In April, Ukrainians were able to submit claims to get compensation for losses for damaged or destroyed housing in the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. A prerequisite for this was participation in the eRecovery program. But the specialized legislation contained a conflict—to receive compensation under eRecovery, the owners of the destroyed property needed to terminate the ownership; however, it was at the same time the requirement for submitting a claim with the international Register. Notably, due to the well-established information interaction between the registers, when submitting a claim, the relevant restrictions do not apply, but the inconsistency between the legislation persists. We drew the government’s attention to this problem and recommended that it be eliminated.
In late July, the government made changes that allowed the owners of destroyed or damaged real estate to choose a compensation mechanism (or both) without necessarily being tied to the other. In addition, citizens whose property is located in the temporarily occupied territories or in zones of active hostilities received the right to submit claims to the International Register of Damage.
However, despite the expanded opportunities, the inconsistency of provisions regarding destroyed housing remained. According to the updated procedure for submitting a claim, ownership rights and the submission of information on housing from the State Register of Real Property Rights or a document certifying a refusal to register ownership in the register remain mandatory. Relevant information is also requested when trying to submit a claim through the Diia Portal.
Nowadays, eRecovery is the only opportunity to obtain compensation. But the state may compensate the cost of the destroyed object, but not in full; so, to receive the remaining amount of compensation, a person can apply to the international Register of Damage. Therefore, we recommend amending the application procedure, which will provide for the non-extension of the requirements for registered ownership to the claims of Ukrainians whose housing has been destroyed and who have already received assistance from the state. This can be confirmed by information from the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property.
It will soon be possible to submit claims to the International Register for other categories of losses, including those related to the death and disappearance of immediate relatives and forced internal displacement. Claim forms and rules for their submission have already been approved.
The material was prepared within the framework of the Digital Transformation Activity, funded by USAID and UK Dev.
