Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir stated that the committee appointed to review the legislation of leasing land to citizens outside the EEA will present its proposals on the case of Chinese investor Huang Nubo’s interest in Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum shortly.
“They are being worked on by lawyers in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Industries and Innovation and we expect that they can be presented and posted on the internet … next week,” Hanna told ruv.is yesterday.
Owners who hold 72 percent of the land wanted to sell their share to a holding company owned by municipalities in the region, which would then lease the land to Huang. The minister appointed a committee to review the law and see whether the plan could work out.
The investor originally intended to acquire the land himself, but Icelandic authorities prevented the deal from going through. His vision was to build a hotel and golf course on the land, located in remote Northeast Iceland.
One of the landowners announced last week that he and the other owners intend to offer Grímsstaðir to buyers in the EEA because they have grown tired of waiting for answers from the government.
