Feasibility of buying plots of land in Kiev as investment?

I'm interested to buy piece of land around kiev. Kindly guide.
Thanks.
Vishnu

There appears to be a war in that region at the moment, all be it not in Kiev.
The fighting seems to be mostly in the area around Crimea, but that could easily spread.
The odd thing is there is so little reporting of the war, but it does seem to be going on.
This might not be a good time to invest in land.

I'm less concerned about the war than the investment and property law, and I've also read about property being stolen from investors.

This is a great topic.  I am not aware that land is available to be actually bought or sold in Ukraine.  I thought the land was owned by the government.  That you could only rent or lease it.  Buildings could be owned but not the land.  Please help me with clarification regards this.

alvpackman wrote:

This is a great topic.  I am not aware that land is available to be actually bought or sold in Ukraine.  I thought the land was owned by the government.  That you could only rent or lease it.  Buildings could be owned but not the land.  Please help me with clarification regards this.

From what I've read, foreigners can own residential and commercial land.  But I've been advised that land deals are risky and apartments are a safer bet.

Any foreigner can buy and own a land plot in Ukraine with exception of agricultural land that can be leased for up to 50 years.
The risk with lands usualy caused by different violations in getting title to the land by its first owner but it is not the case for all land plots. There are land plots for sale and they are being sold.
Apartments now are very, relatively, cheap. For instance it is possible to buy a one bedroom flat in kiev for USD 25 000.

My advice for you - do not deal with land in Ukraine as an investment opportunity besides you cannot buy it as a physical entity. There is a way to do it through an established company in Ukraine where a director would be a Ukrainian but that is too much of a headache. Stick to apartments purchase - now there are some good deals although the process of buying is somewhat complicated if... there are a lot of "ifs" and it would make sense to explain everything is details upon meeting or by email.

kievapts wrote:

My advice for you - do not deal with land in Ukraine as an investment opportunity besides you cannot buy it as a physical entity. There is a way to do it through an established company in Ukraine where a director would be a Ukrainian but that is too much of a headache. Stick to apartments purchase - now there are some good deals although the process of buying is somewhat complicated if... there are a lot of "ifs" and it would make sense to explain everything is details upon meeting or by email.

Excuse me, but I cannot agree with the quoted advice on the following reason:
(i) “do not deal with land … you cannot buy it as a physical entity”. That is not correct. Anyone, including foreigners and stateless persons, legal entities, non-government organizations, etc, can buy a land. Yes, landlords have to pay the land tax and to do it the landlord has to be registered by the tax service…but all these are purely legal matters to be arranged as happens in any other real estate deal all over the world;
(ii) “…where a director would be a Ukrainian”. Again, this is not full information and here is why. Directors in Ukraine are employees. A company has to obtain a work permit to hire a particular foreigner for a particular job. So when a new company is established it cannot have a foreigner as its director because first it has to obtain a work permit for this person. That is why the first director of a Ukrainian company is always a Ukrainian national. But after the company is established is can apply for a work permit for a foreigner to be its director. Upon receipt of the work permit the respective foreigner can be hired as the company's director. There is no any headache. Moreover, the process of getting the work permit now is much easier than it had been a couple of years ago.
(iii) “stick to apartment purchase”. Mind that any apartment is located inside a building located on a land plot. So if a land plot is a risky investment than an apartment is twice riskier? I believe it is wrong to say that it is better to invest in apartments than in land plots or vice versa because investment means an idea of receiving interest from this investment in the future. So the object of investment should be chosen based on a business plan the investor has.

@kievapts, I see you are from apartment business. Why not to start a new thread and provide some insight to the current dwelling market in Ukraine? We could discuss in there all pros and cons, prices, forecasts, etc. It is an interesting topic to discuss.

Thanks for your reply. I simply did not want to go into details as we prefer to deal with apartments and these actual land lease terms of 50 years (in contrast to real "buying" like when you buy an apartment forever) is something we prefer not to deal with are not real experts in (although we cooperate with other companies on this).