«Верховная Рада разрешила «отжать» землю во второй раз»: Ирина Федорив о скандальном законопроекте о принудительном отчуждении земель в Карпатах
The Verkhovna Rada adopted draft law No. 9549, revised after the presidential veto, which caused a wide public outcry. The regulatory document provides for the introduction of a special procedure for the forced alienation of land plots and other immovable property in connection with social necessity in the conditions of martial law — in particular, for the placement of objects of the defense-industrial complex and infrastructure within the Uzhhorod district of the Zakarpattia region. The draft law specifies that during the martial law in Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers has the right to make a decision on the forced alienation of real estate — both private and communal property, as well as unallocated land plots and unclaimed shares — located precisely on the territory of the Uzhgorod district.
Iryna Fedoriv, head of the public initiative «Holka». expressed sharp criticism of this draft law, which, according to her, is promoted in the interests of developers and poses a serious threat to the constitutional rights of citizens. She notes that this initiative has been pushed through the parliament for a long time and is part of a wider «epic» of draft laws actively lobbied by the head of the Servant of the People party, Olena Shulyak. According to Fedorov, the very fact of Shulyak’s support is a signal that the initiative may contain corruption risks, as schemes may be hidden behind the official goal of helping to restore communications in the de-occupied territories.
Iryna Fedoriv reminds that during the consideration of the previous version of the draft law, the developers tried to make an amendment that would actually cancel the arrears for the payment of share participation in 2020 and stop the open proceedings related to these debts. She calls it a robbery of community budgets and a typical way in which schemes are «stitched up» in the parliament in the interests of developers. After public publicity, these amendments were rejected, but the draft law was still adopted with other harmful provisions.
Fedoriv draws attention to the speech of People’s Deputy Ihor Fries, who stated that his colleagues did not read what they voted for, and that according to the adopted law, military administrations can seize property without a trial, and citizens will not have the opportunity to appeal these decisions. This, according to Fries, violates constitutional rights. He submitted a blocking resolution, and a total of 11 such resolutions were sent to the parliament. The provisions on the special procedure for forced alienation of property in the Uzhhorod district of the Transcarpathian region were particularly criticized, and this region is separately mentioned in the text of the law.
The legal department of the Verkhovna Rada indicated that the decisions of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration on the forced alienation of property will not be subject to appeal to a court or administrative body, which is frankly unconstitutional. Fedorov also quotes People’s Deputy Iryna Gerashchenko, who ridiculed the situation when the People’s Deputies admitted after voting that they had not read the law, apologized on social networks and began to register blocking resolutions themselves. Gerashchenko called it «legalized theft».
Also, Iryna Fedoriv reminds that Bihus.info journalists in their story compared this legislative initiative to «Pandora’s box» and called it «wild» because it gives the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration the right «to take whatever it wants at its discretion.» Despite the blocking resolutions, the law was signed by the president, a petition demanding a veto appeared, and the head of state returned the document with comments. In his conclusion, the president indicated that the establishment of a special order of forced alienation of property only on the territory of a separate administrative unit violates the constitutional guarantees of equality of subjects of property rights.
Fedorov emphasizes that despite the president’s remarks, the draft law was once again submitted to the parliament for consideration — this time on March 25, 2025. She asks whether the agrarian committee headed by Oleksandr Haydu (also «Servant of the People») took into account the president’s position. Her answer is unequivocal: the comments are not taken into account, the scandalous norms remain, the previous legal conclusions remain valid. There is still a dangerous opportunity for the Transcarpathian State Administration to seize land plots without a judicial appeal mechanism.
In conclusion, Fedoriv notes that the previous time the law was passed with the minimum required number of votes — 228. She believes that the new vote will show how many deputies are ready to support the initiative, which grossly violates the Constitution. If the draft law is passed again, the president will have to intervene again to stop this, as she says, «harmful initiative.»
This material expresses the personal opinion of the author, the position of the editors of IA «FACT» may differ from it.
