AGRICULTURAL LAND PRIVATIZATION IN POLAND

The aim of the article is to present the process of agricultural land privatization in Poland, taking into account the role that this policy has played in terms of shaping the Polish agricultural model, based on family households. The purpose of the agrarian system shaping policy is the protection and development of family households. To this end, the said group of agricultural households is being granted privileges in terms of access to agricultural land. From an economic point of view, it translates into replacing market allocation with political decisions. The sale of agricultural land on behalf of the state was conducted by the Agricultural Property Agency (APA), which on 1 September 2017 was merged with the Agricultural Market Agency and transformed into the National Center for Agricultural Support. Between 1992 and 2017, a total of over 2.6 million ha of agricultural land (amounting to 55% of all acquired land) was sold. Natural persons acquired a total of 81% of privatized agricultural land, 19% of which was acquired by legal entities. In the years 2005-2017, the prices of agricultural land demonstrated an upward trend. The prices obtained by the Agency were very close to private market prices. The average price amounted to EUR 4,504 per 1 ha in the case of state-owned land and EUR 4,716 per 1 ha in the case of private land