MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY SOFIA, BULGARIA International Workshop Land Banking/Land Funds as an Instrument for Improved Land Management for CEEC and CIS 17-20 March 2004 Tonder,, Denmark
BULGARIAN LEGISLATION Low on Cadastre and property register Law on Ownership and use of agricultural land Law on lease in agriculture Law on supporting farmers Restoration of ownership over forests and lands in forest territory Low on Protection of agricultural lands Low on Conservation of environment
Used digital maps Digital maps of agricultural lands and forest rated territory available for all territory of the country Digital soil maps available for 87% of the agricultural lands in Bulgaria
Available digital maps of agricultural land and forest areas for 4761 settlements in 263 municipalities in 28 Regions They are very detailed (scale 1:5000) They work out with accuracy according to our laws and regulations They provide parcels with a unique reference number They consist of all graphical information for rural and forest parcels (administrative boundaries, delineation of parcels and all the permanent boundaries on the terrain) They consist of data base for agricultural lands (land use, ownership rights, restitution type,owners, restriction and bans over the property, issued documents, property rights etc.)
Land Consolidation in Bulgaria Several acts dealing with farm land consolidation have been passed in Bulgaria. The last one - Cadastre and Land Consolidation Act was passed in 1941. Land consolidation processes took place in a number of farm land areas in the North-West part of Bulgaria. However, for starting land consolidation now, after the restitution of farm land and the supervening multiple land divisions, it is necessary to execute land consolidation within some pilot areas. This can be considered as a first step, without the normative basis (legislation), and the following limited goals could be pre-set:
acquisition of practical experience; establishment of an appropriate for our conditions technology; preparation of the normative framework; ensuring public support to the land consolidation; introduction of a modern system for use and protection of farm land, by means of consolidated farming and application of modern effective agricultural technologies; incorporating deserted farm land; activation of agricultural land market; creation of an interest in investments in agriculture and credit relief; creation of conditions for proper organisation of the land use in farms; accounting and registration of farms.
Pilot project for land consolidation of agricultural land in Bulgaria Two land consolidation projects, covering five TBSs allocated in different geographical regions with specific agricultural characteristics. o o o o o
Project Objectives Main Objective: Intensification of agricultural production and harmonization with EU standards Additional objective: Public awareness campaign for land consolidation opportunities To support MAF in preparation of relevant policy and land consolidation rules and regulations aiming drafting of Land consolidation Act To support MAF and land owners in Land consolidation.
Key stakeholders State Institutions MAF Ministry of Justice Cadastre Agency Owners Project Executors - First Project - Kadaster International, The Netherlands - Second Project - CMS Bruno Morel,, France
Project Stages 1. Collection and analysis of the source materials and data 2. Defining the final list of owners. Evaluation of farm land properties 3. Public hearing 4. Design (first draft plan, second draft plan and final LC plan) 5. Setting out of property boundaries on the terrain 6. Registration of ownership
Results from the public hearing The public hearings on the participation in the process with the owners of arable land in the pilot TBSs took place in April and June 2003 In Lomtsi were interviewed 68% of the owners, where 86% of them expressed their wish to participate In Golesh were interviewed 29% of the owners, and 87% of them expressed their wish to participate
Rules for designing on land consolidation plans The existing structure of the massifs will be respected Exchange to and from other TBS s will be accommodated as much as possible (only own parcels) Total value for each owner in LC plans must be equal to the present total Consolidation of parcels is more important than moving one parcel First wish of an owner who wants to consolidate his parcels in a massif, he is already in, is more important than the first wish of an owner who wants to consolidate his parcels in another massif (he does not posses any parcel there)
Analyzing the wishes of the owners: results per massif 15.000 tot 30.000 (3) 0 tot 15.000 (6) -50.000 tot 0 (31) -100.000 tot -50.000 (19) -200.000 tot -100.000 (8) 6 1 3 2 7 8 16 12 13 5 4 10 17 9 11 121 15 28 24 22 73 26 25 29 35 30 38 34 36 44 42 43 37 46 51 45 47 48 49 50 54 53 58 52 55 57 6263 56 69 60 65 66 67 70 71 68 61 72 18 19 20 14 31 32 33 39 59 40
Solving the over-asked massifs 6 1 3 2 7 8 16 12 13 5 4 10 17 9 11 52 121 15 28 24 22 73 26 25 29 35 30 38 34 36 44 42 37 43 46 51 48 45 4749 50 60 54 55 57 6263 56 65 66 67 71 68 61 72 58 69 53 18 19 20 14 31 32 33 70 39 59 40
Some results about number of parcels before and after land consolidation in two pilot areas Lomtzi Golesh Owners with 1 parcel 113 335 65 127 Owners with 2 parcels 146 78 39 8 Owners with 3 parcels 98 13 31 0 Owners with > 3 parcels 73 4 Average area 12,7 22,0 15,3 26,6
11003600 4001400 13002600 45001700
M 008D1005
Regional division Bulgaria is divided into six regions due to specific climate, landscape, social and economic conditions: North-western Central-North North-eastern South-western Central-South South-eastern
Problems in Land rental market Bad management Insufficient financial support Unfavorable market situation, low market prices and low demand of agricultural products Import of cheap agricultural products from the neighboring countries
Rental contracts Written and Registered at notary office 24.28 28% Written and Registered in MCAF 27.75% Written but not registered 9.29% Oral agreement 4.27% No contract 0.41% No contract information 2.93% No renting 31.07%
Land Fragmentation As a result of the implementation of the activities according to the Law on Ownership and use of agricultural land,, land reallocation plans by Territories Belonging to Settlements (TBSs( TBSs) ) were drawn up and came into force for the entire territory of the country. There were established about 10 million land properties, belonging to 2 million owners, which means that the average area of a property is about 5.8 dka,, including perennial plantations, meadows, and pastures.
Municipal Land - area and number of parcels within 1993-2003 for all the country area /dka/ 6 000 000 number of parcels 300 000 5 000 000 250 000 4 000 000 200 000 3 000 000 150 000 2 000 000 100 000 1 000 000 50 000 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 0 area /dka/ number of parcels
State Land Fund owned parcels area and number of parcels within 1993-2003 for all the country area (dka) 3 500 000 number of parcels 140 000 3 000 000 120 000 2 500 000 100 000 2 000 000 80 000 1 500 000 60 000 1 000 000 40 000 500 000 20 000 0 19931994199519961997199819992000200120022003 0 area /dka/ number of parcels
National Company Land Status state company Main purposes: Forming and supporting on consolidated parcels; Effective agricultural land management; Implementation of an agrarian government policy for stable development of the land relations; Creation of national and international interest in investments Activation of agricultural land market;
Main activities Managing and renting out of agricultural land; Purchasing, selling and disposing of agricultural land; Intermediation and market investigation; Management of financial means from national and international projects and programs; Improvement the productivity of agricultural land; Realization of infrastructure and investment projects.
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY SOFIA, BULGARIA International Workshop Land Banking/Land Funds as an Instrument for Improved Land Management for CEEC and CIS 17-20 March 2004 Tonder, Denmark Thank you very much for your attention!