Conducting agricultural activity in areas facing natural constraints (ANC) affects farms’ production and economic results. ANC payments were introduced to compensate farmers for higher costs and lost income. The aim of the study is to compare the production and economic results of farms receiving ANC support with other farms. It was hypothesized that ANC farms achieve lower production and economic results than other units. The analysis is based on Polish FADN data concerning 2015. The sample included 12,105 farms, of which 4,652 (38.43%) received ANC subsidies. To describe the characteristics of the surveyed farms, positional measures were used due to strong asymmetry. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the significance of differences in distributions. The results indicate the existence of significant differences in the production potential, production and economic efficiency of farms receiving ANC payments and ones without them. Agricultural farms receiving ANC payments are characterized by a significantly smaller area of agricultural land, a lower share of arable land in the UAA and a smaller share of leased land. They also have lower production volume, lower land and labour productivity. They achieve relatively lower incomes. Nevertheless, the payments to a small extent reduce these differences. On this basis, it can be concluded that ANC payments in Poland do not provide full compensation for differences in the production and economic results of a farm with worse agri-environmental conditions. Therefore, the impact of the CAP on the economic results of farms located in ANC is relatively small.

Basing on the economic, ecological and social points of view, the polder systems in the Nemunas lowland are considered as unique, requiring a great deal of annual state subsidies. According to the land-improvement programme, during the period of 2006-2008, Lithuanian polder system are planned to be yearly granted 2.15 million euro from the State budget, whereas the local administration of Silute district, which is exploiting the polders of the Lower Nemunas - more than half of the sum (63%). The article includes the analysis of exploitation expenses and statistical estimation of the Lower Nemunas' polders during the period of 1996-2006 as well as the investigation of the funds distribution on routine repairs, reconstruction and maintenance work. The average annual expenses on the pump stations, dikes, ditches and roads during the research period were determined. The analysis of the previous decade's expenses shows that the statistical average of the expenditure on the polder systems of Silute district amounts to 0.68+-0.13 million euro a year. The yearly renovation of polders depreciation should be obviously awarded a grant of the amount not less than 0.72 million euro.

According to EU Water Framework Directive, anew model of land reclamation management and financing will be developed. Taking into consideration the high vale of state investment required to ensure a steady work of land reclamation systems, it is important to reject the funds allocated on an equality principles and to give preference to the regions where the maintenance, rehabilitation and repair of these structures is more effective. The discussion concerning the allocation of state funds is elaborated in this paper. On the basis of statistical analysis, natural and economical regional differences were evaluated. Four scenarios of the allocation of special subsidies from state budget are submitted for approval. When modelling the financing results based on the regional distribution methodology, the changes in base financing indices are under discussion.