Transparency International Ukraine urges the President to veto draft law No. 12089 on strengthening protections for bona fide acquirers, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada last week. It limits the ability of the state or territorial communities to reclaim property that was unlawfully alienated if 10 years have passed since its sale to a bona fide acquirer (a person unaware of the asset’s dubious background).
First and foremost, this restriction effectively legalizes the unlawful alienation of state or community property through fraudulent schemes and official misconduct. If these changes take effect, reclaiming such property will be difficult even through the courts.
In addition, the draft law modifies the approach to calculating the statute of limitations in property recovery disputes, setting it from the date of transfer to a bona fide acquirer or the state registration of ownership rights. In practice, this will reduce the period for the state or territorial community to reclaim property from 10 years to 3. Had these rules been in place earlier, the Kyiv community would not have been able to reclaim the land around the Pyrohovo Museum, and the state could not have recovered the Tereshchenko Manor in Zhytomyr region, which housed a UOC-MP monastery.
If property is reclaimed, the state or community will have to compensate the new owner for its value before pursuing a claim against the responsible party. This imposes an additional financial burden, which may be especially significant for local budgets.
Finally, the draft law’s provisions limiting the period for reclaiming property will apply retroactively, violating the constitutional principle of the non-retroactivity of laws.
Transparency International Ukraine calls on the President to veto draft law No. 12089 and urges all concerned citizens to sign the relevant petition.
