The Russian Ministry of Agriculture wants to reclaim more than 5 million hectares of unused arable land for agricultural use over the next five years. In ten years this can even increase to 12 million hectares for arable farming. The ministry estimates the amount of unused arable land in Russia at about 19 million hectares. In recent years, approximately 1 million hectares have been released for agricultural use every year. Russia wants to increase agricultural exports in this way. Moscow wants to increase the annual grain harvest by 6.9 million tons and that of oilseeds by 1.4 million tons.
In Ukraine, authorities have detected and reversed fraud involving agricultural land. Recently, about 5 million hectares were missing from the soil surface balance of the country. More than thirty forms of corruption had been discovered in the land market. Ukraine intended to allow the sale of agricultural land to foreign investors. But that has been shelved. Kazakhstan President Kassym-Tokayev says he will extend the moratorium on the sale and lease of ag land to foreigners at the end of this year.