The prosecutor's office plans to strip the Pochaiv Lavra of its ownership rights to the land under the monastery

The Ternopil Regional Prosecutor’s Office has initiated an investigation aimed at expropriating a 12-hectare plot of land on behalf of the state, on which the complex of buildings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra monastery is located. The prosecutor’s office believes that the land under the monastery was transferred to the monastery illegally, in connection with which the institution plans to file a lawsuit in the near future. This was reported by the regional publication Gazeta Misto.

It is reported that the Kremenets prosecutor’s office has filed a lawsuit to declare the transfer of 12 hectares of land on which the complex of buildings of the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra is located illegal. The case is based on the fact that the decision of the Pochaiv City Council was made with violations, and the documents that legalized the transfer show signs of falsification. The results of the criminal investigation established that an official of the State Land Committee in the Kremenets district committed official negligence in registering a 12.3912-hectare plot of state-owned land on which state property is located—the complex of buildings of the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra— and unlawfully classified this land as communal property.

The Kremenets District Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit with the commercial court to reclaim this land plot, valued at UAH 641,766,808.99, from the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra on behalf of the state. The Ternopil Regional Prosecutor’s Office confirms that the lawsuit has been filed, but notes that the court has not yet opened proceedings.