Romania, together with Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria, have become Europe’s hot spots for land grabbing, according to the most recent report of Transnational Institute (TI), an advocacy group working for the European Commission.

“Preliminary evidence indicates that farmland grabbing is concentrated in Eastern European Member States, with Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania emerging as particular hotspots,” reads the report.

The study "Land Grabbing and land concentration in Europe" shows that Romania has turned into an attractive destination for investors in recent years, and the number of transactions with arable land increased over three times between 2005 and 2009.

According to TI estimates, about 10% of the country’s arable land is owned by citizens from outside the EU whereas 20-30% is controlled by investors from EU.

Romania’s agricultural surface used in farms is about 13.3 million hectares, 8.3 million hectares of which is arable land.

editor@romania-insider.com