More oversight in sale of state farmland

The Agricultural Property Agency (ANR) will tighten rules concerning the sale of farmland, said Poland's Minister of Agriculture Marek Sawicki. Up until now, the price was taken as the main criterion for sale of land. With new rules the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, tries to take into account the farmers' ties to the land. Purchase of multiple land plots will be curbed, as will the pre-emptive purchase rights of former landowners. "The purchase of land from the Agricultural Property Agency is often very sensitive. Farmers are competing for this land irrationally," said Sawicki. "We will protect ourselves from speculative land purchase. ... Also, we want to take example from France or Germany, where investors who sell land within ten years of purchase will need to pay back the profit to the agency. " The Polish state is still in possession of 1.57 million hectares of land, as written in a release published by ISBnews.