Foreigners will be banned from buying farmlands in Georgia
TBILISI. June 8 (Interfax) - The Georgian authorities have decided to adopt a constitutional amendment under which only Georgian citizens will be allowed to own farmland.
"The wording will be such: only a citizen of Georgia, an association of Georgian citizens, the state and a unit of self-government will be allowed to have property rights to farmlands as resources of special significance," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said at a Thursday session of the government.
He said the ruling team made the decision after consultations with representatives of the government and the parliamentary majority.
"We decided to approach the Constitutional Commission with an initiative of making an entry in the constitution under which it will be impossible to sell farmlands to individuals not having Georgian citizenship," Kvirikashvili said.
He said that this provision directly meets the demands of an enormous majority of Georgian citizens. "I think that this will be a decision that must be made by the ruling team," the prime minister said.
The opposition has called the initiative populist.
At present the Constitution states that property rights to farmlands shall be regulated by a corresponding law.