Land sales increasing says Agricultural Ownership Agency

In 2002 the Treasury Agricultural Ownership Agency (AWRSP) sold almost 160,000 hectares of land, at an average price zł. 3,500 per hectare, the agency announced yesterday. Speaking at a Polish-Dutch seminar in Warsaw, Tomasz Ciodyk of AWRSP said that between 1992 and 2002, 1.27 million h ectares of land changed hands, 27% of the total 4.7 million hectares c ontrolled by the agency. The agency also said a growing trend could be observed in land sales, with small plots constituting the majority of all land sold. In 2001, 50% of plots sold were smaller than one hectare and around 40% were between one and ten hectares. Since its creation in 2001, the agency has signed 78 sales contracts with foreigners for a total of 6,743 hectares of land - 0.06% of all the land sold. The majority of buyers came from Germany, Holland, Denmark and Finland. (www.onet.pl) J.K.