Foreigners to be able to buy up to 2 ha of land in Serbia – State insists on strategic partnership for PKB

Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimovic has stated that foreigners with residence in Serbia will be able to buy up to 2 hectares of land and that they will have to pass through the state's rigorous control mechanisms in order to exercise this right.

Nedimovic said that the law on agricultural land needed to be adopted before September 1 as an obligation under the Stabilization and Association Agreement between Serbia and the EU.

When asked whether this meant that land would not be sold to foreigners before 2027, the minister answered affirmatively and added that “we won't give arable land easily, due to our national interest”.

He clarified that the foreigners looking to purchase agricultural land would have to have had at least ten years of residence in Serbia and to own agricultural equipment, but also to be listed in the register of active farms.

Commenting on the status of legal entities, or foreign companies, he said that it was in the Constitution that foreign companies not registered in Serbia were forbidden from purchasing land in Serbia.

Nedimovic said that “land has not been, nor will it be, leased to Serbian tycoons, as their offers are inadequate”.

– They wanted land for the land itself, and we would not give arable land for inadequate purposes – Nedimovic said.

When asked if there were any famous names among them, he said that they were “all those marked as tycoons, including Miroslav Miskovic, Matijevic and some other familiar people”.

Commenting on the situation in PKB and asked whether the government had defined the privatization model, Nedimovic answered that “the privatization adviser has been selected” and that “there is a working group at the Ministry of Economy”.

– Livestock production needs to be maintained, as 30% of top-quality milk comes from PKB – Nedimovic said and added that the state would absolutely insist on a strategic partnership in order to maintain its influence in PKB.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

PKB Korporacija a.d. Beograd

Ministry of Agriculture

Branislav Nedimovic

agricultural land in Serbia

purchase of agricultural land in Serbia

sale of agricultural land in Serbia

law on agricultural land

Stabilization and Association Agreement

SSA

farms

Miroslav Miskovic

Petar Matijevic

privatization of PKB

Ministry of Economy

sale of PKB