Communicated on 23 September 2020 Published on 12 October 2020

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 56605/15 Daniel Lazarov LAZAROV against Bulgaria lodged on 12 November 2015

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Daniel Lazarov Lazarov , is a Bulgarian national, who was born in 1975 and lives in the village of Gigen . He is represented before the Court by Ms Y. Stoilova-Mateeva , a lawyer practising in Sofia.

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

On 20 December 2006 the applicant bought two plots of land on the outskirts of Sofia. One of them measured 6,113 square metres, and the other – 3,080 square metres; both were described in the respective notary deeds as third-category “field”.

In a decision of 21 December 2013 the Council of Ministers expropriated the two plots, as well as other land in the area, for the construction of a section of the ring road around Sofia. The decision stated that the applicant would receive monetary compensation in the amount of 9,721 Bulgarian levs (BGN), equivalent to 4,972 euros (EUR), or BGN 1.06 (EUR 0.54) per square metre. The amount of compensation had been calculated in accordance with the Regulation on the calculation of the value of agricultural land (hereinafter “the Regulation”).

The applicant applied for judicial review of the expropriation decision, arguing that the compensation awarded to him was too low.

The Supreme Administrative Court appointed an expert to calculate the market value of the land. The expert submitted a report on 4 November 2014, which has not been presented to the Court. The expert concluded that there had been only one transaction with a comparable plot meeting the requirements of the State Property Act 1996.

The Supreme Administrative Court gave a judgment on 13 May 2015. It noted that one transaction with a comparable plot was insufficient to establish the market value of the applicant ’ s land, which meant that the compensation due to him had to be calculated in accordance with the Regulation. As this had been the method used by the Council of Ministers when expropriating the land and awarding in compensation the equivalent of BGN 1.06 (EUR 0.54) per square metre, the application for judicial review had no merit.

In December 2014 the Council of Ministers took a decision to seek settlement in the cases pending before the Supreme Administrative Court, concerning agricultural land expropriated for the construction of the ring road on the strength of the decision of 21 December 2013. It was decided that the maximum compensation to be proposed to the expropriated owners would be BGN 20.05 (EUR 10) per square metre.

However, the applicant submits that no settlement under these terms was ever proposed to him.

The relevant domestic law and practice have been described in Kostov and Others v. Bulgaria (nos. 66581/12 and 25054/15, § 23-38, 14 May 2020).

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, relying in addition on Article 41 of the Convention, that the compensation awarded to him when his land was expropriated was too low.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

Did the deprivation of the applicant of his property comply with the requirements of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1? In particular, was the compensation awarded to him reasonably related to the expropriated land ’ s value (see Kostov and Others v. Bulgaria , nos. 66581/12 and 25054/15, 14 May 2020)?

The parties are requested to present a copy of the expert valuation report of 4 November 2014, drawn up in the judicial-review proceedings initiated by the applicant.