4.  The applicants live in Shnogh village.
5.  In the 1970s a copper-molybdenum deposit (‘Teghout’) was discovered about four and six km away from the villages of Teghout and Shnogh respectively, in the Lori Region.
6.  In 2001 a private company, Armenian Copper Programme CJSC, was granted a mining licence for the exploitation of the Teghout copper‑molybdenum deposit for a period of twenty-five years.
7.  On 1 November 2007 the Government adopted Decree no. 1279-N approving the designation of territories situated within the administrative boundaries of the rural communities of Shnogh and Teghout in the Lori Region as expropriation zones, to be taken for State needs, thus changing the category of land use. According to the Decree, Armenian Copper Programme CJSC or Teghout CJSC, founded by the former for the purpose of the implementation of the Teghout copper-molybdenum deposit exploitation project, were to acquire the units of land listed in its annexes.
8.  The plots of land belonging to the applicants were listed among the units of land falling within these expropriation zones.
9.  The applicants, a family of five, live in Shnogh village and earn their living from agriculture. They jointly owned two plots of arable land in the village. The first plot of land measured 0.334 ha and the second one consisted of two distinct parts measuring 0.932 ha and 0.723 ha. The land was used for growing crops for the family and feeding their livestock.
10.  On an unspecified date Teghout CJSC addressed a letter to the applicants containing an offer to buy their plots of land. Compensation of 163,000 Armenian drams (AMD, approximately 355 euros (EUR)) and AMD 950,000 (approximately EUR 2,065) was offered for the two plots of land respectively, plus an additional 15% as required by law.
11.  The applicants did not reply to the offer, not being satisfied with the amount of compensation. It appears that they tried to obtain an alternative valuation of their property by another company but did not succeed. They claim that no other valuation company was willing to make an independent assessment of the market value of their land.
12.  On 14 May 2008 Teghout CJSC lodged a claim against the applicants, seeking to oblige them to sign an agreement on the taking of their property for State needs. The company based its claim, inter alia, on valuation reports prepared at its request by Oliver Group LLC, a licensed valuation company. According to the reports, the market value of the applicants’ plots of land was estimated at AMD 163,000 (approximately EUR 355) and AMD 950,000 (approximately EUR 2,065) respectively.
13.  In the proceedings before the Lori Regional Court the applicants argued that the market value of their land had been underestimated. They further submitted that the valuation of their property had not been carried out correctly, since no account had been taken of the number of trees and their profitability and they were unable to submit an alternative valuation of the market value of their land, since other companies had refused to carry out a valuation.
14.  In the course of the proceedings, Teghout CJSC submitted other valuation reports of the applicants’ property, stating that, after the institution of the proceedings, Oliver Group LLC had prepared corrected reports according to which the market value of the applicants’ two plots of land was estimated at AMD 173,000 (approximately EUR 376) and AMD 986,000 (approximately EUR 2,143). The final amount of compensation, including the additional 15% required by law, would thus be equal to AMD 198,950 (approximately EUR 433) for the first plot of land and AMD 1,133,900 (approximately EUR 2,465) for the second.
15.  On 7 November 2008 the Regional Court granted Teghout CJSC’s claim, awarding the applicants compensation of a total of AMD 198,950 for the first plot of land and AMD 1,133,900 for the second plot.
16.  The applicants lodged an appeal. Relying, inter alia, on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, they complained that the Regional Court had deprived them of their property.
17.  On 25 March 2009 the Civil Court of Appeal upheld the Regional Court’s judgment, finding that the latter had properly determined the market value of the property on the basis of the corrected valuation reports prepared by Oliver Group CJSC.
18.  The applicants lodged an appeal on points of law, raising similar arguments to those submitted in the previous appeal.
19.  On 17 June 2009 the Court of Cassation declared the applicants’ cassation appeal inadmissible for lack of merit.