A court hearing was held in Volyn on the expropriation of the Cathedral of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC

On November 5, 2024, the Economic Court of Volyn Region held a hearing in the case of the possible eviction of the Administration of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the complex of premises of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which also houses the diocesan administration and theological school. The court session was attended by representatives of the prosecution, a lawyer for the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC, and community members. This is reported by the regional publication Volynski Novyny.

«On October 7, 2019, an agreement was concluded between the Volyn Regional State Administration and the religious community of the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the UOC of Volodymyr-Volynskyi on the free use of religious buildings by the religious community. The agreement provided for the procedure for both the provision and return of these buildings. In other words, the agreement provided for the possibility of returning these buildings. The agreement was fixed-term and was valid until July 1, 2024. Throughout 2024, in particular since March, the user, i.e. the religious community, and the owner, i.e. the regional state administration, exchanged correspondence, according to which the user requested to extend the free use agreement. The RSA, in turn, repeatedly reported that it did not want to extend the agreement. Thus, on July 1, it was terminated due to the expiration of the agreement,” said Oleksandr Garnola, the plaintiff’s representative, chief specialist legal adviser of the Legal Department of the Volyn Regional State Administration.

In turn, the lawyer of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the UOC, Kateryna Pegza, said that the diocese offered the Volyn Regional State Administration various formats for extending the agreement on the use of the premises of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, but all the proposals of the UOC were rejected. In addition, the lawyer reminded that during martial law, state authorities do not have the authority to terminate real estate use agreements signed with religious organizations.

As a result, Judge Igor Garbar adjourned the hearing. The next hearing is scheduled for November 12.

Earlier, we reported that the Volyn Regional Council filed a lawsuit against the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The subject of the litigation is the complex of premises of the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which also includes the diocesan administration and theological school of the Volodymyr-Volynskyi Diocese of the UOC, from which the local authorities are trying to evict the Church.