The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine extended the period of free use of temples for religious communities

The Government of Ukraine has made significant changes to the procedure for transferring state and communal property to religious organizations for free use. The key innovation was an increase in the maximum term of such contracts from 10 to 50 years, which is intended to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and ensure stability for religious communities.

According to SUD.UA, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the relevant decree on December 23. According to the new rules, the term of a contract for the free use of property is now determined by agreement of the parties, but may not exceed half a century, whereas previously this term was limited to ten years.

In addition to increasing the term, the decree provides for clearer and more detailed conditions for the transfer and use of property. It also eliminated legal conflicts that previously formally prevented the implementation of court decisions and removed unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions when concluding contracts for public utilities.

The Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine noted that these changes are intended to address long-standing problems. In particular, the Roman Catholic St. Nicholas Parafia in the capital had previously faced years of blocking the transfer of St. Nicholas Church to them. “Ignoring the President’s instructions and court decisions created uncertainty and obstacles for the community,” the Ombudsman’s Office said. Thanks to the adopted changes, these obstacles have been removed and the community will be able to use the building for a long and stable period of time without additional approvals and blockages.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets emphasized that this approach forms “a universal and fair procedure for the transfer of religious buildings throughout Ukraine, meets the standards for ensuring freedom of conscience and religion and allows communities to use buildings without excessive bureaucracy”.

We shall remind you that earlier we reported that a special commission of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine recommended that the lease agreement for the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra, concluded with the Holy Dormition Pochaev Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, be terminated in court. The reason for this decision was an earlier inspection on the territory of the monastery, which, according to the ICIP, revealed violations.