UKRAINE PONDERS AGRARIAN REFORMS.

In a public address December 27, Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma called for the introduction of market reforms in agriculture and industries related to it, adding that the agro-industrial complex "must take the lead in pulling the economy out of the crisis." Kuchma outlined a draft government program envisaging three stages: denationalization of land; transfer of ownership rights to collective farms by the end of 1996 in most areas; and creation of farming associations in place of collective farms. The president told the conference he believed in large-scale agricultural production, only using private family farms "where conditions for this exist." He predicted that the reform would enable Ukraine to make proper use of its traditional resource, the "chernozem" (black fertile soil) and rejoin the world’s leading agricultural nations within a decade. (12)

Ukraine, Russia Bargaining on Bomber and Missile Transfer.