UK Investors Turn to Farmland in Eastern Europe

It has been reported that many British investors have turned to farmland in Eastern Europe and CIS countries because it is not only cheaper, but also more profitable than land in Great Britain.

In the past months, UK land values started to decline slowly, whereas farmland in such countries as Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland, Belarus, etc. has remained undervalued.

Commenting on the market trend, Mr. Atkin of Bidwells Agribusiness said that land in the countries of Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union oftentimes offers a good chance of capital gains and better returns than British land.

He is determined that farmland in those areas is not only cheaper, but also more arable because of its abundance. He said that "there are certainly opportunities out there, and there is no reason that individual farmers shouldn't succeed, provided they do the homework. The region has good access to export facilities, and fixed costs are about half those of the UK."

The dark side of buying land in foreign countries is high risk investment.