CASE OF YORDANOVA AND OTHERS v. BULGARIA
Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Protection of property (Article 1 para. 1 of Protocol No. 1 - Peaceful enjoyment of possessions)
Erik Møse;Síofra O’Leary
4. The applicants were born in 1937, 1934 and 1941 respectively. The first and third applicants live in Sofia. 5. The applicants’ fathers owned printing houses in Sofia, which were nationalised by the Communist authorities in 1949 and 1950. After that their assets were taken over by a State-owned printing house. In 1991 the latter was registered as a State-owned company, currently named ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD. The company is managed by the Minister of Education. Among the tasks of the company is the printing of school textbooks. 6. In 1997 Parliament adopted the Compensation of Owners of Nationalised Real Property Act (hereinafter “the Compensation Act” – see paragraph 23 below). 7. In March 1998 the first and second applicants and their mother applied under the Compensation Act to receive compensation for the nationalised printing house. As to the manner of compensation, they expressed preference to receive shares in ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD. In a decision of 14 June 1999 the Minister of Education allowed their request, stating that the exact number of shares to be awarded would be determined after a valuation of the assets of the former printing house. 8. Despite that, in another decision dated 3 July 2000 the Minister rejected the request for compensation. That decision was quashed by the Supreme Administrative Court in a final judgment of 24 June 2002, on the ground that it impermissibly modified the previous one, which had become final. 9. After that an expert prepared a valuation of the nationalised property, which was confirmed by the Minister of Education on 5 June 2003. It stated that the first and second applicants and their mother were entitled to compensation for 57,932 Bulgarian levs (BGN, equivalent of 29,630 euros (EUR)), which equalled 579 shares in ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD, each with a face value of BGN 100 (EUR 51). 10. However, on 26 August 2003 the Minister adopted another decision, stating that the applicants and their mother were to receive compensation bonds instead of shares. He relied in particular on the fact that ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD had been included in the list under section 11 of the concluding provisions of the Privatisation and Post-Privatisation Control Act 2002 (hereinafter “the Privatisation Act” – see paragraph 24 below). Once again, that decision was quashed by the Supreme Administrative Court, in a final judgment of 18 October 2004, as it impermissibly modified the previous decisions awarding the first and second applicants and their mother compensation in the form of shares, which had become final. The domestic court held in particular that section 11 of the concluding provisions mentioned above could not justify such a modification. 11. In 2006 the first and second applicants and their mother filed with the Minister of Education and other State bodies several complaints, requesting that the compensation procedure be completed. In a letter dated 7 April 2006 the Council of Ministers (Government) informed them that the Ministry of Education was seeking “a lawful solution”, which “would not infringe upon the public interest and would not be in breach of the [Privatisation Act]”. In another letter dated 30 August 2006 the parliamentary Committee on Petitions informed the applicants and their mother that it had urged the Minister of Education to find a solution, pointing out that with the enactment of the Compensation Act Parliament had sought “to restore historical justice”. 12. The first and second applicants’ mother passed away in 2007 and was succeeded by them. 13. In August 1998 the third applicant, her mother and her sister applied under the Compensation Act to receive compensation for the nationalised printing house. They stated that they preferred to receive shares in ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD. 14. Their request was allowed by the Minister of Education in a decision of 22 December 1998. 15. In 1999, 2001 and 2003 an expert drew up three valuations of the expropriated property. The last of them, stating that the third applicant, her mother and her sister were entitled to compensation for BGN 26,309 (the equivalent of EUR 13,460), equalling 263 shares in ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD, each with a face value of BGN 100, was confirmed by the Minister of Education on 6 June 2003. 16. Despite the above developments, in another decision dated 26 August 2003 the Minister stated that the third applicant, her mother and her sister were to receive compensation bonds instead of shares. As in the procedure described above concerning the first and second applicants, he relied on the fact that the company had been included in the list under section 11 of the concluding provisions of the Privatisation Act (see paragraph 24 below). That decision was quashed by the Supreme Administrative Court in a final judgment of 31 March 2004, on the ground that it impermissibly modified the previous decisions concerning the compensation to be provided, which had become final. The domestic court again held that section 11 of the concluding provisions mentioned above could not justify such a modification, as it was not applicable to pending compensation proceedings. 17. The third applicant’s mother and sister passed away in 2006 and 2004 respectively, leaving the third applicant her father’s only surviving heir. 18. In 2007 the Ministry of Education requested the Privatisation Agency to authorise the transfer to private parties of shares in ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD. The authorisation, related to the claims of all applicants, was given on 23 April 2008. 19. The Ministry took no further measures to complete the compensation procedures. 20. In 2011 the third applicant wrote a letter to the executive director of ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD, urging him to enter into the company register her shareholding and to present to her copies of all decisions taken by the company’s general meeting after 2003. She received no response. 21. In a decision of 5 March 2013 the Council of Ministers authorised the sale by ‘Obrazovanie i nauka’ EAD of real properties owned by the company (such an authorisation was required by law). The applicants applied for the judicial review of that decision, arguing that it affected their rights as shareholders. In a judgment of 27 January 2015 the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed their application, noting that they were not shareholders in the company, since the compensation procedures had not been completed with the actual transfer of shares to them in accordance with the law.