Kazakh President Mikhail Tokayev approved an amendment to the country's land relations law banning the lease and sale of agricultural land to foreigners, the presidential website reported Wednesday.

According to the amendment, Kazakhstan prohibits any individual or entity from providing the ownership and right to use agricultural land to foreign citizens, foreign companies, Kazakh companies with foreign shares, stateless persons, international research centers and foreign Kazakhs who have settled in Kazakhstan but have not acquired Kazakh nationality. At the same time, agricultural land already leased by foreign citizens and foreign-owned companies cannot be extended.

About 93,000 hectares of agricultural land in Kazakhstan are leased by seven joint ventures and two foreign companies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The lease contract will expire by 2025 at the latest. When the contract expires, the land will be nationalized.

The government has set up a special committee to amend a 2016 ban on the sale and transfer of agricultural land, which expires at the end of this year.