Ministry examines farmland contracts in Western Hungary

(MTI) – The rural development ministry suspects thousands of “pocket contracts” in Veszprem County in western Hungary, daily Magyar Nemzet said on Tuesday.

Scrutiny has fallen on around 4,600 agreements on suspicion that ownership of farmland was surreptitiously transferred to foreigners, the ministry’s state secretary, Gyula Budai, told the paper.

Government officials are also reviewing suspicious contracts in the other western counties of Zala, Vas and Gyor-Sopron.

An inter-ministerial committee established to review the contracts will meet on Thursday, the paper said.

Many private contracts for the use of Hungarian farmland were signed when foreigners were forbidden from buying it. The ban on purchasing land will be lifted from May but the old “pocket contracts” are not recognised under Hungary’s new land law.

Austria has complained about the law, insisting their farmers have the right to make use of land and profit from it under previous agreements.

Photo: www.diosdifidesz.hu

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