Published on 7 February 2022
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 56289/19
Radka Ivanova KUZMANOVA and Ivan Valkov IVANOV
against Bulgaria
lodged on 17 October 2019
communicated on 17 January 2022
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application is of the type of Kostov and Others v. Bulgaria, nos. 66581/12 and 25054/15, 14 May 2020, and concerns a complaint regarding inadequate compensation following expropriation. By a decision of 26 July 2018, the Council of Ministers expropriated 7,341 square meters of land owned by the applicants for the construction of a highway, against compensation of BGN 2,004 (approximately EUR 1,024) or BGN 0.27 (EUR 0.14) per sq.m. In a final judgment of 17 April 2019, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld that decision. In particular, in the absence of similar comparable transactions, the calculation was made pursuant to the Regulation on the calculation of the value of agricultural land. The applicants claim that the adequate compensation for their land, based on reports of real estate agencies, would be between BGN 9,000 and BGN 10,000, or between BGN 1.23 (EUR 0.63) and BGN 1.36 (EUR 0.70) per sq. m. The applicants complain under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, relying in addition on Article 13 of the Convention.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Did the deprivation of the applicants of their property comply with the requirements of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1? In particular, was the compensation awarded to them reasonably related to their expropriated land’s value (see Kostov and Others v. Bulgaria, nos. 66581/12 and 25054/15, 14 May 2020)?
APPENDIX
No.
Applicant’s Name
Year of birth
Nationality
Place of residence
1.
Radka Ivanova KUZMANOVA
1940
Bulgarian
Shumen
2.
Ivan Valkov IVANOV
1965
Bulgarian
Shumen