Ukrainian Parliament simplifies change of land designation for industry and energy

The main goal of this Law is to eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic barriers for investors who want to build a new industrial or energy facility in Ukraine.

Previously, to change the designated purpose of land, it was necessary to go through several stages: development of a territory plan, development and approval of a land management project, and adoption of a decision by a local self-government body. This process was quite time-consuming as could take up to twelve months.

The new legislative amendments allow the abolition of the requirement to develop urban planning and land management documentation to change the designated purpose of land for industrial use.

Furthermore, the land designation change will also be based on the conclusion of the local council’s authorized urban planning and architecture body on the possibility of locating the planned industrial facility. This conclusion is provided free of charge within ten business days from receipt of the request for its provision.

However, the new procedure for changing the purpose of land will be valid only for placing of the following facilities:

• industrial and warehouse buildings;
• non-residential agricultural buildings;
• pipelines, lines of electronic communication networks, and power transmission (except for main oil and gas pipelines);
• complex buildings of industrial facilities (except for enterprises related to nuclear energy, waste incineration plants, and nuclear power plants).

The simplified procedure will be applied outside settlements and only where no urban planning documentation exists. It will be in force during martial Law and five years after it.

In summary, the new amendments significantly reduce the bureaucracy of changing the land use designation, shorten the timeframe for this change from approximately twelve to two months, and allow businesses to implement industrial and energy investment projects more rapidly.