THE LANDOWNERS who have held out for a higher price for their plots of land to be used to build the Hyundai/Kia car plant near Žilina have won their battle, according to the SME daily.
The original price of Sk140 per square metre has risen to Sk350 per square metre. The state had threatened to expropriate the land if the landowners would not settle.
However, it is not the state that is buying the land. The money is coming from as yet unnamed private companies. These firms demanded that they would later be able to exchange these plots for other land currently administered by the Slovak Land Fund.
Yesterday, the landowners started signing contracts on the sale of their plots for the agreed Sk350 per square metre.
The 400 landowners own around one quarter of the total planned Hyundai/Kia plant area.
An anonymous source told SME that the cabinet discussed the problem of the exchange of these plots unofficially on March 16 and agreed that nothing stood in the way of the deal.
Nevertheless, the government must officially discuss the matter, after the Agriculture Ministry has prepared the necessary documentation.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
TheSlovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the informationpresented in its Flash News postings.
