150 investors apply for state-owned arable land – Lessees to be selected in April

More than 150 requests by potential investors were sent for a long-term lease of arable land for up to 30 years, Politika learns unofficially.

The final application deadline for the public invitation opened by the Ministry of Agriculture has expired. The lessee and the conditions of the lease of the land owned by the state will be made known within a month. The five-member committee, made up of as many as three ministers, Branislav Nedimovic, Dusan Vujovic and Goran Knezevic, should reach the decision by then.

Although the Ministry of Agriculture has not yet disclosed which companies applied, unofficial information says that Germany's Tonnies (for land in Zrenjanin and Vrsac), Petar Matijevic, Delta, but also other lessees of big parcels, especially in Vojvodina, are among them.

Even though the contest was open to all legal entities registered at the Serbian Farms Register, the previously declared rules clearly point to the fact that the invitation was meant for the strongest participants in the agrarian sector, those who primarily plan to raise manufacturing capacities and deal in livestock breeding and development of genetics.

It is estimated that, due to the strict demands of the contest, a large number of those which have applied will be out in the first elimination round. According to the previously adopted decree, big investors will be enabled to lease the land for up to 30 years. They are also guaranteed the rent which can't be lower than the average rent in the territory of a given municipality. The state is looking for lessees which will be able to oblige to invest at least half a million euros in the manufacturing capacities in the first three years, whereby 30% of the investment must be realized in the first year. The limit doesn't apply to those interested in a long-term lease in local self-governments with under a thousand hectares of land.

The advantage will be given to those investment plans which envision the creation of new jobs and involve a large number of local suppliers in the realization of the investment.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

Delta Holding d.o.o. Beograd

Toennies Invest d.o.o. Beograd

Branislav Nedimovic

Dusan Vujovic

Goran Knezevic

state owned arable land

state farms

state agricultural land

agricultural land

lease of agricultural land

lease of state owned arable land

lease of state farms

Tonnies

Petar Matijevic

Serbian Farms Register