Conservative Party criticizes initiative to allow foreigners to buy land in Moldova

The Conservative Party is against the initiative to give the non-residents the right to purchase farmland in Moldova. In a news conference on April 15, the party's administration said it will vehemently oppose this proposal that was submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Info-Prim Neo reports. The party's president Natalia Nirca said such a decision should be made only after consulting the people by a referendum. She stressed that the liberalization of the land market and the sale of land to foreigners are inadmissible. “All the areas can be liberalized except the land market. It will be a big mistake to allow the foreigners to buy Moldovan farmland,” Nirca said. According to Natalia Nirca, the Agriculture Ministry's argument that the sale of land will promote this sector is not relevant as this can be done by other ways like providing state agricultural subsidies, granting preferential loans to farmers, inducing the risks in agriculture, etc. Nataliei Nirca also said that the decision to sell land to foreign citizens favors those who purchased land at derisory prices and will now sell it at speculative prices. She considers that this decision will lead to the depopulation of the villages and will affect the sovereignty and integrity of Moldova, which will have borders, but will not have land. “During the electoral campaign, none of the ruling parties said the land might be sold to foreigners,” Natalia Nirca said. The Conservative Party intends to stage protests if the Land Code is modified so that it allows selling land to foreigners. Moldova has about 1.7 million hectares of farmland, 40,000 of which are owned by the state.