{"id":2149,"date":"2026-09-25T01:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T22:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linden.lt\/tinklarastis\/can-a-company-own-farmland-in-lithuania\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T03:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:54:22","slug":"can-a-company-own-farmland-in-lithuania","status":"publish","type":"irasas","link":"https:\/\/linden.lt\/en\/blog\/can-a-company-own-farmland-in-lithuania\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a company own land in Lithuania, and what does the notary check?"},"template":"","kategorija":[],"class_list":["post-2149","irasas","type-irasas","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"visi_puslapiai_cta_statusas":false,"visi_puslapiai_cta_antraste":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_formos_id":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_papildomas_tekstas":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_nuotrauka":null,"tinklarastis_1_autorius":null,"tinklarastis_1_iraso_tipas":false,"dinamiski_blokai":[{"acf_fc_layout":"tekstas","tekstas":"

Yes. A Lithuanian company can own a land plot, because legal persons may also acquire private land (Article 4(1) of the Law on Land of the Republic of Lithuania (\u017d\u012e)). If the plot is agricultural land, the Law on the Acquisition of Agricultural Land of the Republic of Lithuania (\u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e) applies. It limits how much such land one person may hold together with related persons, requires the consent of the National Land Service (Nacionalin\u0117 \u017eem\u0117s tarnyba<\/em>) and imposes a duty to use the land for agricultural activity. Its requirements also apply to share deals after which the buyer holds 5 percent or more of the shares in a company that owns more than 10 ha of agricultural land (Article 1(3) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). That is why a notary certifying a share sale or reorganisation documents asks whether the company owns such land.<\/p>\r\n

Who has a pre-emption right to buy an agricultural plot that is for sale is answered in our real estate FAQ<\/a> (in Lithuanian). This article covers what a company can and cannot do.<\/p>\r\n

Companies and land: the general rule<\/h2>\r\n

Article 4(1) \u017d\u012e provides that private land consists of land returned to, or otherwise acquired in the manner laid down by law by, natural or legal persons. So a company registered in Lithuania may buy and hold a land plot, for example a plot designated for other use under its own production building.<\/p>\r\n

For foreign companies the Constitution sets the rule. Article 47(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania provides that foreign entities may acquire land, inland waters and forests in Lithuania in accordance with a constitutional law. That law is the Constitutional Law on the Implementation of Article 47(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (the Constitutional Law). It defines a foreign legal person as an undertaking, institution or organisation established in a foreign state (Article 2(3) of the Constitutional Law). In our view, a company registered in Lithuania is not a foreign legal person under this definition, even if its shareholders are foreign.<\/p>\r\n

The criteria of the Constitutional Law are met by foreign legal persons established in states that do not belong to unions or commonwealths of states founded on the basis of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and that are members of at least one of the following: the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Article 4(1) of the Constitutional Law). Such entities acquire land in the same manner and on the same conditions as Lithuanian citizens and legal persons (Article 6(1) of the Constitutional Law). So, in our view, the \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e requirements described below apply to them as well. The equal-treatment rule has two exceptions, and both are extra restrictions for foreign entities. Land to which ownership rights of Lithuanian citizens must be restored may be acquired by them only after those rights have been restored and registered (Article 5(1) of the Constitutional Law). State-owned agricultural land may be sold to them only once the restoration of ownership rights and the land reform have been completed in that cadastral area (Article 5(2) of the Constitutional Law). Foreign entities that do not meet the criteria are prohibited from acquiring land in ownership, although they may possess or use it as provided by law (Article 6(2) of the Constitutional Law). So where the buyer is a legal person established abroad, first check the state where it was established. Our recommendation is to do this before any negotiation about the plot.<\/p>\r\n

Agricultural land: what the law provides<\/h2>\r\n

The \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e adds several requirements. They apply to natural and legal persons alike. Except for the provisions on the State's pre-emption right, the law does not apply where land is acquired by the State or a municipality, where a plot in an amateur-garden territory is acquired, where land is inherited or ownership rights to it are restored (with the exception stated in the law), or where a land consolidation contract is concluded (Article 1(2) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e).<\/p>\r\n

Area cap.<\/strong> A person together with related persons may acquire only so much land that the agricultural land they acquired from the State does not exceed 300 ha (Article 3(1) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). The total agricultural land acquired from the State and from other persons may not exceed 500 ha (Article 3(2) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). There is an exception where land is acquired to develop livestock farming and the amount does not exceed the ratio of 1 livestock unit per hectare. However, if the number of livestock units falls within the last 3 years (except for reasons outside the person's control) or the person intends to transfer that land, the State must buy out the area above the 500 ha cap (Article 3(2) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e).<\/p>\r\n

Related persons.<\/strong> For a company this is the key part. Related persons include legal persons that directly or indirectly hold more than 5 percent of another legal person's voting shares, and also persons related to related persons (Article 3(6) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). A natural person and a legal person are also related where the same natural person holds not less than 5 percent of the legal person's shares (Article 3(7\u00b9) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). Spouses, and parents with their minor children, are related persons too (Article 3(5) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e), and legal persons in which the same person or their spouse, or parents with their minor children, hold more than 5 percent of the shares are related (Article 3(7) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). When the area is counted, a person is attributed the share of a legal person's land that is proportionate to the shares they hold in it directly or indirectly (Article 3(8) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). So land held by group companies, their shareholders and the shareholders' family members may be added together. There are exceptions: some of these rules do not apply to agricultural cooperatives where the conditions set by the law are met, and the rule on persons related to related persons does not apply to public companies whose shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market (Article 3(7\u00b2) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e).<\/p>\r\n

The Service's consent.<\/strong> Agricultural land may be acquired only with the consent of the unit of the National Land Service for the place where the land is located. The Service checks the state registers for the areas the persons hold and for their shares in legal persons that own such land, and issues the consent if the caps are not exceeded (Article 3(3) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). In the application the person confirms that they have filed the data the registers require. If it turns out that mandatory data were not filed, or that incorrect or incomplete information was given, administrative liability applies (Article 3(3) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e).<\/p>\r\n

Use for farming.<\/strong> A person who acquires agricultural land must ensure that it is used for agricultural activity for at least 5 years from the acquisition (Article 2(1) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). The duty also applies where the plot is transferred to third parties before the 5-year period has passed (Article 2(1) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). The duty does not apply, among other cases, where after the transaction the person's agricultural land, together with the land they already hold, does not exceed 10 ha, or where the plot is used to operate buildings and facilities the person owns or acquires together with it (Article 2(2) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). A legal person that fails to meet this duty is fined (Article 6(1) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e). In addition, land sale and purchase transactions must be settled only by bank transfer (Article 2(3) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e).<\/p>\r\n

When shares are sold, not land<\/h2>\r\n

These requirements do not only concern buying a plot. The law extends them to share deals.<\/p>\r\n

Article 1(3) \u017d\u016aP\u017d\u012e\u012e sets two tiers for a company that owns more than 10 ha of agricultural land in Lithuania:<\/p>\r\n