“Resetting” Claims Against Developers and Holding Officials Accountable
The risks of the draft law are also highlighted by the Scientific and Expert Department of the Verkhovna Rada. According to its analysis, the implementation of the proposal creates the possibility of effectively legalizing various schemes under which state and communal property is transferred into private ownership on the basis of unlawful decisions, actions, or inaction by public authorities.
As a result, the property becomes owned by a buyer who obtains the status of a bona fide acquirer, while the state and territorial communities are deprived of the right to reclaim such property that was alienated through illegal decisions.
The draft also proposes introducing a provision in the Civil Code that would require initiating criminal prosecution of responsible individuals, although these matters fall outside the scope of civil law and are regulated by criminal legislation.
In addition to holding officials or MPs accountable for transferring property into private ownership unlawfully, the authors propose obliging guilty parties to compensate the state for losses. However, in many cases, the responsible person may not have sufficient assets to cover the required compensation.
Moreover, when it comes to assets that can never be privately owned (such as the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, nature reserve fund areas, etc.), determining a monetary compensation value becomes practically impossible. If the state or community cannot reclaim such property at any time, it risks losing both the legal right and, in some cases, the object itself permanently, including irreplaceable archaeological heritage sites.
More detailed analysis of the risks is available in the civic initiative Holka materials published in Glavcom.
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