CASE OF SANDU AND OTHERS V. THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA (Application no. 21034/05)

Principal facts

The case originated in eight applications by 1,646 individuals and three companies, Posedo-Agro S.R.L., Agro-Tiras S.R.L. and Agro-S.A.V.V.A. S.R.L.
The individual applicants live in five villages on the left bank of the River Dniester and are under
Moldovan control. They own land which is on the other side of a road which has been claimed by
“the MRT” as its territory.
They worked the land without hindrance between 1992 and 1998, when “the MRT authorities” set
up “border” checkpoints and the applicants had to pay various taxes and fees. In 2004 “the MRT”
declared that the land in question was its property and demanded rent from the applicants.
The applicants refused to sign rental contracts for property that was already theirs and as a result
they no longer had access to their land. The 2004 harvest was lost and some agricultural machinery
was seized. The applicants complained to “the MRT authorities”, the Moldovan authorities, the
Russian Embassy in Moldova and to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
The three applicant companies rented land from individuals in the same five villages. The issues they
had with “the MRT” authorities included being fined for taking equipment across the road without
declaring it to “the MRT”, having equipment seized or being denied access to the land.
The Moldovan authorities took various measures to help people affected by various actions of the
“MRT”. The measures included compensation for lack of access to the land in question and the
negotiation in 2006 of a temporary “MRT” registration system for its owners, which allowed them to
cultivate the land and be exempt from making payments to the “MRT”. The temporary registration
system is renewed each year in negotiations between Moldova and the “MRT”.

Judgement

The Court held that Russia was to pay each individual applicant 1,500 euros (EUR) in respect of nonpecuniary
damage, except for three applicants who withdrew their applications.
It awarded EUR 115,300 to Agro-Tiras S.R.L. and EUR 80,500 to Agro-S.A.V.V.A. S.R.L. in respect of
pecuniary damage and EUR 50,000 under the same head to Posedo-Agro S.R.L., to be paid to its
successor, Serghei Popa FP. It also awarded each applicant company EUR 5,000 in respect of nonpecuniary
damage.
It ordered that Russia was to pay costs and expenses of EUR 20,000 for all the applicants.

Full text is available at and in the Court records of ECtHR. https://www.echr.coe.int
Judgment in PDF.

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