Article 37v of the Farmland Act demystified: land-use agreements, deadlines and 'white spots'

2026-09-25

Two farmers shaking hands at the boundary of consolidated field blocks

Bulgarian farmland is famously fragmented, so the law provides an annual consolidation procedure — the Article 37v land-use agreements. Owners declare by 31 July, users apply; a voluntary agreement covering at least two-thirds of the block area is concluded by 30 August; failing that, an official allocation is drafted by 15 September, and the regional directorate issues the order by 1 October. Plots whose owners did not declare ('white spots') are allocated to users against the average rent for the district, payable within three months.

The order is also the legal basis behind direct payments — which is why these summer deadlines matter. Zemedelko indexes all 28 regional directorates' materials and drafts the applications in the official formats.

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