How to Compare Offers for Agricultural Land in Ukraine

01

Make sure both buyers are assessing the same parcel

Start with the asset description, not the headline price. Confirm that both offers refer to the same cadastral number, area, location, designated use, registered owner and ownership share where relevant. Ask whether each buyer has factored in the current lease, its term and rent, registered rights, encumbrances and known disputes. If you inherited the land, check whether your ownership has been completed and registered.

A per-hectare comparison is useful only when the area and legal perimeter match. A preliminary value indication does not replace a document review. LANDMARKET can provide a free preliminary assessment for a land-share seller.

02

Separate the headline price, contract price and net proceeds

The headline price is the number mentioned in an initial conversation. The contract price is the amount the parties agree to record in the notarised sale contract after the necessary checks. Net proceeds are what the seller retains after the taxes and transaction costs attributable to that seller.

Use the same working formula for each offer:

Seller’s net proceeds = contract price − verified seller taxes and levies − agreed seller-paid transaction costs.

This is a comparison framework, not a ready-made tax calculation. For each offer, record who pays for notarial work, required documents or valuation, banking services and other relevant services. Do not deduct a cost from the seller’s figure if the buyer has expressly agreed to cover it. LANDMARKET’s fee to a seller of an agricultural land share is UAH 0; this offer is specific to the land-share sale service, as described on the LANDMARKET site.

Do not apply a single tax rate to every seller. Treatment depends on the type of parcel, how and when title was acquired, inheritance where applicable, and the number of property sales during the year. A military levy and any permitted treatment of documented acquisition costs must also be assessed in the particular case. Ask a notary or Ukrainian tax adviser for a written calculation before accepting a final net-proceeds estimate. For additional background, see LANDMARKET’s Ukrainian guide to taxes on a land-share sale.

03

Compare payment timing and evidence

Ask each buyer when they can sign, which account the funds will come from, what payment evidence both parties will receive, and how they will handle a delayed or returned transfer. Those terms should be reflected in the draft contract and be workable for the bank and notary.

Payment of the purchase price for an agricultural land parcel under the sale agreement must be non-cash. A submitted payment instruction does not by itself prove that the full amount has been credited to the seller. Check the credit through your bank and retain its record. If money was transferred under earlier arrangements, show the actual documents to a Ukrainian lawyer, the bank and the notary; the label used for a transfer does not determine its legal effect on its own. LANDMARKET’s safe-payment guide explains the practical sequence.

04

Check whether the buyer can close

A high price is useful only if the proposed buyer can lawfully acquire the parcel and complete the payment. Ask who exactly will be the contracting buyer, whether the source-of-funds documentation is ready and who will respond to the notary’s and bank’s requests. Buyer eligibility under Ukrainian agricultural land law must be checked for the actual transaction. Do not rely solely on an oral assurance, and do not assume that a foreign investor may directly acquire a Ukrainian agricultural land share.

Do not promise a signing date before ownership, cadastral data, lease rights, encumbrances and any representation or third-party consent issues have been reviewed. If the seller is abroad, ask the notary to confirm the form and scope of any power of attorney before it is issued. The Ukrainian LANDMARKET document checklist can help you prepare.

05

Allow for lease rights and pre-emption

A leased parcel can be sold, but the lease and applicable pre-emption procedure can affect how and when it closes. For each offer, identify the tenant, check whether the lease right is registered, determine who may hold a pre-emptive purchase right and ask the notary what notices and evidence are required. Do not assume that an informal statement by the tenant completes the procedure. The transaction-specific process should be checked against the current Article 130-1 of the Land Code of Ukraine and the parcel documents.

If one buyer has allowed for this step and another promises to close immediately, compare the dates after the legal sequence is verified. LANDMARKET’s Ukrainian guide to selling a leased land share explains the issue in more detail.

06

Put both offers in one table

Fill the table with words and documents as well as numbers. An empty cell is a question for the buyer, bank or notary.

What the table should tell you: prefer terms supported by a credible net-proceeds calculation, workable settlement steps and a realistic date. If a material term is unclear, mark it as unresolved and ask for clarification before ranking the offer.

07

Questions to resolve before accepting terms

• A price sounds attractive, but the buyer has not said whether it is for the whole parcel, per hectare or for a share.
• The buyer proposes a contract price different from the amount actually agreed.
• Payment evidence consists only of a screenshot or a promised transfer, without an agreed way to check that funds were credited.
• The proposed date ignores a lease, pre-emptive rights or missing documents.
• Costs are called “standard”, but nobody says who will pay them.
• The named buyer, paying account or key terms change late in the process without a clear explanation.

These points do not by themselves establish misconduct. They identify terms that should be documented and checked before signing.

08

Landowner’s checklist

1. Record the cadastral number, area, ownership, lease and other known restrictions.
2. Ask each buyer for the whole-parcel price, payment terms and proposed timetable in writing.
3. Identify every transaction cost and who will pay it.
4. Obtain an individual written tax and levy calculation from a notary or tax adviser.
5. Check buyer eligibility and the records needed to support the transaction.
6. If the parcel is leased, agree the pre-emption procedure and realistic dates with the notary.
7. Agree the sequence of signing, bank transfer and evidence of credit with the bank and notary.
8. Complete the table and compare net proceeds, closing date and unresolved conditions.