On the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the 'Decisional Transparency' section, a draft Government Decision has been posted for amending Law No. 226/2016 and supplementing Law No. 268/2001, according to which agricultural lands held by commercial companies in the ADS portfolio, free of contracts, up to a maximum area of 50 hectares, will be directly assigned for concession to young people up to 40 years old, graduates of relevant education, in order to establish farms.

Through the proposed modification of the normative act, other forms of auctions can be organized during the sessions for young farmers, using the methods provided by Law 268/2001, for contract-free lands, except those already in the 'Young Farmer' procedure, thereby generating additional revenue for the state budget.

The current form of the normative act states in Article 7 that during the entire period of submitting and resolving requests, no other types of contracts can be concluded by ADS, except those to which the provisions of Articles 211 and 212 of the law apply (concession contracts through direct assignment), a regulation that leads to the impossibility of exploiting other land areas through other competitive methods provided by Law 268/2001 (concession and lease through public auction with bidding), which are not covered by this program.

The average duration of a contracting session for young farmers ranges from 3 to 4 months, depending on the offered surfaces, the number of applications, the deadlines for submitting and resolving documents, a period during which no other contracting procedures can be organized, except those to which the provisions of Articles 211 and 212 of Law 268/2001 apply (concession through direct assignment).

As of the present date, ADS records approximately 55,000 hectares of contract-free land.

The draft normative act can be consulted here: https://www.madr.ro/proiecte-de-acte-normative/8344-proiect-hg-modificare-articol-7-anexa-norme-metodologice-de-aplicare-legea-268-2001.html