Agricultural Land Another Can Of Worms

Agrarian reform in Bulgaria is going in the wrong direction. But if the corporative model of working the land were implemented, then agricultural business could attract more foreign investment and boost the country's economy in the wake of the weakened tourism and construction sectors. This was the rough conclusion of a conference entitled Investments in Agricultural Lands 2008 - New Mechanisms for Comassation, organised by Elana financial group and Dnevnik daily on November 12 2008. "Comassation of agricultural lands" is a term that has been in use since 2002. It's also been a goal of various administrations. From about this time, a law was drafted that defined "comassation" as a process of amalgamating small land plots into a larger territory that could be cultivated or sold to funds. Owners of smaller allotments were to enter such an enterprise voluntarily just as they were also allowed to engage in comassation of their property if they so wished. No deadline for the end of comassation had been set, just as no guidelines had been imposed on how the process would proceed.Several years later, Agriculture Minister Valeri Tsvetanov is acknowledging that agrarian reform in Bulgaria has veered off track dramatically. The land is still "broken" into smaller strips that only serve as subsistence type cultivation because many farmers "own a single cow and half a hectare of land". Citing Eastern Germany, the minister related how farm land was comassated into larger plots in the aftermath of the 1989 events and subsequent transition. Now the region is one of Europe's leading wheat producers."What we have here is a pyramid with the tradesman on top. Then comes the middleman, who is often subsidised, and what is left is one to two per cent of producers," Tsvetanov said. "Then please tell me, how can Bulgaria engage in fair competition in the European market?" The minister then cited France, where comassation of agricultural lands has been a long-term priority. He said that between 40 and 70 per cent of pork meat production took place in unified associations.Vesselin Petrov, from Elana, said that envisioned pilot projects for comassation, due to have started several years ago, had still not occurred despite interest from owners. Petrov said that comassation of land with only yielded right of use was a ticking time bomb because it encouraged feudal relations between owners of smaller plots and tenant farmers."It's unbelievable how families and neighbours continue to further divide their land into smaller pieces, refusing to realise that if they unite, land prices would double," Petrov said. "This model of division is unacceptable for Europe. That is one reason why foreign investors are currently not interested in buying agricultural land," he said. "And that tendency is alive despite the fact that 80 per cent of our land meets organic farming standards. We have a wonderful climate, which should presuppose unique agricultural production," Petrov said.A positive example of comassation and foreign investments in Bulgarian agriculture is Italian holding Rigoni di Asiago, whose representative, Iliya Nemski, is a manager of Ekoterra, a Pazardjik-based company that specialises in bio-production of small fruits."Well, minister Tsvetanov was telling us fairytales a while ago," Nemski said. "What do we care about how comassation is done in France and Germany?" If any of the preceding administrations, or the current one, had given higher priority to comassation, the system would have worked by now, Nemski said.Until recently, he said, old people in Bulgarian villages thought that they needed to preserve their land for subsequent generations. Then they realised that the younger people were not coming. So they began to ponder whether they should start selling instead of allowing it to become desolate. Nemski said that his company was operating on 2800 ha and that 50 per cent of that land was on lease."However, when you get out there, on the open field, you cannot fail but notice that total chaos and lawlessness reign," Nemski said. In most cases, it's hard to tell who is working the land and who owns it. However, with proper regulations and encouragement desolated lands could be transformed into "gardens of Eden", he said.Kiril Stoyanov, an expert from the Ministry of Agriculture, responded that people "tend to downplay every initiative that the ministry undertakes"."None of the leaseholders can complain that we have not created optimum tax conditions for development. We have spent close to 900 million leva in previous years to divide the land. Now we have to approach the situation selectively and comassate lands wherever possible and needed," Stoyanov said. He also explained that every local mayor was obliged to open an account in which leaseholders must deposit a rental fee, so the money could be utilised for other municipal needs. Stoyanov also said that people did not follow legal amendments and had failed to educate themselves, although the initiative was entirely in their hands. He said that the ministry's strategy was to complete the comassation process by 2013.Slamming his fist on the desk, Nemski raised his voice and yelled: "Rubbish!"This is all that comes from the ministry. Its initiatives are similar to my desire to marry Princess Diana. Oh, well, the only detail is that she did not have a clue that I even existed, and on top of everything, one day she just died. This is nothing but the usual mess!"