8000 Beneficiaries Pardoned Agricultural Land Lease Non-compliance and Occurred Penalties

“Tenants, who had leased agricultural land in1992-2005 and were unable to fulfil their obligations, were pardoned for non-compliance of lease and the occurred penalties,” the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Dimitry Kumsishvili, stated upon the completion of the government session.

“I would like to comment on the amendments made to the Law of Georgia on State Property which we presented to the government today. These changes will be included in the transitional provisions and refer to the agricultural lands in the area, which have been transferred with lease in 1992-2005. Those are the plots of land which in the previous period, unfortunately, were not properly administered in some cases even due to non-existence and it was impossible to administrate them at the moment. We have proposed to the government some amendments to the law allowing the pardon of tenants in non-compliance of the lease and the occurred penalties,” Dimitry Kumsishvili stated.

According to the Minister, those beneficiaries should apply the LEPL National Agency for State Property of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development in order to undergo the pardon procedure. "In total, we expect about eight thousand people to benefit form this amendment. No one notified those farmers of the payment obligation since the administration was poor. So, on one hand, we gave these people an opportunity to be pardoned for those penalties and on the other hand, we are trying to further improve communication between the tenants and government institutions regarding agricultural land management,” the Minister noted.

Dmitry Kumsishvili also commented on amendments related to the agricultural appliances. “We took the same pass in this field as well: in 2005-2009, a certain amount of agricultural machinery was transferred in direct usage and we decided to pardon those tenants who had penalties dated up to January 1, 2014 if they submitted the applications to us, and we will arrange more structured relations in the future,” Dimitry Kumsishvili stated. (Ministry of Economics)