In brief

  • Through Government Decision no. 515/2026, the Government approved an additional site on the territory of the town of Avrig (Sibiu County) and triggered the expropriation of the plots located on it, needed solely for relocating the utility networks blocking the corridor of the Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway, section 1.
  • Ten plots of privately owned land are being expropriated (belonging to private individuals and to Hidroelectrica S.A.), totalling 1.787 mp, for which the state is paying total compensation of 10.006,87 lei; two further road plots owned by the Avrig local authority (51 mp) are entering the same corridor as public property.
  • It directly concerns only the owners named in the decision’s annexes, all from Avrig; for the wider public, the act simply confirms that preparatory works on section 1 are moving forward.
Act: Government Decision no. 515/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania no. 552 of 6 July 2026
Enters into force: 6 July 2026 (date of publication)

The Government has taken another small but necessary step towards completing the Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway: through Decision no. 515/2026, it triggered the expropriation of ten plots of land in the town of Avrig, Sibiu County, to make room for the utility networks that need to be moved out of the path of the motorway’s section 1. It is a routine administrative act, but one that shows work on Sibiu-Făgăraș is advancing on several fronts at once, alongside the growing funding allocated to the neighbouring A1 Sibiu-Pitești motorway, for which Romania recently borrowed a further 500 million euros from the European Investment Bank.

The decision approves the project’s additional site, in line with the final version of the feasibility study, and triggers expropriation procedures for all privately owned properties located on this site, within the administrative territory of the town of Avrig. The expropriating party is the Romanian state, represented by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI), through the National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR).

Read also: More than 140 plots are only now entering the expropriation for the Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway

What it changes in practice

In concrete terms, the decision produces three distinct legal effects:

  • It formally triggers the expropriation of ten plots of privately owned land, belonging to families from Avrig (Lăzăroaie, Oancea, Sebeșan, Lazaroaie, Mihăilă, Maniuțiu, Cernea, Bădilă, Răduțiu) and to the company Hidroelectrica S.A., with individual expropriated areas ranging between 3 and 817 mp and compensation between 26,64 lei and 2.549,04 lei per item.
  • It brings into the expropriation corridor two road plots already in the public ownership of the Avrig local authority (51 mp in total), with no compensation paid, since this is a transfer between public entities.
  • It allocates a total of 10.006,87 lei (officially rounded to „10,1 mii lei”) from the state budget, through the MTI budget, under chapter 84.01 „Transport”, from a funding line financed by non-reimbursable European funds (ERDF, 2021-2027 financial framework), meaning the money ultimately comes from EU funds, even though the transfer runs through the national budget.

The MTI must transfer the amount to a treasury account opened in CNAIR’s name within a maximum of 30 days from the approval of the credit-opening request; from there, compensation is actually paid to the owners, under the procedure set out in Law no. 255/2010. The additional site plan is made public both by posting it at the offices of the local councils involved and on the expropriating party’s website.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

  • The project already had approved technical-economic indicators since 2022: the Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway (68,05 km, four sections, passing through Avrig, Tălmaciu, Boița, Turnu Roșu, Racovița, Porumbacu de Jos, Cârța and Arpașu de Jos in Sibiu County, and Făgăraș, Mândra, Beclean, Recea, Voila, Drăguș, Viștea and Ucea in Brașov County) had its indicators re-approved through Government Decision no. 534/2022, when the project was renamed from the „Sibiu-Făgăraș Expressway” to the „Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway”.
  • The original expropriation corridor did not cover everything that was needed: HG no. 515/2026 does not reopen or extend the motorway itself; it supplements the already approved corridor with an additional site, strictly for relocating the utility networks (water, electricity and similar) that cross the route in the Avrig area.
  • It is a technical land correction, not news about the general progress of the works: expropriations carried out in successive stages, as detailed design work identifies further necessary areas, are typical for major infrastructure projects; the Government has recently approved similar supplementary compensation for the Bucharest Ring Motorway too.
  • It was followed by a similar expropriation on another section: shortly afterward, the Government approved, through Decision No. 548/2026, expropriations for the Sibiu-Pitești Motorway, Section 2 Boița-Cornetu, the second such operation in 2026 on the Transylvanian motorway network.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • It effectively unblocks the relocation of the utility networks, a mandatory step before earthworks can begin on this stretch of section 1.
  • Payment deadlines are clear and short (a maximum of 30 days to allocate the funds to CNAIR), which reduces the risk of delays in paying the owners’ compensation.
  • Individual compensation amounts are calculated according to the public criteria of Law no. 255/2010 and published in full, with the owners’ names, in the decision’s annex, a level of transparency that is useful for any later challenge.

What remains a problem

  • Compensation amounts are modest (between 26,64 and 2.549,04 lei per item, for often very small areas), which may generate discontent if owners feel the real value of their land is being underestimated.
  • The decision offers no timeline for the utility relocation works or for the actual start of construction on this stretch of section 1.
  • Being a strictly localised expropriation, limited to a single local authority and 1.838 mp in total, the act says nothing about the general progress of the entire section 1 of the motorway.

Practical advice

  1. If you are an owner or holder named in the decision’s annex: check with Avrig Town Hall whether your name appears on the list and follow the posting of the site plan at the local council’s offices or on CNAIR’s website, for technical details on exactly how much of your land is being expropriated.
  2. If you are unhappy with the compensation amount: the standard procedure under Law no. 255/2010 allows you to challenge the amount set by the expropriating party in court, without this stopping the expropriation itself or the payment of the amount already recorded.
  3. If you are a company or institution with utility networks in the area: relocating utilities is generally the stage that precedes the start of earthworks; follow CNAIR’s announcements for the actual timeline of moving the networks on section 1.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly does Government Decision no. 515/2026 approve?
It approves an additional site on the territory of the town of Avrig, Sibiu County, needed for relocating the utility networks located on the route of the Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway, section 1, and triggers the expropriation procedure for ten plots of privately owned land located on this site, plus the transfer of two road plots from the Avrig local authority’s public ownership into the expropriation corridor.
Why are further expropriations still needed, if the Sibiu-Făgăraș Motorway already had its technical-economic indicators approved back in 2022?
Because expropriations for major infrastructure projects are usually carried out in successive stages: the initial corridor, approved separately, did not cover all the areas later found to be necessary for relocating the utility networks identified during the detailed design of section 1. HG no. 515/2026 supplements that corridor with an additional site, strictly for this purpose.
How many owners are affected and what amounts do they receive?
Ten items of privately owned land, belonging to several families from Avrig and to the company Hidroelectrica S.A., with a total expropriated area of 1.787 mp and individual compensation amounts between 26,64 lei and 2.549,04 lei, totalling 10.006,87 lei. The full list, with the owners’ names and the exact amounts, is published in annex no. 2 of the decision.
How and when do the expropriated owners receive the money?
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure transfers the total amount into a treasury account opened in CNAIR’s name, within a maximum of 30 days from the approval of the credit-opening request; from there, CNAIR actually pays each owner, under the procedure set out in Law no. 255/2010 and in the implementing rules approved through Government Decision no. 53/2011.
What happens to the Avrig local authority’s land included in the list?
The two road plots (51 mp in total) remain public property, but formally move into the project’s expropriation corridor, through an administrative transfer between public entities, with no monetary compensation, since it does not involve a change of ownership outside the state.
When does the decision enter into force?
On the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial), that is 6 iulie 2026, since government decisions generally do not set a separate date for entry into force.

Original text of the legal act

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 552 of 6 July 2026 16 pages PDF, 473 KB

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Owners or holders affected by the expropriation procedure can obtain further details from Avrig Town Hall or from the National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR), including on how to challenge the compensation amounts.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.