Difficulties with receiving monetary compensation for destroyed or damaged housing: bureaucracy or laziness of Ukrainians

The program of compensation payments for damaged/destroyed real estate in the front-line regions of Ukraine (Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk and Kharkiv) was launched in 2023. As of mid-May, more than 100,000 applications from citizens have already been processed. To assign compensation, it is necessary to conduct an inspection of the building, which can be done only in the territory under control, and this is understandable. Out of 100,000 applications, more than half (54,000) already have a determined amount of compensation, i.e., the real scale of damage and the cost of housing restoration have been established.

In addition, 6,000 certificates for the purchase of houses or apartments instead of lost ones were issued for 13,000 applications. The above figures may give the impression that everything is fine with solving this problem. Not only that, bright prospects emerge from the words of the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, Olena Shulyak, about the possible extension of the compensation program to the temporarily occupied territories (in particular, the cities of Melitopol, Bakhmut, Mariupol and etc.). Aerial photography from space will help determine the amount of compensation. But when “returning from space to the native land” joyful feelings melt somewhat. Thus, in Melitopol, after 3 months of work on the program to establish volumes for the allocation of funds for reconstruction, the work on the 4th applications from the residents of this settlement in Zaporozhye was completed. Somehow, the cost of research from satellites and only 4 buildings does not compare. Although the survey was conducted only on those objects for which the owners submitted applications, the question arises: in Melitopol, only 4 houses were damaged, or are the residents of the city not submitting applications for some reason? Is it still the fault of the bureaucracy in receiving and issuing applications?

Another obstacle has appeared for the residents of the cities on the TOT in filing an application for compensation – in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kherson regions, the occupying authorities require residents to re-register their housing in the Russian state real estate register and threaten to seize objects that are not will be re-registered and will have a debt for utility services (this debt will become inevitable due to the lack of re-registration). However, for re-registration, our citizens must come from the controlled territory to the TOT to perform this procedure after obtaining Russian passports – a kind of compulsion to change citizenship.

Legally and according to international law (Geneva Convention of 1949), such confiscation of property is a crime. This is just whether the Russian Federation pays attention to the attitude of the Ukrainian authorities to their actions. Definitely not. In general, compensation is provided to citizens and home owners for damage received after 2014, that is, since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Everything is clearly prescribed in the law regarding the list of necessary documents (only three possible document options), the terms of review (examination) and the procedure for providing compensation. (preliminary review – up to 5 days, examination – up to 30 days, then within 3 days – a certificate of verification of the application and a certificate of granting the applicant the status of an injured person is issued.

In case of destruction of housing, it is necessary to formalize the termination of the right of ownership of the destroyed house/apartment, this is done in the State Register of Real Property Rights. Among the documents required for this registration, the above certificate and certificate will be required.  And only after that, the affected person has the right to submit a second package of documents (an application, copies of the certificate and the act, as well as information (certificate) from the State Register on the termination of ownership of the destroyed housing. Within three days, the applicant must be issued a decision: on the provision of compensation; on the refusal in providing compensation.

Refusal to provide compensation is possible in the case of providing inaccurate information, re-applying after already receiving compensation, registration of ownership of housing after damage or destruction to it. You can appeal the decision on refusal in the District Administrative Court. As can be seen from the stages listed above, the registration procedure can last at least one and a half months, and this is without taking into account the bureaucracy factor, and with it it is much longer and more complicated.

The scale of destruction and damage in Ukraine is impressive, the number of victims is measured in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of citizens. According to the Ministry of Social Policy, by the beginning of 2023 alone, the total number of (officially registered) people forced to leave their homes reached 4 million. 851 thousand 119 people. Therefore, the amount of work to determine compensation is huge and that is why it all requires hard, careful work with strict adherence to the law, and also with the aim of reaching all the disadvantaged.

In such a situation, the integrity of the state’s performance of this extremely important social task lies not in a bureaucratic approach, but on the contrary in an effort to speed up the process of checking applications and making a decision. Because not only the protection of citizens’ rights to their property depends on the quality of this work, but also the protection of the rights to life without suffering and wandering. The problem of overcoming the bureaucracy has a long history and could be tackled gradually and planned, but only in peacetime, when for the majority of citizens their troubles are not so painful and the question is survival.

How does the “yeRecovery” program work in Donetsk region? In general, 778 million hryvnias were allocated for compensation for destroyed housing in the region, and 375 million 700 thousand hryvnias for damaged ones. These figures were provided by the deputy head of the regional housing and communal services L. Guseva. But these are total sums. Specific information on settlements is more visible. What can be demonstrated by example – in the village of Bogorodnychy, all residential buildings and infrastructure were completely destroyed. In total, more than 42,000 buildings were damaged in the region, including 4,316 multi-story buildings).

At the same time, residents of the region submitted 7,488 applications for damaged housing over the entire period of more than two years. Of these, a positive decision was made to allocate compensation for the above-mentioned amount of UAH 375,700,000 in 4,514 appeals. The number of applications and positive decisions was distributed in different cities as follows:

• Kramatorsk – 1,687 applications, positively resolved – 1,308;
• Pokrovsk – 549 applications, 386 positively resolved;
• Myrnograd – 541 applications, 145 positively resolved;
• Kostyantynivka – 152 applications, none positively resolved.

Residents of the destroyed housing submitted a total of 976 applications, and a positive decision was made on 479 of them for a total compensation amount of UAH 778 million. It looks as follows for individual cities:

• Pokrovsk – 61 applications, 43 positively resolved;
• Myrnograd – 31 applications, positively resolved – none;
• Kramatorsk – 89 applications, positively resolved – none;
• Kostyantynivka – 15 applications, positively resolved – none.

A total of 130 residents from Donetsk region purchased new housing for themselves with the help of compensation certificates in different regions: in Kyiv, Morshina, Dnipro and Poltava regions, as well as in Odessa and Odesa regions, in Gostomel.

What of the above information can interest and impress you?

Due to the huge amount of destruction and damage, the number of claims is quite small. But the lack of positively considered applications for damaged and destroyed housing is more striking. And the fact that only 130 people took advantage of the opportunity to purchase compensatory housing may indicate not the reluctance of Donetsk residents to obtain normal living conditions, but the complexity of the procedure for such a purchase.

When considering applications, the method of suspending consideration is used if all the necessary documents are not submitted, but such a pause is limited to 2 months. In addition, as representatives of state bodies will say, there is a problem in the passivity of Ukrainians, when they are in no hurry to go alone to notaries, to TsNAPs, to archives. If they do not fit into the 2-month additional period, then their application is rejected. Officials also claim that the inspection procedure cannot always be carried out due to the proximity of hostilities and danger.

Probably, such cases can take place, but as it can be seen from the list of cities, was not a complete list of documents received for all the submitted applications, or were all the buildings located in the war zone? Therefore, these explanations of the officials do not sound entirely convincing. And the truth, as it often happens, is somewhere in the middle. It is hard to believe that people are not able to go to two or three authorities to obtain the necessary certificates in order to be entitled to monetary compensation. Perhaps these “hikes” are a rather difficult and lengthy procedure, with many hours of sitting in queues, with delays in issuing documents. This option and the reason for citizens’ laziness are more realistic, especially if we take into account our general long-term experience of visiting various instances and institutions and our bureaucracy.