MPs Cautious over Proposal to Sell Farm Land Near Border

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi
2005-05-17 17:44:35

The Parliament discussed a draft law on May 17 on the privatization
of state-owned agricultural land whose approval will most likely that
be postponed by the lawmakers until delimitation of the borders with
neighboring Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is established.

State Minister for Economic Reforms Kakha Bendukidze presented a draft
law on the privatization of farm lands, at the parliamentary session
on May 17, which envisages the lifting of the ban on privatizing those
lands which are located within a 5-km area from the state border. The
current law on privatization bans the sell of these lands to private
owners.

Some lawmakers, including Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze
supported the postponement of discussion of this issue.

“The fact that Georgia has not completed the border delimitation
process with all its neighboring countries [Russia, Azerbaijan,
Armenia], except Turkey, raises questions [in respect to the
privatizing of these border lands],” Nino Burjanadze said.