Institutional traps of land reform in the context of sustainable development of communities and territories
Authors: Zakharchenko V.I. 
Published: July 2023

The article considers topical issues of institutional support of land reform in Ukraine in the context of sustainable development of communities and territories. The purpose of the research is to disclose the content of key institutional traps of the land market in the context of sustainable development of communities and territories of Ukraine (primarily rural) taking into account the challenges of martial law. It is shown that the land is not only an operational basis for the creation of villages, cities, agglomerations, resettlement systems; this is also an important factor in agricultural production. The necessity of transformation of old and creation of new institutions or "rules of the game" in the field of land relations and agricultural production for sustainable development of communities and territories is substantiated. It is noted that among these institutions there are also those that produce negative results. V.M. Polterovich defines them as institutional traps. Institutional traps that appeared as a result of the transfer of agricultural land of state ownership to the communal. The problem manifestations that they have or can have in the aspect of sustainable development of communities and territories, especially in the conditions of martial law, are analyzed, namely: inversion and unconstitutional procedure for transferring land from state property to communal property; simplification of the scheme of transfer of land to private ownership; increasing manifestations of land corruption at the local level; inefficiency of communication in land issues of local self-government, business and state; weakening state control over land use and protection; inconsistency of land management and planning documentation within the framework of a comprehensive plan for spatial development of communities; lack of financial support for inventory of land in communities; land use is not for the intended purpose; uncertainty with the payment of land in the event of a change in the purpose of the land plot; threat of overstatement or understatement of land prices; strengthening the differentiation of territorial communities by the value of land assets and their financial capacity; lack of state support for agricultural producers; reduction of efficiency of small agricultural producers; strengthening the negative impact of agricultural holdings on the sustainable development of rural areas; the disappearance of villages and furization rural settlement network. Ways of avoiding and smoothing the negative consequences of institutional traps related to transactions on the transfer of agricultural land outside settlements to communal property are proposed. The emphasis is on increasing the role of state bodies in the regulation of land relations at the local level and the practical implementation of the concept of integrated development of communities and territories.
Key words: land reform, form of ownership of land (state, communal, private), market turnover of agricultural land, institute, institutional trap, territory, territorial community, sustainable development.