State aid: Commission finds that Estonia must recover illegal aid for below market price rent of agricultural land

Article summary

On 24 January 2020, the European Commission announced that AS Tartu Agro received incompatible aid from Estonia through the rent of agricultural land at a rate below market price, in breach of EU State aid rules (SA.39182). A land lease contract was signed in 2000 between the Estonian Ministry of Rural Affairs and AS Tartu Agro for a duration of 25 years and is therefore still valid. The Commission found that the lease of land involved State aid, as the lease fee paid by AS Tartu Agro was, and still is, below the market price. The Commission concluded that the lease contract gives an undue and selective advantage to AS Tartu Agro over its competitors. As a result, Estonia must recover an estimated €1.2m in illegal State aid.