The government allows the buyout of land parcels for the construction of the Bauska section of the A7 highway

The Cabinet of Ministers, on October 29, 2026, in the official publication Latvijas Vēstnesis No. 209 (OP 2026/209), announced two decisions that pave the way for land expropriation for the construction project of the A7 state main road “Rīga–Bauska–Lithuanian border (Grenctāle)” section Ķekava bypass–Bauska, including the Iecava and Bauska bypasses. The order was published in Section I “Constitutional Institutions”, point 12, and concerns the purchase of real estate shares for the needs of the project. Separately, in point 14, Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 684 was issued regarding the acquisition of a specific property.

Both documents originate from one institution – the Cabinet of Ministers – and are addressed to the same goal: to secure the land without which it is impossible to build the new A7 section. In the publication’s table of contents, they are included among 29 government decisions published in the “Cabinet of Ministers” section in the October 29 issue.

Two decisions in one issue

• Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 682 – “On the purchase of real estate shares for the implementation of the construction project of the A7 state main road “Rīga–Bauska–Lithuanian border (Grenctāle)” section Ķekava bypass–Bauska, including the Iecava and Bauska bypasses” (OP 2026/209, point 12).
• Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 684 – “On the purchase of a part of the real estate “Ragauski” in Codes parish, Bauska municipality” for the implementation of the same project (OP 2026/209, point 14).
• Between the two points, Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 683 regarding the setting of restrictions on crossing the Latvian–Belarusian and Latvian–Russian borders was inserted; therefore, the order numbers (682, 684) differ from the publication sequence numbers (12, 14).
• The wording of the titles differs: No. 682 speaks of “the purchase of real estate shares” (plural), while No. 684 specifies one particular property.

A series of properties in Codes and Ceraukste parishes

The decisions on October 29 are not isolated – they continue a series of individual orders started in the summer and autumn, in which the government is gradually buying up specific land parcels along the future A7 route. In all cases, the title of the publication is identical and refers to the same construction project.

• August 17, 2026, No. 156 (OP 2026/156) – Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 476 on the purchase of real estate shares for the needs of the A7 section Ķekava bypass–Bauska project.
• August 18, 2026, No. 157 (OP 2026/157) – Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 478 on the purchase of a part of the “Lejnieki” property in Code parish, Bauska municipality.
• August 27, 2026, No. 164 (OP 2026/164) – Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 514 on the purchase of a part of the “Palejas” property in Ceraukste parish, Bauska municipality.
• October 12, 2026, No. 196 (OP 2026/196) – Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 615 on the purchase of a part of the “Rozenfeldi” property in Ceraukste parish, Bauska municipality.

The overall picture shows that land acquisition is taking place through individual decisions – each refers to a single property or a small group of them, rather than a single comprehensive expropriation. Code and Ceraukste parishes in Bauska municipality appear most frequently in this series.

What “implementation of a construction project” means

The formula “for the implementation of a construction project” used in the title of the orders is the legal basis for the government’s decision: the land is acquired not for a market transaction, but for the construction of a specific road section. The project description includes three geographical hubs – the Ķekava bypass, the Iecava bypass, and the Bauska bypass –, thus the decisions affect the territory of several municipalities within a single route corridor.

The official publication indicates only the subject of the decision and its official reference; the specific compensation amounts and the circle of owners are determined by the texts of the respective orders, which are available via the indicated references.

Why this is important

The land issue is the critical path for any major highway project: until land rights are secured, construction procurement cannot be completed. With the October 29 orders, the government effectively confirms that the preparation of the A7 section Ķekava bypass–Bauska is moving forward rather than being postponed.

For readers in the vicinity of Bauska, Iecava, and Ķekava, this means two things: the buyout of parts of individual properties along the future route will continue, and every new decision regarding a specific property will appear in the content of Latvijas Vēstnesis with its own order number, therefore changes are traceable through documents rather than oral announcements.

Source: Latvijas Vēstnesis, October 29, 2026, No. 209 (OP 2026/209), Section I “Constitutional Institutions”, points 12 and 14 – Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 682 and Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 684 (document vestnesis-2026-10-29-209.full.md). Additional sources: No. 156 (17.08.2026, order No. 476), No. 157 (18.08.2026, order No. 478), No. 164 (27.08.2026, order No. 514), No. 196 (12.10.2026, order No. 615).