The first meeting of the Land Reform Commission has ended

The first meeting of the Commission on Land Reform, created on behalf of the Head of State, was held in the building of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In accordance with the sanitary requirements, the event was attended only by members of the commission-representatives of agribusiness, associations and associations of farmers, NCE "Atameken", deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, deputy akims of regions in charge of agriculture, as well as members of the National Council of Public Trust, public figures, political scientists, journalists and bloggers. Only 30 people were present in the meeting room. Another 44 members of the commission connected remotely, via video conferencing.

Despite the quarantine restrictions, everyone was given the opportunity to speak out – the organizers demonstrated the open and transparent nature of the commission's work.

At the same time, all Kazakhstanis who are not indifferent to the topic of land reform were given a unique opportunity to observe the meeting in real time by connecting to the online broadcast on the official website and Facebook page of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In addition, for the convenience of citizens, live broadcasts were organized on the Republican TV channel "Khabar 24".

Opening the first meeting, Chairman of the Land Reform Commission, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Yeraly Tugzhanov stressed that on February 25 this year, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made a final political decision to completely ban the transfer of agricultural land to foreigners and foreign companies, stateless persons, scientific centers with international participation, as well as the spouses of foreigners and stateless persons. The relevant law will be adopted soon in Kazakhstan. Thus, the most important issue that fell under the moratorium in 2016 was removed from the agenda.

"For our people, land has always been a very important concept. In this regard, on the instructions of the Head of State, the second commission on land reform was established by the order of the Prime Minister. Its goal is to further improve the land legislation, " he said.

Then the Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov spoke about the dynamics of the work of state bodies in the field of identification, alienation and return to agricultural turnover of unused and irrationally used land, reported on the results of the implementation of the recommendations and decisions of the Land Commission in 2016, and also presented draft laws of the Ministry of Agriculture on improving the mechanisms for granting and controlling the use of agricultural land.

In the working part of the meeting, 13 members of the commission spoke, who voiced their opinions on various issues. For example, public figure M. Abenov and Senator A. Kurishbayev spoke out against the sale of land even for Kazakhstani citizens. At the same time, the president of the Republican public association "Union of Farmers of Kazakhstan" Zh.Dairabayev proposed to grant a preferential right to extend the lease for bona fide land users.

"Today, there is a right to lease land for 49 years in our country, and if the land user works conscientiously and uses it effectively, then it is necessary to provide for him a preferential right to extend the lease for use. To do this, it is necessary to make changes to the Land Code, " the speaker said.

Political scientist, member of the National Council of Public Trust R. Zhumaly, in turn, proposed to transfer agricultural land to Kazakhstanis in private ownership, but under certain conditions – in limited quantities and according to certain criteria.

Lawyer B. Bazarbek drew the attention of the Commission members to the problem of changing the purpose of agricultural land.

"In 2018, we made changes to the Land Code, which imposed a ban on changing the purpose of agricultural land. Yes, this rule is in effect today, but at the regional level, akimats have found a loophole to build housing on agricultural land. The fact is that the farm is not forbidden to rebuild for suburban construction and gardening. Local executive bodies take advantage of this and change the purpose of agricultural land near large cities, " said the participant of the meeting.

It is worth noting that the other members of the commission have the opportunity to express their opinion at the next meeting, which will be held on April 3 this year in a slightly modified format. At the suggestion of the participants of the event, it was decided to continue the discussion in the working groups on the areas of land reform.

The event was broadcast on the Internet and on television because of the quarantine measures.