Poland: restructuring begins
Polish farmers have rushed to the government’s Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR) to obtain pensions financed by the EU.
“During the first two days of the programme, 3,945 farmers submitted their applications and around 50,000 took the forms to fill out,” revealed ARiMR spokesperson Iwona Musial. Qualifying conditions for the structural pension include giving up one’s land and being more than 55 years old.
EU funds allocated for the pension scheme allow for just 100,000 farmers to take up the offer in Poland, and Warsaw will ask Brussels to grant additional funding to cater for more retirees. A larger proportion than expected of the vacated farms may end up in the hands of foreigners.
Under the terms of EU accession, it was agreed that Poland could block foreign ownership of land for up to 12 years, the longest transition period for any of the 10 new member states.
And farms rented to foreigners could only be sold to the tenants after seven years of renting.
But the UK based land agency, Brown and Co, says a recent change in the law has opened the way for sales to foreigners though companies.
They are trying to interest UK farmers in buying farms in Poland, where about 70% of land sales are done privately, with freehold land values ranging from €1,200 to €3,500 per hectare.
