MP Paweł Jabłoński asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development about the status of land lease as part of the operation of the Agromax company. On June 14, 2023, the lease agreement under which the above-mentioned company leased 2,482 ha of land belonging to the State Treasury expired. However, this company did not release the leased property after the harvest in autumn 2023 and continued to use the land until June 2024. From November 16, 2023, the National Support Center for Agriculture started charging fees for non-contractual use of these lands.
The land lies fallow?
As the MP emphasized in his question, the signals I receive from farmers show that part of this area (approx. 860 ha) is fallow. This raises great surprise and concern for farmers who have been struggling for several years to expand their family farms. This is also to the detriment of the State Treasury, as this area could generate rental income.
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Thirteen years of being at each other's throats. Leases for improvement
The company rejected the land exclusion condition applicable under the 2011 Act.
The Agromax enterprise covers approximately 2,484 ha, consisting of the Rudnik Farm – 1,212 ha and the Tworków-Wojnowice Farm – 1,272 ha. These agreements expired on June 14, 2023 and could not be extended for another period. This is the result of the provisions of the Act of September 16, 2011 amending the Act on the management of agricultural real estate of the State Treasury and amending certain other acts (Journal of Laws No. 233, item 1382).
As Deputy Minister of Agriculture Jacek Czerniak explains in response – the Company rejected the conditions for excluding 30% of agricultural land from leased properties proposed in 2012 by the then Agricultural Property Agency. The consequence of such behavior by the Company is the inability to extend the lease agreement without a tender and the inability to purchase the property on a priority basis, which the Company was already aware of in 2012, as it was informed about this fact by the Agricultural Property Agency.
There was supposed to be restructuring
KOWR Local Branch in Częstochowa, due to the upcoming expiry of the above-mentioned lease agreements, prepared a draft Restructuring Program for Rudnik and Tworków-Wojnowice Agricultural Farms.
As the ministry notes – This program was the subject of multilateral consultations, including: was presented to the Social Council operating at the KOWR Local Branch, presented at a meeting organized by KOWR in Częstochowa with farmers, representatives of local governments and agricultural organizations of the Racibórz County, as well as posted on the KOWR website in order to familiarize the widest possible audience with the Program. Taking into account the positive reception of the Program so far, KOWR, after taking over the above-mentioned real estate, planned to restructure the land previously leased by the company in accordance with the assumptions included in the Restructuring Program. However, the company decided to file a lawsuit with the intention of obtaining a court declaration that it had priority rights in the purchase of the real estate and to extend the contract without a tender.
Court proceedings
As a result of the company filing a lawsuit on February 24, 2023, the District Court in Rybnik, 1st Civil Department, by its decision of May 24, 2023, secured the company's claims by prohibiting KOWR from conducting tenders for the lease of real estate previously leased by the company pursuant to the above-mentioned . two contracts and taking all actions aimed at recovering the real estate, as well as all actions aimed at selling them until the final conclusion of the court proceedings, but no longer than until June 14, 2024. The Local Branch of KOWR in Częstochowa filed a complaint against the above-mentioned. the decision, appealing it in its entirety. As a result, the Court of Appeal in Katowice, 5th Civil Division, in its decision of September 28, 2023, dismissed the Company's application for security. Then, the District Court in Rybnik, by its decision of March 11, 2024, dismissed another application of the company of August 25, 2023 to secure the claim, and on April 17, 2024, it issued a judgment in the case in which it dismissed the company's claim of February 24, 2023 to determine that she is entitled to the rights referred to in Art. 29 section 1 point 3 (priority in the purchase of leased land) and Art. 39 section 2 point 1 (non-tender extension of the lease agreement) of the Act of October 19, 1991 on the management of agricultural real estate of the State Treasury and that the lease period specified in these agreements was extended on the current terms and conditions by one year, i.e. until June 14, 2024.
The company filed an appeal against the above-mentioned judgment of the District Court in Rybnik. According to the information provided by KOWR, the case files together with the appeal were transferred to the Court of Appeal in Katowice on July 15, 2024. As of July 18, 2024, a copy of the appeal has not yet been delivered to the KOWR attorney to enable him to submit a response to the appeal.
The lease has ended, now contract-free use
Due to the end of the lease agreement periods on June 14, 2023 and the ongoing court proceedings, the KOWR Regional Branch in Częstochowa informed the company that from June 15, 2023, it is obliged to pay a fee in the amount equivalent to the current lease rent on the terms and conditions: deadlines specified in existing lease agreements and all public and legal charges.
After the Court of Appeal in Katowice issued a decision on September 28, 2023 rejecting the company's application for security, KOWR called on the company to hand over the real estate on November 15, 2023. Within the prescribed period, the company refused to hand over the property. The KOWR Regional Branch in Częstochowa, in a letter dated November 28, 2023, informed the company that from November 16, 2023, it is a non-contractual user of ZWRSP land.
For now, the fine is PLN 10 million, but this is probably not the end
According to Minister Czerniak, KOWR filed two lawsuits against the company for payment of remuneration for non-contractual use of real estate, amounting to a total of approximately PLN 10 million. The claim covers the period from November 16, 2023 to December 31, 2023. As of the date of this response, court cases are pending. If the company continues to fail to release the land, KOWR will also charge remuneration for the period of its non-contractual use in 2024 and, as KOWR emphasized, it will be the subject of subsequent court proceedings. Moreover, KOWR informed that on May 27, 2024, the company released part of the property with an area of approximately 866 ha (from the contract covering the land of the Tworków-Wojnowice Farm – 767.9323 ha, and from the contract covering the land of the Rudnik Farm – 97.8970 ha). . From the above Therefore, there are still approximately 1,619 ha of two expired lease agreements in the company's non-contractual use.
Land leased primarily to farmers
The Ministry emphasizes that KOWR is obliged by regulations to distribute agricultural land included in the ZWRSP primarily to individual farmers in order to expand their family farms or to persons with agricultural qualifications in order to establish such farms. In order to be able to announce a tender for the lease of real estate, it is necessary to first issue it to the Company, which has not yet handed over all the real estate, and court proceedings regarding it are pending. Land from expired lease agreements concluded with Przedsiębiorstwo Rolno-Przemysłowe Agromax sp. z o. o. is the object of interest from many entities, mainly farmers. First of all, KOWR is obliged, as indicated above, to take actions aimed at meeting the needs of individual farmers and it implements these goals, also taking into account the fact that the legislator entrusted KOWR, as one of the priorities to be implemented, with improving the area structure of family farms.
Real estate taken over from the above-mentioned the companies will therefore be successively prepared by the KOWR Regional Branch in Częstochowa for redistribution in accordance with the assumptions of the Restructuring Program – informs Deputy Minister Czerniak.
