According to Minster of State for State-owned Land Márton Örs Bitay, the “Land for Farmers’” programme has been the most successful land distribution programme since the regime change; every third farmer, some 30 thousand, have received farmland.
The two bills for legislative amendments and the bill for a Parliamentary resolution, which detail the close and results of the programme and opportunities for the utilisation of the related revenues, have been under discussion by the National Assembly since Friday, he told the press, adding that Parliament is expected to adopt the proposals by the end of October.
Mr. Bitay recalled that the Programme was launched last autumn and auctioning came to a close this summer. 200 thousand hectares of land have become the property of Hungarian families, who were given the opportunity to acquire land under legal conditions. The Government also provided preferential loans to farmers to help them purchase land. Plots under 3 hectares were sold by simple decree, while larger plots were sold via public auction. The marketing of small plots is still ongoing, he noted.
The Minister of State highlighted the fact that some 270 billion forints (EUR 871M) in revenues had been generated as a result of the auctions, which according to the related Bill will be spent on reducing the national debt, meaning it cannot be “squandered”. It is a logical idea that the sale of public assets should result in profit for the whole community, he said.
Mr. Bitay told reporters that none of the opposition parties had submitted and amendment proposal during the first debate in Parliament on Friday, and in fact only three opposition politicians took part in the debate, despite the fact that they had previously strongly criticized the Government’s land marketing programme. According to the Minister of State, what is happening is “political roasting”, because “when it is time to act”, whether during Parliamentary debates or by submitting an amending proposal, nothing happens. The extremely low participation by the opposition and the fact that they didn’t lodge an proposal for amendment clearly indicates that as members of Parlaiment the opposition also agrees with the land marketing programme.