The parliamentary opposition fiercely criticizes the proposal for a new law on agricultural land in its first reading, according to which state agricultural land would no longer be sold but leased for 50 years, reports Croatian Radio.
The opposition is concerned that the Agency for the Management of Agricultural Land will decide on the land instead of cities and municipalities, which they consider to be discrimination against local self-government. They also fear favoritism towards corporations at the expense of family farms.
Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina, on the other hand, reminds that cities and municipalities have put less than a third of the 890,000 hectares of state-owned agricultural land into operation in 10 years, and regarding transparency, he says that numerous complaints, appeals, and reports on local self-government decisions speak for themselves.
I am surprised, in our ranks there are many mayors and heads of municipalities from both the left and the right, and now it turns out that these are people who did not know how to enforce the law, said HDZ member Petar Čobanković.
Who is privileged here, Agrokor, someone else, or the small farmer, the small family farm, asked Zoran Vinković (HDSSB).
I categorically state, this law is not written for the big or the small, although without the big there are no small, it is written for all those who know, can, and want to work. Not as it has been until now where producers were last with their programs, it went by kinship, it went by tribal, it went by party lines in the allocation of land, and not according to the economic evaluation of production, replied Minister Jakovina.
While the minister expects greater production on family farms and the opening of new jobs from the new law, criticism comes from agricultural producer associations who fear manipulation of land and favoritism towards corporations at the expense of farmers.
