agriculture and food economy in poland

AGRICULTURAL CENTRAL AND LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
significant part of such revenues was allocated for the repayment of commitments
taken over worth almost PLN 2 billion. At present, a large part of funds from the APA
Resource privatisation is channelled to the national budget, Labour Fund and
Agricultural Market Agency.
On 16 July 2003, the Law on agricultural structure entered into force. Its
provisions lay down new Agency’s tasks and instruments to implement such tasks.
These provisions enable the Agency to control that part of trade in agricultural
property that has been beyond its control so far and to intervene, if necessary, to
achieve the Law objectives, i.e. to improve the agrarian structure of agricultural
holdings, to counteract excessive concentration of agricultural property and to
ensure farming in agricultural holdings by persons with appropriate qualifications.
Through such objectives the provision of Article 23 of the Constitution of the
Republic of Poland is enforced; pursuant to it the basis of the agricultural structure
in Poland is a family farm.
The Agency can supervise trade in agricultural property thanks to new rights
it was granted, i.e. the pre-emption right (in the case of sale agreements) and the
so called buyout right (for other agreements transferring ownership of agricultural
property). The pre-emption and buyout rights are not applicable, among other
things, to transfer of agricultural property resulting in enlargement of a family
farm up to 300 ha of UAA and to trade in agricultural property between related
persons.
In addition to the aforementioned tasks, the Agency performs ownership
functions in crops breeding companies and animal breeding companies
indicated by the Minister of Agriculture as particularly important for the
national economy. Currently, APA exercises ownership right in relation to 59
such companies.
By the end of May 200, in performance of its statutory tasks the Agency took
over 4.7 million ha of land, including 80% from the former state-owned farms
(PPGR) of an average area of 2 250 ha. So far 1.7 million ha of land has been
permanently distributed, of which 1.4 million ha has been sold. At present there is
3 million ha in the Agency Resource, of which 2.4 million ha of land (78%) has
been leased. There is still 504 000 ha of land to be distributed, largely of little
agricultural usability.
The property taken over by the Agency from the former PPGR included
objects of a special character such as food processing plants as well as manor
houses and palaces with parks. Most of such objects has been sold or rented. In
addition, the Agency took over 333 000 flats of which 306 000 have been
distributed, primarily via sales to the tenants. At present there is 27 000 flats in
the APA Resource.
The main method of distributing the property taken over is sale and lease
through Agency’s branch and local offices via oral public tenders (auctions) and
tenders involving written bids (competition).
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