After the amendments proposed to the Labor Code are adopted in the final reading, those who want to build agritourist pensions on the owned farmland will no longer need to change the purpose of the land, saving thus about 200,000 lei, Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Vasile Batca was quoted by IPN as saying in a news conference.

According to the minister, the initiative forms part of the regional and rural development action plan. Thus, there will be diversified the economic activities at the local level and ensured the balanced development of regions. New jobs will be created and new opportunities for improving the living conditions for locals will be offered. The incomes and business capacities in rural areas will grow.

Vasile Batca said that increasing the number of agritourist pensions is a necessity. Moldova has many tourist attractions and the visitors should be offered appropriate accommodation conditions.

To build an agritourist pension on farmland, the owner will have to prove that the land has been cultivated for at least five years. When the pension is built, the owner will have to continue to farm so as to feed tourists on products grown on this land. The pensions will have a capacity of at most 20 rooms, up from the current limit of 11 rooms.

In Moldova, there are only seven agritourist pensions. The changes to the Land Code were adopted by Parliament in the first reading on October 5.