Parliament to set exceptions on Agriculture Land Regulations for foreigners

A moratorium on the sale of land to foreign citizens will be removed for commercial banks and on "special cases, according to the draft law on Agriculture Land Ownership, initiated by the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

After eight months of a government imposed temporary ban on the sale of agriculture land to foreigners as of December 31, 2014, a decision was made commercial banks to have an opportunity to obtain a right to land owned by the foreigners.

According to the MP Gigla Agulashvili, the intention of the regulation is to encourage the foreign investors to invest in Georgia and the moratorium on agriculture lands is not to become the reason for breaking contracts.

"The work of commercial banks is mainly related to the real estate and the moratorium will hamper banks work. The loan would be secured with the agriculture land as collateral owned by the foreign nationals and foreign companies, Agulashvili said.

Moreover, the moratorium on sale of land to foreign citizens will be removed on "special ceases, after a proper evaluation and decision by the government.

According to Agulashvili, it is also planned to establish a commission which will be represented by the executive as well as legislative government representatives.

"The commission will have an advisory function, to avoid any kind of unfavorable business deals, Agulashvili noted.

Late in July, Parliament also suspended change of status of agriculture land plots from agricultural to non-agriculture.

According to the government, the moratorium was imposed to avoid the real threat of irrational privatization of land, which may have a negative consequence on countrys economic security, environmental protection, and state security and it may also significantly damage the rural population.

The moratorium encouraged the fierce opposition from the foreign citizens as well as the opposition parties, saying that the decision will halt the FDI in Georgia. Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili even vetoed the bill but Parliament overrode it.

Later, the Prime Minister stated in his speech at the parliamentary session before the vote, that the moratorium would soon be removed.

The Parliament plans to vote the bill during the first hearing at the end of December 2013.