Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski: It is not realistic to extend the moratorium on the purchase of agricultural land by foreigners

It is possible to extend the moratorium on the purchase of agricultural land by foreigners in theory, but it is not realistic to make it work practically. This statement was made by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski during his traditional meeting with representatives from the citizenry and non-government sector at the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister and the three Deputy Ministers of Agriculture and Food answered for two hours to questions and problems, raised by citizens with respect to agriculture in Bulgaria. Mr. Oresharski explained that the treaty of our country’s accession to the European Union contained а suspension clause on selling land for a period of seven years, which expired at this year-end. Any change in this treaty required ratification by all remaining 27 member-states. “I am not aware of exactly such practice so far – one country revising an article of its accession treaty and all other member-states approving this. We cannot expect that all countries will ratify our potential proposal for extension”, said the Prime Minister. He emphasized that this was a good lesson to learn for all of us as community – always when undertaking commitments, first think on the nature of the commitment, and in this particular case – also on its period of validity. “Besides, it is my opinion that we will not be understood by our partners for the following reason – the moratorium affects natural persons, but not legal entities. All legal entities are entitled to purchase land”, noted further the Prime Minister. He stressed that even before signing the treaty the Bulgarian legislation permitted each local or foreign person to register a company and thus purchase land. “I would have undertaken the necessary steps, if the procedure was an easy one. But if one is 99.9% certain that it is practically impossible to carry it through, it is not worth challenging a treaty under which our country has pursued ratification. It seems to me that we are talking more about psychological fears rather than a real threat or danger for our agricultural lands”, added Prime Minister Oresharski.