Foreigners bought 1,200 hectares of land in Arad County since Law 17 came into force. The price has reached EUR 9,800/ha

From the coming into force of Law 17/2014, in April last year, foreign citizens or companies from abroad have purchased 1,200 hectares of land in Arad County, representing one third of the transactions, which had an average price of EUR 6,000 per hectare in the lowlands, vestic.ro informs.

Last year, there were 3,347 files recorded with the Department of Agriculture, while between January 1 and March 15 there were about 3,000 files.

In total, since April 2014, when Law 17 came into force, 3,200 hectares were traded and 1,200 of them were purchased by foreigners, more than a third.

“We can say that earlier this year it rained with transactions. We had to supplement the staff dealing with notices of sale, but still we don’t cope with our nine people. It’s hard to explain this increased interest in land sales. It might be the effect of Law 17/2014, which encourages farmers to work large, compact surfaces, so owners buy and sell to get the land in one piece. We are talking about both individuals and companies, Romanian and foreign,” said Ion Martin, Executive Director of the Agriculture Directorate Arad.

Authorities say one hectare in hilly county has been sold on average for EUR 2,000, but these transactions were few, while in the lowlands the average price was EUR 6,000. Prices have reached, in some cases, almost EUR 10,000 per hectare. For example, a company bought last year around 300 hectares in ?imand, with an average price of EUR 9,800 per hectare of land, the area being considered fertile.

At the moment, at least 20,000 hectares of land in Arad are owned by foreigners, whether individuals or companies, the new owners are, in general, Italians, Germans and Austrians.