5.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
6.  The 1,646 applicants natural persons live in the villages of Doroțcaia, Pîrîta, Molovata Nouă, Pohrebea and Cocieri, situated on the left bank of the Dniester in the region of Dubǎsari. These villages are under Moldovan control. Part of the land belonging to the applicants is situated in areas near these villages, across a road which links the northern and southern parts of the self-proclaimed “Moldovan Transdniestrian Republic” (the “MRT” – see for more details Ilaşcu and Others v. Moldova and Russia ([GC], no. 48787/99, §§ 28-185, ECHR 2004‑VII) and Catan and Others v. the Republic of Moldova and Russia ([GC], nos. 43370/04 and 2 others, §§ 8‑42, ECHR 2012 (extracts)). That road, which cuts through two zones controlled by the Moldovan Government, is controlled by the authorities of the “MRT”.
7.  The applicants obtained titles to these plots of land from Moldova as part of the “Pamântul” (Land) privatisation programme. In a letter dated 2 December 1999 the “MRT” local administration informed the Moldovan Department of privatisation that it “did not have any objections to the creation, on the basis of agricultural entities in the villages of Doroțcaia, Pîrîta, Molovata Nouă, Coșnița and Cocieri, the lands of which are situated on the territory of the [“MRT”], of peasant farms within the framework of the ‘Pamântul’ reform”.
8.  Title to some of the land was subsequently transferred to others through gift or inheritance. The details of each applicant natural person are set out in Annexes nos. 1-9.
9.  The applicants Posedo-Agro S.R.L., Agro-Tiras S.R.L. and Agro‑ S.A.V.V.A. S.R.L. are companies which rented land from owners during the relevant period of time.
10.  On 15 August 2007 the applicant company Posedo-Agro S.R.L. ceded all of its rights and obligations to Serghei Popa Farming Proprietorship (FP). Both of those companies are solely owned by Mr Serghei Popa. On 30 October 2007 Posedo-Agro S.R.L. was liquidated. On 10 October 2013 Serghei Popa FP asked the Court to substitute itself for the original applicant company in respect of application no. 41569/04 and declared that it maintained that application before the Court.
11.  The applicants’ main source of income is the working of the land owned or rented by them. In order to reach their land, they have to cross the road controlled by the authorities of the “MRT”.
12.  Between 1992 and 1998 the applicants used the land in question or rented it without interference. In 1998 the “MRT” authorities set up checkpoints to monitor the movement of agricultural products across the “border” coinciding with the above-mentioned road. From then on the applicants had to pay various taxes and fees to the “MRT” authorities.
13.  In August 2004 the “MRT” authorities declared that the land owned or rented by the applicants was the property of the “MRT”. The applicants could continue working it, on condition that they paid rent to the local “MRT” authorities. The applicants refused to sign rental contracts because they were already the lawful owners (or renters) of that land. As a consequence, all access to their land was blocked and the harvest was lost. Some of the agricultural machines belonging to those who tried to work their land were also seized. No work was done on the land in the following two years, which made it difficult to bring it back to its former capacity.
14.  The applicants made numerous complaints to the “MRT” authorities, asking for a right of passage. Such a passage was refused because the authorities considered the land in question to be the property of the “MRT”.
15.  The applicants also complained to the Moldovan authorities, who replied that they had no means to compel the “MRT” authorities to allow them free passage. They asked the Moldovan Prosecutor General’s Office to start a criminal investigation against the people responsible for blocking the applicants’ access to their land.
16.  The applicants complained to the Russian embassy in Moldova and to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (the “OSCE”), to no avail. On 26 April 2005 a group of landowners, including some of the applicants, protested in front of the Russian embassy in Moldova, asking the authorities of that State to intervene as a guarantor of peace and stability in the region. A similar protest took place on 11 May 2005.
17.  The applicant company Agro-S.A.V.V.A. S.R.L. submitted a document issued by the Moldovan tax office, which showed that it had paid tax on plots of land rented from 281 owners. According to a certificate from the mayor of Pîrîta village, the applicant company had rented plots of land (104 hectares) from people in the village between 1998 and 2006. The applicant company also submitted copies of its tax and statistics reports for 2004, as well as an audit report by a company called Total Consulting dated 15 November 2013, which showed that in 2004-2005 the applicant company cultivated 359 hectares of land, of which 104 hectares were situated in the area concerned by the present case. On 3 May 2005 the applicant company complained to Dubăsari Regional Council (a Moldovan local authority) about the situation, and it confirmed on 17 May 2005 that it was unable to cultivate 105 hectares of land rented from 320 landowners. Similar complaints and requests to allow cultivation of the land were made to the “MRT” local authorities, for instance on 19 July 2005.
18.  The applicant company Agro-Tiras S.R.L. submitted a certificate from the mayor of Molovata Nouă village dated 11 October 2004, confirming that it rented 450 hectares of land from the villagers there, all of which were situated across the road, between Dubăsari and Rîbnița (the relevant area). According to a decision of the “MRT” Customs Office of 15 October 2004, a tractor with agricultural accessories and 5.8 tonnes of wheat had been seized from the applicant company owing to a failure to properly declare the importation of such items into the “MRT”. According to the decision, the tractor was travelling from Molovata Nouă village in the direction of “plots of land of the ‘MRT’ under Moldovan jurisdiction”.
19.  According to a certificate dated 13 November 2013 from the mayor of Cocieri village, the applicant company Posedo-Agro S.R.L. rented land from 782 villagers during the period 2004-2006. The applicant company submitted a copy of a decision taken by the “MRT” Customs Office of 4 August 2004, which stated that 16 tonnes of barley had been seized from it owing to a failure to properly declare the importation of such items into the “MRT”. A fine (approximately 1,450 United States dollars (“USD”)) equal to the market price of the barley was imposed and additional costs had to be covered, otherwise the truck carrying the barley, which had also been temporarily seized on 30 July 2004, would be confiscated. A similar decision was taken on 16 August 2004, by which the applicant company lost 6.1 tonnes of apples. It also had to pay a fine (approximately USD 250) equal to the market price of the apples or risk the confiscation of three tractors temporarily seized on 11 August 2004. According to a certificate dated 12 October 2004, the applicant company rented 1,377 hectares of land from 820 people in Cocieri, of which 1,256 hectares were situated in the area concerned by the present application. On 4 August 2004 the applicant company complained to the Moldovan Government, the OSCE and the Dubăsari prosecutor’s office (belonging to the “MRT”) about the fine and seizure, stating that it rented 1,256 hectares of villagers’ land situated in the relevant area and that despite having temporary registration with the “MRT Customs Office” it was not allowed to take the harvest to storage.
20.  According to the Moldovan Government, the Moldovan Parliament passed a number of laws aimed at compensating the inhabitants of villages under Moldovan control on the left bank of the Dniester (in the area concerned by the present cases) for losses caused by various actions of the “MRT”. The compensation included differences in natural gas and electricity prices, increasing pensions, giving tax breaks and preferential credits to agricultural companies in the region, and allocating diesel fuel for agricultural activities. Moreover, a number of laws and decisions were implemented in 2004-2007 providing for the payment of compensation to villagers who had sustained losses owing to their inability to cultivate their land in the relevant area, with the total amount of aid reaching almost 39 million Moldovan lei (MDL) (approximately 2.3 million euros (EUR)). In 2006 the Moldovan authorities managed to negotiate with the “MRT” authorities a temporary “MRT” registration mechanism for owners of land in the relevant area, which allowed them to cultivate the land and be exempt from making payments to the “MRT”. The temporary registration system is renewed each year in negotiations between Moldova and the “MRT” authorities.