Land Grabbing in the EU: How Rabobank is profiting off theft and abuse in Romania

Backed by investments from US and Dutch pension funds and working on the ground with local mafias and corrupt politicians, Rabobank allegedly is buying up €615 million worth of land in Poland and Romania, with the intention of selling off after 14 years at a predicted profit of around 300%.

Over the course of 9 months, an international team of four journalists gathered hundreds of documents and testimonies to detail how Rabobank allegedly bought illegally acquired land from local scouts and intermediaries, who in turn used fraudulent and abusive methods to obtain the land. Rabobank has then rented the land to dozens of politicians and convicted crooks and, with very dubious legality, used their EU farm subsidies as rent guarantees.

Land Grabbing in the EU unearths the realities of Europe’s land bubble for those at the continents poorest fringes, and highlights the need for the EU to address its rural development policies.

This project was shortlisted for the Investigative Reporting Award of the 2016 European Press Prize.

Illustration: © Gijs Kast