Farm land auctions could start in October

Budapest, September 7 (MTI) – Auctions for state-owned farm land could start as soon as October, daily Magyar Hirlap said at the weekend.

In an interview, state secretary of the rural development ministry Marton Bitay said the auctions could yield revenue of around 100 billion forints (EUR 320m) for the state, calculating with the current average price of farm land of about 1 million forints per hectare.

Bitay noted that the government has asked the state-owned Hungarian Development Bank MFB to develop a preferential loan facility to help farmers buy areas from the 380,000 hectares of state-owned farm land. The purchased farm land will be subject to a 20-year ban on resale and encumbrance as well as the state’s right to repurchase.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters