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R2P Held an Expert Discussion, Ownership of Real Estate: from Threat to Protection

November 21, 2023

On 17 November, Kyiv hosted an expert discussion, Ownership of Real Estate: from Threat to Protection, organised by R2P with the support and assistance of the UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Nadiya Kovalchuk, Program Director at R2P, opened the event. She emphasised the importance of developing and implementing an electronic archiving system, as well as the need to simplify the procedures for restoring documents for those who lost their homes due to armed aggression.

In her opening remarks, Lidiia Kuzmenko, Legal Adviser at UNHCR Ukraine, emphasised the importance of protecting property rights in the context of armed aggression. She underlined the need to adapt international standards and practices to the Ukrainian context and drew attention to the importance of ensuring adequate protection of the rights of the war-affected population.

Heorhii Bushuiev, Advocacy Coordinator at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Ukraine, stressed the importance of international support and cooperation in ensuring property rights in the context of armed aggression. He outlined the role of international institutions in providing support and assistance to Ukraine and pointed out the need to strengthen legislative and institutional mechanisms to protect the property rights of those who suffered damage from the war.

Continuing the expert discussion, Ksenia Gedz, Advocacy Coordinator at R2P, moderated the event. She stressed the scale of the damage caused by the war in Ukraine, citing staggering statistics. According to an estimate by the Kyiv School of Economics Institute, since the beginning of the full-scale war and as of September 2023, the total amount of direct documented damage to residential and non-residential real estate and other infrastructure has reached an incredible USD 151.2 billion. Ksenia Gedz emphasised that the losses in the residential sector reached USD 55.9 billion, which is not only material damage.

The event was held in 3-panel discussions; each focused on critical aspects of property rights protection in the context of the war in Ukraine.

In the first panel, experts discussed legal instruments and mechanisms for protecting property rights. The topic proved extremely important, and the discussion was lively, given the ongoing military operations and their impact on citizens' property rights.

Maryna Chernyshova, Legal Analyst and Advocacy Officer at R2P, opened the panel. She presented analytics on the challenges Ukraine faces in the field of digitisation of technical documentation. In her speech, Maryna Chernyshova emphasised the critical need for this process in the context of the war in Ukraine, focusing on the legal aspects and challenges faced in transitioning to electronic data storage formats. The expert highlighted that digitisation of documents is crucial in ensuring the restoration and protection of property rights, especially in the context of the loss of physical originals of essential documents.

Olha Onishchuk, Notary and Head of the Legal Security of Property programme at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, Founder of the Return Yours volunteer project, analysed the challenges faced by Ukrainian citizens as a result of the destruction of real estate and loss of documents due to the hostilities.

Natalia Mishchuk, a Kyiv Oblast State Administration representative, stressed that introducing clear and practical legal procedures and transparent and fair compensation mechanisms are critical to resolving complex cases related to restoring rights to destroyed or damaged residential property.

The second panel of the expert discussion was devoted to a detailed discussion of the eVidnovlennia (eRestoration) programme, its accessibility and effectiveness for citizens whose residential property was damaged due to the war.

Svitlana Linnyk, Head of the Hola Prystan City Military Administration, shared with the participants her experience of working in the humanitarian crisis caused by the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. She revealed the event's impact on local infrastructure and the lives of citizens and suggested ways to implement government recovery programmes effectively.

Oleksandr Slobozhan, Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, stressed the need to ensure practical cooperation between different levels of government and to find optimal solutions to maximise the use of available resources and mechanisms in restoring housing and property rights of the affected population.

The third panel was dedicated to strategies and solutions aimed at stabilising and developing the housing sector in Ukraine in the post-war period.

Anastasia Koriachenko, Head of Advocacy in Housing, Land and Property at R2P, drew attention to best practices and foreign experience in compensation for destroyed and damaged housing in countries that have faced armed conflicts. She emphasised that while foreign expertise is essential for building a national compensation system, it is not always directly applicable in the Ukrainian context, given the scale of the destruction and the ongoing war.

The event brought together about 100 civil society representatives, local executive bodies and local communities from all over Ukraine, demonstrating this discussion's relevance and importance.

After each speaker's presentation, the participants actively engaged in discussions, where they could ask questions and discuss different approaches to solving the problems.

After the expert discussion, the participants formulated several vital conclusions and strategic recommendations reflecting a deep understanding of the challenges and possible solutions in wartime and post-war housing and property rights protection.

The closing part of the event highlighted the joint commitment of the participants to develop sustainable solutions that can contribute to stabilising and recovering the housing sector in Ukraine.