EU citizens can now buy Latvian land

  • 2004-04-15
  • Baltic News Service
RIGA - The Latvian government on April 8 passed amendments to the law on land reform in Latvia's cities, conditionally lifting restrictions for EU citizens and businesses to buy land after the country's accession to the bloc on May 1.

The amendments were to take effect without parliamentary approval, as Parliament was out for the Easter break.
The legislative amendments provide for a transitional period between May this year and May 2011, during which EU residents will be able to buy land in Latvian cities freely if they are doing business in Latvia or if their main field is not agriculture or forestry.
Experts predict that once Latvia joins the EU in May, real estate investments could significantly rise, with a quarter of all foreign investments already made in the real estate sector.