Slovakia

The Hungarian government has officially canceled its plan to set up a EUR 400 million private equity fund to purchase farmland in the Central European region, including Slovakia, due to serious political tensions.

Te Danish company FirstFarms now owns a "land bank" of more than 8,500 hectares of owned land and more than 11,000 hectares in rent contracts.

The European Commission is giving five Eastern European countries two months to bring their agricultural land purchasing rules in line with the European Union standards or it may pursue legal action.

FirstFarms unveiled plans to double its Eastern European farming area, potentially tapping into moves which could bring an "oversupply" of land for sale in Slovakia.

US private equity firm Paine & Partners expanded its farm and agribusiness holdings on Wednesday with the acquisition of a leading European Union agricultural producer, Spearhead International Ltd, for an undisclosed amount.

The eastern Europe farm operator ditched its last hopes of avoiding a return into the red after disease at its dairy herd added to the pressure on profits from poor weather for its arable operations.

The six case studies compiled in this report illustrate the wide range of approaches and focus that private funds are adopting (legal structure, geography, agricultural production and operating strategies) to invest in farmland in different parts of the world.

Report by HighQuest Partners for the OECD, October 2011, features 6 case studies of land grabbers: Agrica, CalyxAgro, Cazanae, Jantzen, NFD Agro and Quifel

La Commission européenne a autorisé la Lituanie et la Slovaquie à prolonger jusqu'en 2014 l'interdiction de vendre des terres agricoles aux étrangers, afin d'éviter une éventuelle spéculation