"We will demolish if necessary" - Ternopil City Council on the only UOC church

The Ternopil city council commented on the decision of the Lviv court of appeal to withdraw from the lease of the land plot on which the cathedral and the diocesan administration of the Ternopil diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are located. City Council lawyer Pavlo Varoda said that if the diocese refuses to voluntarily dismantle the cathedral in honor of the martyrs Vera, Hope, Love and Sophia, located on this plot, the administration has the right to demolish it on its own. About it reports «Suspilne.Ternopil».

«The court upheld the decision of the Ternopil city Council, which terminated the right to use the UOC-MP land plot on which the church was built. The legal consequences are that the decision of the Ternopil city Council is valid and subject to execution. According to the law, in case of termination of the use of the land plot on which a building is located, in our case it is a church, the owner of the land plot and the owner of the building negotiate its further fate on this land plot», — claims Varoda.

The city council lawyer added that he counts on the help of the courts in this matter, as it is obvious that the Ternopil diocese of the UOC will refuse to clear the said land plot from the buildings located on its territory on its own. In addition, he admits that the Ternopil City Council, as compensation to the owner, may buy out the temple if its value exceeds the price for the land plot.

«In case of failure to reach an agreement on the use of the land plot and refusal to demolish the building, the dispute can be resolved in court. In particular, the court may decide the issue on the claim of the owner of the land plot, that is, the Ternopil City Council on the demolition of this building and bringing the land plot to its former state. But if the value of the building exceeds the value of the land plot, then this building can be purchased, in particular, by our community, i.e. the Ternopil City Council. That is, we say that the legal consequences of the termination of the right to use the land plot is the further fate of the building itself, which is located on this land plot. And, accordingly, the court can further decide the fate of the owner of the building, in this case the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate», — summarized the lawyer of the Ternopil City Council.

We will remind, earlier we reported that the Western Court of Appeal of the city of Lviv canceled the decision on the right to use the land plot in the city of Ternopil, on the territory of which is located the Cathedral of the Ternopil diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in honor of the holy martyrs of Faith, Hope, Love and Sophia, as well as the diocesan office. Thus the court upheld the decision of the Ternopil city administration of April 17, 2023.