Based on the established construction project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will through the acquisition of land by the state for the construction of the railway. The project determines the exact locations of the railway and the facilities necessary for its operation. When acquiring land, each case is approached individually and an attempt is made to find an agreement that satisfies the parties.
When starting the procedure for acquiring land for the state, an expert appraisal is ordered from a licensed and certified land appraiser to determine the market value of the necessary land. During the negotiations, explanations and justifications from landowners are heard., the content of the expert assessment prepared by the land appraiser is introduced and the terms of land acquisition are specified (price, time of transfer of possession, possibility of harvesting and felling the forest, other conditions). During the negotiations, the wishes of the landowner and the terms of acquisition are clarified. If the wishes and applications of the landowner are justified and an agreement is reached on land acquisition, a notarized contract is concluded for the transfer of the land to the Republic of Estonia. All costs related to land acquisition (land surveying, notary fees for sales contracts and state fees) are paid by the interested party, i.e. the state.
If negotiations for voluntary transfer do not yield the desired results and the landowner refuses to transfer the land, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has the right to initiate expropriation proceedings. Expropriation shall be carried out in accordance with the law and shall be carried out by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. Upon initiation of the expropriation proceedings, a notice of the intention to submit an application for expropriation shall be sent to the owner of the immovable property. The owner shall have the right to submit objections to this. The application for expropriation shall be sent through the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure to the Government of the Republic, which is competent to make an expropriation decision. The said decision shall be forwarded by registered letter to the owner of the immovable property to be expropriated and to the holders of limited property rights.
After the decision to make an expropriation, an extraordinary valuation of the immovable property is carried out, which is regulated by the Government of the Republic Regulation No. 203 of 19.06.2001 "Procedure for the Extraordinary Valuation of Land". The extraordinary valuation is carried out by a land valuer holding a license issued by the Land Board in cooperation with the bailiff of the location of the immovable property. The valuation is carried out as of the moment of the adoption of the expropriation decision.
After the extraordinary valuation, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure shall organize a settlement procedure, the purpose of which is to conclude an agreement with the owner. The agreement shall include the amount of the expropriation fee to be paid for the immovable property subject to expropriation and the compensation to be paid to other persons for the damage caused by the expropriation, as well as the conditions for payment and transfer of possession of the immovable property. In the settlement procedure, the owner of the immovable property and other persons have the right to report any damage caused by the expropriation that is not reflected in the valuation report prepared during the extraordinary valuation.
If the owner of the immovable property does not agree with the decision to determine the expropriation fee and compensation, he or she has the right to challenge it in court.
See the Rail Baltic route on the Estonian Land Board website.
