctions.

As of 1 November 2026 year, the State Land Bank had 1149 sublease contracts covering a total area of 69,2 thousand hectares. The total rent under the existing contracts amounted to 1,2 billion UAH.

Another 30 thousand hectares of agricultural land, as confirmed by acting director of LLC “State Land Bank” Andriy Vydyborets in discussions with lawmakers of the profile committee, are located in the frontline zone, mined or forested. That is, they are not used for their intended purpose.

Acting director of LLC “State Land Bank” Andriy Vydyborets (circled) reports on the use of state agricultural lands.

screenshot from an online meeting of the agricultural subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada.

Now a bit of different arithmetic. In two years of work, the State Land Bank has had three heads and four chairmen of the supervisory board. Moreover, one of the former chairmen of the supervisory board, Oleksandr Vasylchenko, fell into the “Mindikhet files” – he was attributed as a curator in the State Property Fund’s agricultural direction.

Today the State Land Bank is again in turmoil. In particular, the enterprise is suing 100 agricultural holding tenants over rent arrears for land. Simultaneously, in a not entirely transparent way, the head of the supervisory board Irina Ivanova was removed, after nine months in office.

“Gblkom” untangled the knot of conflicts around the Land Bank and investigated how (in)effective the use of state agricultural land is.

Real and virtual debts.

4 November at the meeting of the subcommittee on economic and financial policy in the agro-industrial complex of the Verkhovna Rada, the leadership of LLC “State Land Bank” reported on unscrupulous subtenants.

According to their data, by the end of September 2026 year debts for non-payment of rent reached 74 million UAH. In turn, the State Land Bank issued astronomical bills to farmers: 338,1 million UAH in fines, 61,4 million UAH in penalties, and 13,6 million UAH in interest.

By the end of September 2026 year debts for non-payment of rent to LLC “State Land Bank” reached 74 million UAH.

data: LLC “State Land Bank”

The total amount of financial claims by the state amounted to almost half a billion hryvnias!

data: LLC “State Land Bank”

“State Land Bank was created as an auxiliary body for farmers to collect taxes for the state. Instead, today it somehow turned into a punitive measure,” — exclaimed a member of parliament from the profile committee, Dmytro Solomchuk.

In the opinion of another deputy, the head of the subcommittee on economic and financial policy in the agro-industrial complex Artyom Chornomorov, a kind of anchor dragging farmers down who joined a cooperation with the State Land Bank is the established value of rent for agricultural land. It is about 40-45 thousand UAH per hectare per year.

“A price of 45 thousand UAH per hectare cannot stand in a contract. There is no culture in the world (we even monitored illegal cultures at prices of the “black market”) that can be grown and then sold in Ukraine or abroad and yield 45 thousand UAH of rent per hectare,” stated the politician.

The phenomenon of a high rent size was explained in plain language by the invited representative of the All-Ukrainian Agricultural Council (VAR) Mykhailo Sokolov. According to him, the land lots of LLC “State Land Bank” are interesting to farmers who want to prevent competitors on those territories where they already operate. And they cover the high rent by funds obtained from cultivating other of their own plots: “This is not about the economy, but about eliminating competition.”

By the way, in June “Gblkom” conducted an interview with the head of the State Property Fund, Dmytro Natalukha, who essentially admitted: the rent for agricultural land through online auctions is higher than market prices: “Sometimes they (land rent prices — Gblkom) exceeded all expectations, but this is an auction: if such money is paid, the market has shown that such a price is quite justified.”

In a conversation with “Gblkom,” legal advisor Ruslan Sokol explains what officials do not say: the problem of economically unjustified rent arose long before the current crisis. And it concerns not only state lands but also lands of territorial communities, where bids at auctions also reached 40-45 thousand UAH per hectare. Today there are also statements of refusal to rent there.

The reason for such results, says Sokol, was not only the fight to prevent competitors, but also a simple lack of economic knowledge and managerial calculation. Some participants perceived victory at the auction as an end in itself, not considering whether the land can provide economic return sufficient to pay the proposed rent.

“I personally had to speak with such winners. When asked about the economics of the future management, they only shrugged: ‘It will be fine. The main thing is we won the auction.’ At the same time, there is a fundamental difference between renting a single expensive plot in a large farm and creating production on such a plot from scratch. In the first case, the overall profitability of the farm may mask losses on a particular plot, but it does not change its economic essence: it generates additional losses, requires production costs, equipment, labor resources, and working time, not providing proper yield. In the second case, when such a plot becomes the basis of a new farm, excessive rent can lead to complete financial collapse and bankruptcy,” Sokol explained.

There is another problem raised in the conversation with “Gblkom” by Deputy Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agricultural Council Denys Marchuk. It concerns the target designation of lands that are subleased. The thing is that many agricultural lands that went through auctions of the State Land Bank previously belonged to the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and were used for breeding needs and scientific research.

There are numerous cases, Marchuk says, when winners of the auction begin sowing fields, and prosecutors come with claims that the procedure of using these lands was violated since they were originally allocated for science, not for wide cultivation of crops like sunflower, soy, or wheat.

A vivid example is part of the lots of LLC “State Land Bank,” which 29 October was put up for ProZorro. Sales. The state seeks tenants for 14 years to cultivate agricultural land in Kharkiv region with a target designation… for propaganda of advanced farming experience!

data: ProZorro. Sales.

data: ProZorro. Sales.

This is the very case with the target designation that VAR representative Marchuk drew attention to. And he added: during the period of absence of export of agricultural products abroad, the State Land Bank should cancel penalties for agribusiness.

“Today we are facing a difficult situation. On the one hand, since about July 2026, farmers have practically been deprived of the opportunity to export the harvested crop due to Russia blocking the sea route (according to lawmakers from the profile committee, in September 2026 year Ukraine exported 6 million tonnes of grain with a monthly plan of 20 million tonnes – Gblkom). On the other hand, agribusinesses that won auctions for the use of state-owned agricultural land now have problems paying rent,” noted Denys Marchuk.

A legal advisor Ruslan Sokol adds: a separate anti-crisis legislative initiative is needed, which would provide for changes to the Land Code of Ukraine and other relevant laws. It concerns, above all, the creation of a legal mechanism to revise the terms of already concluded lease and sublease agreements for state and communal lands, establishing in a defined transitional period economically justified lower and upper bounds of rent for such agreements, and restructuring accumulated debt.

“Better moderate rent that steadily goes to the budget than record rates on paper that turn into debts and lawsuits,” concludes the expert.

Earthquake in the Supervisory Board.

Meanwhile, dramatic events occurred in the Supervisory Board of LLC “State Land Bank.” 30 October, by a majority of votes, members of the Supervisory Board dismissed Irina Ivanova from the position of head of this body. Instead, her place was taken by another Supervisory Board member, former Minister of Economy and ex-chair of the National Bank Council Bohdan Danilyshin. This is his second “appearance” in the chair of the Supervisory Board of the Land Bank. In December 2024 year he managed only a month and resigned as head and as a member of the Supervisory Board.

As former head of the Supervisory Board Irina Ivanova told “Gblkom,” a day before her removal there was a meeting with the head of the State Property Fund Dmytro Natalukha. According to her, the official insisted that she voluntarily give up the chair.

30 October by a majority of votes the Supervisory Board dismissed Irina Ivanova from the post of head of this body. She says the head of the State Property Fund was involved in this.

photo: LLC “State Land Bank”/Facebook

“Natalukha reproached me for allegedly not dealing with land bonds. At the same time I know that in spring Natalukha went to the Office of the President and proposed an idea of issuing land bonds. But no one ever gave me any orders on this. Moreover, this issue was not raised at any meetings,” Ivanova emphasized.

The former head of the Supervisory Board suggests that the State Property Fund is considering a variant of changing the legal status of the State Land Bank – transforming the company into a joint-stock company. Then in the form of shares (without auctions) internal government bonds would be issued (OVDP), which large agribusinesses could buy.

“Currently in the work of the State Land Bank there is a tendency not to sublease lands but to reduce the volume of land leased. For example, at one of the latest Supervisory Board meetings, acting director Andriy Vydyborets said that in 2027 year the Land Bank plans to reduce the lands available for sublease—from 69 thousand hectares to 65 thousand hectares. From his explanations it followed that many nonpayers are terminating contracts. In fact, the Land Bank’s work has boiled down to contract terminations and lawsuits against agribusinesses,” Ivanova stated.

As for the appearance at the helm of the Supervisory Board of LLC “State Land Bank” Bohdan Danilyshin, it is not accidental, says Ivanova. She noted that a powerful member of the Verkhovna Rada committee on economic development could be behind it.

By the way, that parliamentary committee for many years was chaired by Dmytro Natalukha, who in January 2026 moved to work for the State Property Fund. Now committee management is concentrated in the hands of the first deputy chair, MP from the All-Ukrainian Union “Fatherland” Serhiy Taruta.

“Moreover: the discussant on two personnel issues (termination of my authority as head and election of Danilyshin as the new head of the supervisory board) at an extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board was Artyom Glazunov. Today he owns a company (LLC LID/Oom- — “Gblkom”), which before the extraordinary elections 2019 year belonged to Dmytro Natalukha. As far as I know, Glazunov and Natalukha know each other for at least 15 years,” the former head of the Land Bank’s Supervisory Board added.

Gblkom contacted the head of the State Property Fund Natalukha and the new head of the Supervisory Board Danilyshin for comments. The newly appointed head of the Supervisory Board ignored the editors’ request. The head of the State Property Fund, however, stated his position. Dmytro Natalukha emphasized that the Supervisory Board members, by voting, independently elect and dismiss the head.

“The only thing that happened is a certain rotation in the Supervisory Board (including Danilyshin’s move to the board — Gblkom). After that, as I understand it, there arose a proposal to replace the head. Did I know that this proposal would exist? Yes. Did I speak with Ivanova? We had a conversation where I warned that there could be changes in the Supervisory Board, and the new board could make a decision to change the head. We talked so that she would be prepared for this. Did I push her to submit a resignation? Definitely not,” assured the head of the State Property Fund.

Natalukha noted that he has long been acquainted with both Ivanova and Danilyshin. He has high hopes for the latter.

Head of the State Property Fund Dmytro Natalukha (right in the photo) warmly speaks of the new head of the Supervisory Board of the State Land Bank Bohdan Danilyshin (left in the photo)

photo: Bohdan Danilyshin/Facebook

“We see further development of LLC “State Land Bank” in the area of building financial instruments. And here, Danilyshin, who was Minister of Economy and head of the NBU Council and has solid background, including teaching, as the new head of the Supervisory Board can strategically help the Land Bank and Mr. Vydyborets formulate and implement tasks regarding securitization and the issuance of land bonds, etc.” Natalukha summed up.

Financially Attractive Place.

A few words about the head of the State Land Bank and recent financial requests of the state agricultural operator. In early June this year Andriy Vydyborets became acting director. Before that he spent several months as chief accountant of the entire State Property Fund, which he joined from business.

In 2017 year Vydyborets’ surname appeared in the media with a negative aura. He was mentioned as a lustrated official of the Tax Service who, despite a change of power (the fiscal body was led by Roman Nasirov, now convicted of corruption), kept his official cabinet.

The current acting director of the Land Bank earns a significantly higher salary than his predecessor. In particular, Andriy Vydyborets takes 249 thousand UAH per month versus 192 thousand UAH that Yaroslav Yaroslavsky had.

By the way, Yaroslavsky was a full-fledged head, not acting. In 2025 year he declared 2,28 million UAH in salary from the State Land Bank.

“I wish everyone a higher salary. But that is not my decision (on the salary — “Gblkom”) and it cannot be discussed while I have an active contract,” the acting director of the State Land Bank responded to MPs’ questions at the subcommittee meeting.

In addition, at the same subcommittee meeting, Vydyborets shared interesting plans. It turned out that the Land Bank intends to spend about 10 million UAH on the purchase of four cars, computer equipment, and website development.

“From what I hear, the Land Bank’s official cars are needed so they can later be passed to the leadership of the State Property Fund for use. I’m not saying this concerns the head of the Fund,” attacked Vydyborets by member of the agricultural committee and MP from “Servant of the People” Bohdan Torokhytin.

In response, the acting director swore that this was the first time he heard this information. At the same time, according to him, there is an acute need for additional cars, since there is not enough transport for inspecting land plots (today the Land Bank has one car at its disposal)...

Vitalii Taranenko, Gblkom