What ukrainians affected by the war can expect: explanations from ministries and a lawyer

According to the latest statistics, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are considered victims of the military actions of the Russian aggressor army. All of these people, and the Ukrainian authorities along with them, have faced similar problems for the first time. They do not know how to act properly in a situation where, for example, their husband is missing in action or their home, property, etc. has been destroyed. The option of registering an appeal in the “Diia” app is only the beginning of a difficult path that affected people, many of whom have lost not only material assets but also people close to them, have to go through.

So far, few civil society organisations have been working to support affected people in terms of providing advice on the opportunities that a person can use to achieve a specific result. The NGO «Davaite Razom», together with the «Aktyvni Hromadiany» news agency, started this work back in April, visiting affected residents of Irpin, Bucha, Makariv, Andriivka, and several villages in Chernihiv Oblast.

This work was further continued within the framework of the project “Supporting War Victims with Essentials and Legal Assistance”, which the NGO «Davaite Razom»,  is implementing as part of a sub-grant of the EU4CSOs Emergency Actions project with the financial support of the European Union, implemented by the Charitable Organisation “Merezha 100 Vidsotkiv Zhyttya Rivne” (Network 100 per cent of life is equal, which was founded in the city of Rivne) Using specific examples and responses from the competent authorities, we will tell you what a person can expect while martial law is in force.

LAND PRIVATISATION

One could have guessed that one of the main problems that residents of destroyed villages would face when applying for compensation for their damaged homes would be to have a privatized plot of land under their destroyed or burnt-out house. The owner can ask the local authorities to transfer no more than 0,25 hectares in villages, no more than 0,15 hectares in towns, and no more than 0,10 hectares in cities for the maintenance of the house. People have concerns that if they demolish a destroyed house on a non-private land plot, they may lose it.

During martial law, local authorities were prohibited from conducting procedures for the free transfer of state-owned and communal land plots to private ownership. It was even prohibited to grant permits for the development of land management documentation for the purpose of such a free transfer, and, accordingly, to develop such documents. This was clarified by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine at the request of «Aktyvni Hromadiany».

However, given the large number of such appeals from affected people, the Verkhovna Rada adopted amendments to the land legislation on 19 October 2022, which allows this to be done. On 16 November 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed this bill No. 7636 into law.

Therefore, Ukrainians already have the opportunity to apply for privatisation of the land under their destroyed houses. Further decisions will be made by local councils.

LAWYER’S EXPLANATION

«Draft Law No. 7636 adds a second sentence to subparagraph 5 of paragraph 27 of Section X of the Land Code as follows: “The provisions of this sub-clause do not apply to the free transfer of land plots into private ownership to owners of real estate objects (buildings, structures) located on such land plots, as well as to the free transfer into private ownership of land plots transferred for use before the entry into force of this Code to citizens of Ukraine.” This, in turn, means that free privatization of land plots during martial law will be allowed in two cases:

• If the land plot is privatised by the owner of real estate (buildings, structures), including a house located on the land plot;
• If the land plot was transferred for use before the entry into force of the Land Code.

Thus, given the innovations that will be introduced by the Law adopted on the basis of draft law No. 7636, homeowners will be able to acquire private ownership of the land on which their house is located,” Maksym Tyutyunnikov, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Small and Medium Business Representatives of Kyiv, attorney-at-law, told the publication «Aktyvni Hromadiany».

COMPENSATION FOR PROPERTY NOT AT THE PLACE OF REGISTRATION

Ukrainians did not bother to deregister when moving to another place of residence and register at the new address. Such Ukrainians had a question about how to receive compensation for lost property not at their place of registration.

We received a response from the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine to our request for this question. The Ministry refers to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 26.03.2022 No. 380. The Resolution approves the procedure for submitting an information report on damage and destruction of property as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by the military aggression of the RF. Clause 2 of the procedure stipulates that it applies only to individuals who are owners of the relevant real estate or construction customers in respect of construction projects, or their heirs. For a full list, see the Ministry’s response.

COMPENSATION FOR THE COST OF REPAIRING DESTROYED PROPERTY

Many residents of the affected settlements do not want to wait for Ukraine to receive reparations from russia for the war and are trying to make their homes habitable in the winter before the cold weather sets in. That is why they spend their money on repairing what was damaged as a result of the hostilities. This raises the question of how to get their money back.

Currently, the mechanism offered to affected citizens by local authorities is the collection of data on repairs carried out by local authorities. For example, the local administration of the city of Irpin accepts such applications for further registration with attachments in the form of copies of receipts for construction materials.

The Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, upon request, informed that it is currently collecting and storing information on damage and destruction of real estate as a result of hostilities or terrorist attacks caused by the military actions of the russian federation. It provides for the submission of information reports on damage to a house, apartment or other property.

It is noted that the introduction of compensation for persons who own damaged or destroyed real estate will be possible after the adoption of the relevant law and regulations aimed at its implementation. We are talking about the Draft Law “On Compensation for Damage and Destruction of Certain Categories of Real Estate as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, Sabotage Caused by the Military Aggression of the Russian Federation”. This draft law has been adopted as a basis, submitted for consideration at this session of the Verkhovna Rada, but has not yet been considered in the second reading.