COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY RUSSIA’S MILITARY AGGRESSION

COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY RUSSIA’S MILITARY AGGRESSION

The government and parliament are working to develop mechanisms to compensate for losses incurred by citizens and businesses arising as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

For that reason, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the Resolution as of 20 March 2022 No. 326 “On approval of the Procedure for determining the damage and losses caused to Ukraine as a result of armed aggression of the russian federation”, the Resolution as of 26 March 2022 No. 380 “On collection, processing and accounting information on damaged and destroyed real estate as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by the military aggression of the russian federation” and the Resolution as of 19 April 2022 No. 473 “On approval of the Procedure for urgent work to eliminate the consequences of armed aggression of the Russian Federation with damage to buildings and structures”, which provide a system of notification of damages and their fixation.

In case of damage or destruction of property, a legal entity may submit relevant information to the national police to initiate criminal proceedings. Legal entities can also apply to the executive bodies of village, city councils, and in their absence – to military administrations, which make decisions on the inspection of damaged objects.

According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 20 March 2022 No. 326 while determining the economic losses of enterprises, the value of lost, destroyed or damaged property is particularly estimated. Regional, Kyiv city state administrations (for the period of martial law – military administrations) are responsible for determining the damage and losses of enterprises that are located in respective regions.

Fixations of damage or destruction of buildings caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation is carried out in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as of 19 April 2022 No. 473. Inspection of damaged objects is carried out by the decision of the executive bodies of village, city councils, and in their absence – military administrations through a commission inspection, which includes (if possible) authorized representatives of the owner of the object. 

Photo-fixation materials of the object, which testify to the nature and extent of the destruction, must be attached to the commission inspection report. The commission forms an act of commission inspection in electronic form on the portal “Diia”. Acts of commission inspection are transferred to the holder of the State Register of property damaged and destroyed as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by military aggression of the Russian Federation, within one month from the date of its creation. If possible, the authorized body shall notify the owner of the object in writing of the results of the commission survey by sending a copy of the commission act within 3 calendar days from the date of drawing up such an act or by sending it through the portal “Diia”.

23 February 2023 the  Law of Ukraine “On Compensation for Damage and Destruction of Certain Categories of Immovable Property as a Result of Hostilities, Acts of Terrorism, Sabotage Caused by Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and the State Register of Property Damaged and Destroyed as a Result of hostilities, acts of terrorism, sabotage caused by armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine” came into force. The specified Law provides for a mechanism of compensation to citizens of Ukraine for damage and destruction of housing. 

In order to consider issues related to the provision of compensation for destroyed immovable property objects, the Commission for consideration of issues related to the provision of compensation for destroyed immovable property objects as a result of hostilities, acts of terrorism, and sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (hereinafter – the Commission) is established.

An application for compensation for a destroyed object of immovable property is submitted for each object separately to the Commission in the relevant territory during the period of martial law and within one year from the date of its termination or cancellation in the territory where the destroyed object is located (was located).

An application for compensation for a destroyed object of immovable property can be submitted to the Commission:

1) in electronic form – by means of the Unified state web portal of electronic services;

2) in paper form – through the center for the provision of administrative services, the institution of social protection of the population or a notary public.

Compensation for a destroyed object of immovable property is provided by:

1) provision of funds by transferring them to the current account of the recipient of compensation with a special mode of use for financing the construction of a manor-type house, garden or country house. Such an account is opened in the name of the recipient of compensation. The procedure for opening and maintaining such accounts is determined by the National Bank of Ukraine;

2) financing the purchase of an apartment, other residential premises, a manor-type house, a garden or country house (including financing the purchase of such premises/houses that will be built in the future, or investing/financing its construction) using a housing certificate.

The amount of compensation for a destroyed object of immovable property is determined for each recipient of compensation and each destroyed object of immovable property separately, based on the total area of the destroyed object of immovable property and the cost of 1 square meter of the area of the destroyed object of immovable property.

02 April 2024 the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine (“Register of Damage for Ukraine” or “RD4U”) opened for the submission of claims.

The Register of Damages is the key and only international instrument for recording the damage caused by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the russian federation since 24.02.2022 and the first component of the compensation mechanism aimed at ensuring full, fair and effective reparations for the victims of the war.

The registry will accept applications from individuals, businesses and the state of Ukraine for more than 40 categories of damage, including, inter alia, loss of property and other economic damage.

It is important to understand that the Register will not examine or evaluate claims it receives on their merit, assess their value, or order any payments.

These will be the functions of a future international compensation mechanism that will be established by a separate international instrument. The Register is just the first step towards such a mechanism.