Source: pravo.ua
Against the backdrop of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the issue of protecting the property and, specifically, the land rights of citizens whose real estate was destroyed has become critically important. It was precisely for this purpose that Draft Law No. 13174 was developed and initiated, aiming to create an effective and simplified mechanism for the realization of land rights for this category of affected persons.
On October 8, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Draft Law No. 13174 in its second reading. This marks a significant step towards restoring justice and creating the necessary legal basis for commencing reconstruction processes. The Draft Law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Protection of Land Rights of Former Owners of Real Estate Objects Destroyed as a Result of Hostilities” establishes vital guarantees for protecting the land rights of owners whose property was destroyed due to hostilities conducted by the aggressor state.
The key condition for applying these guarantees is the official termination of ownership rights to the destroyed real estate and the entry of corresponding information into the State Register of Real Property Rights. This ensures the verification of the person’s status and the destroyed object, minimizing the risks of abuse.
The essence of the draft law lies in granting the right to acquire private ownership or use of land plots during martial law, on which real estate objects (residential buildings, ancillary buildings, structures) were located and destroyed as a result of the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine, without conducting land auctions (bidding). This right is realized within the norms and procedures for free privatization established by current Ukrainian legislation.
Draft Law No. 13174 establishes privileges and guarantees aimed at simplifying the procedure and ensuring the priority right for owners of destroyed real estate (or their heirs) to obtain land plots.
It is important to emphasize once again that the guarantees listed above for owners of destroyed real estate objects (residential buildings, buildings, and structures) extend only to the land plots upon which the destroyed real estate was situated and where the information regarding the ownership or use rights was terminated in the State Register.
For example, if you were the owner of real estate destroyed as a result of hostilities, the guarantees provided in this draft law—concerning the right of individuals to receive land plots into private ownership free of charge via privatization—will apply exclusively to the land plots on which the destroyed real estate objects were located and for which the right of ownership or use was terminated in the State Register.
It is also worth noting a number of important amendments compared to the first version of the draft law, which significantly enhanced its legal certainty and practical effectiveness.
Clear Localization of the Right to a Land Plot One of the main shortcomings of the previous version was the lack of a unified understanding of which specific land plot the affected person could claim. This legal uncertainty could have led to numerous abuses by interested parties.
The final version clearly established the link between the land plot that the former owner of the real estate or their heir has the right to receive non-competitively. Specifically, the hypotheses of the legal norms were restricted to the location of the destroyed real estate object. This amendment ensured legal certainty and focused the realization of rights exclusively on the plot where the corresponding real estate was located.
Legislative Entrenchment of Land Plot Size Limitation The previous version of the draft law practically lacked a provision limiting the size of the land plot. This created potential risks for the uncontrolled gratuitous transfer of significant land areas from communal or state ownership.
Parliamentarians eliminated this gap by establishing limits on the size of the land plot intended to be acquired by the former owner of the destroyed real estate. The size is restricted to the limits set forth in Article 121 of the Land Code of Ukraine. Thus, a balance was achieved between protecting the rights of affected persons and the necessity of preserving the state (communal) land fund.
The adoption of Draft Law No. 13174 is a significant step in implementing the state land policy aimed at the social protection of citizens affected by the armed aggression. The established guarantees, including a special, non-competitive procedure for land privatization, the clear localization of the subject of the right, and the limitation of its size, create a reliable legal basis for restoring violated land rights. The prompt promulgation of this draft law is expected, for it to enter into force on the day following its publication.
Author: Oleh Kupchyk, Lawyer at Altelaw & Sempra
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