Corruption risks in the sphere of land relations and directions of their minimization
Authors: Rykovska Oksana 
Published: December 2021

The purpose of the article is to identify corruption risks in the field of land relations, identify specific factors confirming the existence of a corruption component in agricultural land use to create a system of preventive measures and establish regulatory fuses, limit corruption influence on land transactions and protect human rights. Research methods. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: analysis and synthesis (to determine the sources of corruption schemes in the field of land relations); correlation analysis (to establish the relationship between corruption and land use concentration); empirical (on the study of the consequences of corruption offenses in the field of land relations) and abstract-logical (to summarize the conclusions and formulate proposals). Research results. Identification of the main sources of corruption schemes in the field of agricultural land use contributes to the development of effective methods to combat these offenses. According to research by foreign scholars, the system of preventing abuse of office and obtaining illegal benefits by officials at all levels of government is built through: overcoming the monopoly, as the exclusive right of government agencies to carry out and control land transactions; clear legislative regulation of mechanisms of purchase and sale and other transactions with agricultural land; introduction of mechanisms of publicity, transparency and information openness in the land market. Disclosure of intentions to conduct land transactions, opening of operations, dissemination of information on approved agreements will reduce the interest of corrupt officials and protect legal actions. In addition to the types of corruption in the field of agricultural land use identified by the NACP, specific factors are outlined that confirm the existence of a corruption component, including: 1) conclusion of large land agreements (concentration of land use); 2) investment flows into land assets from offshore zones; 3) discretionary powers of a single body of executive power in the field of disposal of agricultural land. The establishment of regulatory safeguards on additional to generally accepted factors of corruption will limit the corrupt impact on land transactions and protect the rights of low-income people, small landholdings and other types of socio-economic exclusion. Scientific novelty сonsists in substantiating the need to single out large land agreements (concentration of land use) as transactions with significant corruption risk, when developing mechanisms to combat corruption at the national level. Practical significance. Addendum to the draft Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2021-2025 in terms of identifying key issues in the field of land relations by developing a special mechanism for concluding large agreements (land use concentration) with mandatory verification of sources of funds, verification of information on ultimate beneficial owners and verification of corporate structure permanent monitoring of the impact of concentrated land use on the observance of the rights of the local population and preservation of the environment will become an effective preventive anti-corruption measure in the field of land relations. Figs.: 3. Refs.: 27.