In connection with the dissatisfaction expressed publicly by six land users along the construction site of the Silistra-Dobrich gas pipeline, we hereby inform all owners, tenants or users of agricultural land about the rules for the determination and compensation for damages to agricultural production caused by the construction of gas pipelines.
First of all, we would like to conscientiously state that in all the years of our work as a responsible national gas transmission operator, there is not a single case when the users of land, where construction and assembly works have been carried out for a gas pipeline, have not been awarded and paid by Bulgartransgaz EAD for compensation for damages to agricultural production.
Bulgartransgaz EAD personally or through a contractor that has signed a contract for construction of the gas pipeline and in compliance with the established practice and the legislation in force performs the following procedure for the determination and payment of compensation:
1. The Company establishes the actual current users of land affected by the construction works, by preparing lists of the persons entitled to receive compensation for damaged or lost crops showing the identification numbers, area of the affected properties, type of the destroyed crop, market unit rate and the amount of compensation due for each property as well as the total amount of the compensation by territories, municipalities and the site;
2. Before the start of the construction works on the individual property, the Company finds and contacts the persons under item 1 in order to obtain documents proving that they have the right to receive compensation for damaged or lost crops (copies of ownership documents or copies of lease contracts or contracts for established right to use the relevant property, etc.) and to inform them of upcoming activities;
3. The Company assigns to an independent licensed assessor the preparation of market assessments to determine the amount of compensation on the grounds of which the owners or users/tenants of the properties affected by the construction site are compensated by Bulgartransgaz EAD for actual damages during the construction works of the gas pipeline.
Compensation is paid by Bulgartransgaz EAD on the grounds of the market assessments prepared by the licensed assessor and the provided lists and documents in two possible ways, regulated by the Energy Act and the Spatial Planning Act (SPA) as follows:
1. Bulgartransgaz EAD submits the provided documents and the list of persons to receive compensation in the municipality requesting the mayor to appoint a Commission by order under Art. 210 of the SPA, which shall determine the amount of compensation for each owner, tenant or user. Bulgartransgaz EAD submits the compensation determined by the Commission in a municipality bank account, and then the municipality distributes these payments to the persons entitled to receive compensation.
2. Compensation is paid by Bulgartransgaz EAD on the grounds of a contract, signed by mutual agreement between Bulgartransgaz EAD and the owner or tenant/user, and this contract contains the market assessment and copies of documents certifying the right to use the land.
The described procedure shall be complied with also for the construction of the Dobrich - Silistra gas pipeline, and at the same time due to the concerns expressed by users of agricultural land we have declared out willingness to sign a contract for opening and servicing of conditional deposit account (Escrow account) between Bulgartransgaz EAD, the Bank and the users to further guarantee the fulfilment of our obligations.
The Company practice in connection with the construction of gas pipelines is to maintain direct contact with the users and owners of agricultural land through our personnel on site or those of the contractor whom we have expressly authorized to perform this activity in the contract signed therewith. We count on your commitment, understanding, honest relationships and dialogue in our common goal to improve the infrastructure in the regions and the conditions for the development of the local industry.
