Some aspects of land market in Central and Eastern European countries: focus on Slovakia

Economic aspects of land market in Slovakia were studied in two different regions, characterized by different soil and natural conditions. Two groups of Slovak land owners were analysed. The first group consisted of 412 private farmers with 43.2 ha of agricultural land (LA) per farm on average, the second one of 150 big enterprises such as cooperatives with 1,866 ha of LA on average. In addition, some facts about land markets in Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Ukraine are presented in this article. In Slovakia, a large group of private farmers farm either on 25-100 ha or on less than 2 ha of AL. The prices of AL they farm on vary between 10,000 and 100,000 SKK per ha. A big part of AL used by small farmers belongs to them, whereas big enterprises farm on rented AL or AL from other sources. The major part of AL in Slovakia consists of arable land, even if meadows and pastures occupy also a significant part.