Project: Romanians could have priority on buying agricultural land

A draft law concerning transactions with agricultural land could give priority to Romanian citizens in buying them, Profit.ro reported. “We need to try and stop what is happening with the transactions involving agricultural land in Romania. This is a fooled law, which doesn’t follow criteria and we will introduce in the Parliament a law that helps Romanians first in buying land,” Liviu Dragnea, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader and president of the Chamber of Deputies, said. At the same time, the number of land transactions grew, reaching 2,000 requests per week in some counties, according to the Agriculture Minister Petre Daea. “The land sales and purchases grew. The land market got agitated in several counties, especially in the Western part of the country, but also in the South, where the soil fertility is higher. The revenues from cultivating land are bigger and the interest there is on the rise,” Daea said, quoted by Profit.ro. Last year, the authorities were working on legislation restricting land purchases by foreigners. Purchase limits of 150 hectares of farmland for individuals and no more than 1,500 hectares for companies were envisioned. Other countries are having the same problem. More and more people are buing land in Canada. President concerned that foreigners own 30% of Romania’s farmland editor@romania-insider.com