The government has decided to expropriate land for the D11 motorway

Ludmila Havránková

Prague - An agreement between the state and landowner Ludmila Havránková and her sister regarding land for the D11 highway is not possible. This was the conclusion reached by the government today, which voted for the expropriation of the land. Michal Frankl, the chief negotiator from the Office of the Government, told ČTK. Havránková will resist any potential expropriation, her legal representative Pavel Černohous told ČTK.
    According to Frankl, the problem was Havránková's sister, Jaroslava Štrosová, who owns only a small portion of the highly scrutinized area, approximately 1,400 square meters. The state has more or less agreed with Havránková on the wording of the contracts, which has been confirmed by initials. However, according to the state, Havránková cannot fulfill the obligation because she did not reach an agreement with her sister.
    As Frankl stated, the ministers today decided between two options: either to expropriate only Štrosová or all the land, including that owned by Havránková. In total, this concerns approximately three hectares.
    "The conditions for an agreement with the entire Havránek family were not met," Frankl stated. He added that 11 ministers voted for the expropriation. Štrosová reportedly demanded many times more for her land than the nearly 200,000 crowns offered by the state.
    "The fact that the state was unable to reach an agreement with the co-owner of the land cannot be blamed on Mrs. Havránková," said Černohous. According to him, Havránková had long warned the state that she needed to acquire the entire land that she co-owns with her sister. "The state's negotiations do not seem very understandable to me," Černohous added. He estimated that any expropriation dispute could drag on for several years.
    Frankl did not estimate the length of the expropriation process. "It will take some time," he said. The so-called Havránková case has been dragging on for 16 years; thus, the highway currently ends three kilometers before Hradec Králové, and nothing will change for drivers in the near future.
    The recent agreement between the state and the farmer was based on Havránková receiving three hectares from the state for her three hectares along the D11 route. She would also rent another 130 hectares of state land. The possibility of renting was ruled out by today's decision of the government, according to Frankl.
    The state will now turn to the building authority with a request for expropriation; landowners can request a change from the regional office and then the court in case of disagreement. According to Frankl, this dispute could drag on for another "long months", and the court may grant a suspensive effect to the expropriation lawsuit.
    In the case of an agreement, the state anticipated starting the first works after the harvest. Co-owners, to whom Havránková transferred the land in the dispute with the state, could pose a significant obstacle during the expropriation. There are currently about 70 of them, and the state will need to expropriate each one individually. In the case of a deal, this problem would be eliminated based on Havránková's contracts with the co-owners regarding preemptive rights.
    The state estimated the value of Havránková's land at 25 million crowns, which is the amount she should not lose even in the event of expropriation. It is still unclear whether the Directorate of Roads and Highways will offer Havránková any land in exchange.