The current status of the properties acquisition in Roșia Montană

The Company started purchasing properties in July 2002. 78% of the properties from the project’s impact area have been acquired so far. Currently, all property purchase activities have been halted, pending project permitting advances.

Out of the 794 households acquired:

1. 143 houses were uninhabited.
2. 150 families opted for resettlement in Recea neighbourhood or in the new resettlement site to be built in Roşia Montană.
3. 501 families opted for relocation.

The livelihood strategies of the families from the proposed project development area were decisive in guiding the community’s options (relocation vs. resettlement).

The relocation option was driven by:

• A pre-existing migrating trend in the Roşia Montană area long before the Company arrived: from all the households acquired so far, 143 houses were uninhabited as their owners had left the area a long time before. Their favourite destinations were Arad and Timişoara (economic migration, search for development opportunities);
•  64 families moved to the counties of Arad, Timisoara, Cluj and Bihor;
• 227 families moved to Alba County and the neighbouring counties – 45 to Deva or other localities from Hunedoara County and 182 families to Alba Iulia and Alba County – which clearly indicated that Alba Iulia was their favourite destination, thus justifying our company’s decision to build a residential complex in Alba Iulia;
• 138 families moved in the immediate proximity of the Rosia Montana area through a  desire to move to a better house closer to the main road or the neighbouring towns, in order to have access to urban facilities and services on the one hand, and also to stay close to their relatives and friends, while having access to all the present and future benefits of the project. On the other hand: jobs, vocational training programmes, support for start-ups, various facilities offered by the Company (the Company provides transport for daily commuting to localities that are up to 35 km away from Rosia Montana as part of the Company’s responsibility towards employees and mobility management). The favourite destinations for this option were: the villages from Rosia Montana commune outside the scope of the proposed mining project (in particular the villages along the main road), the neighbouring towns of Abrud and Câmpeni and the Bucium commune;
• Families who opted for relocation in remote counties have joined other relatives who had moved to the destination area a long time before in order to be with them, start-up a business, and live in a larger city offering more job opportunities where their children can go to better  schools and universities;
• Out of all the households opting for relocation (498), 100 were inhabited by ageing people who planned to  live with their children.

The option to resettle to Recea neighbourhood in Alba Iulia was driven by:

• The desire to live in the county capital, in a new, modern villa-type home, while remaining next to a part of the community;
• The price per square meter built turnkey, subsidised by the Company;
• Modern infrastructure, high living standards;

125 families have opted for resettlement to the residential neighbourhood built by the Company in Alba Iulia.

The option to resettle to the new resettlement site to be built in Roşia Montană was driven by:

• The desire to stay in Roşia Montană and remain with the locals,
• The high expectations created by the Company with regard to the future of this area;
• the desire to live in a modern – yet traditional – village;

To date, 25 families have contracted a house in the new resettlement site to be built in Roşia Montană.