Government To Raise Prices Of Stateowned Land Along Bulgarias Black Sea Coast

Prices of state-owned land along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast would be increased up to eightfold, Bulgarian daily Dnevnik quoted Deputy Agriculture Minister Georgi Kostov as saying.

In early October 2009, the ministry said that land swaps authorised by the government of former prime minister Sergei Stanishev, in which forested parcels along the Black Sea coast had been valued at as little as 150 leva for 1000 sq m, were in fact legal because the ordinance that regulated the prices for state-owned land had not been updated since 2006.

Since then, a committee had been set up to establish the current market value of parcels so the ordinance could be updated, Kostov said in the southeastern Bulgarian town of Smolyan.

On average, prices for state-owned land across the country would increase threefold, with the price of land in the Black Sea coast area soaring by seven to eight times and in the mountain resorts - six times, Kostov said.

"We want to get the prices closer to real market value," Kostov was quoted by Dnevnik as saying. The new ordinance had already been approved by the Agriculture Ministry and was being prepared for review by the Government, Kostov said.

The updated prices for land managed by the State Forest Fund were to be calculated based on a number of factors, including proximity to cities and roads. The new prices would be used for the purchase, sale, lease or exchange of property owned by the state, Dnevnik said.

A separate amendment to the Forestry Law would separate control tasks from economic activities.