Lawyer Nikita Chekman, in an interview with Glavkom, said that Ukraine in the 90s of the last century undertook obligations to the Council of Europe to carry out the restitution of all church property that was confiscated from the church by the Soviet authorities.

“The principle of this restitution was laid down in Article 17 of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” (the use of property that is the property of the state, public organizations or citizens). On the basis of this law, an agreement was developed on the transfer of religious buildings to religious organizations,” – the lawyer said.

He stressed that this is not about rent, but about free use.

“It is a well-known fact that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra always belonged to the church until the moment when it was nationalized by the Soviet authorities,” Nikita Chekman said.

He added that “already at the time of independence, and even since the late 80s of the last century, the monastery began to use the cult buildings and property of the Lavra. In several stages, the buildings of the Lavra were transferred to the Church for use. account, by the way.

“A logical question on your part: what to do if the owner wants to terminate the contract? It is open-ended, you need to understand this. It also spelled out the conditions under which a state institution, in this case the National Reserve, can break it even unilaterally. provided that the reserve discovers the misuse of property, or the storage of property, the maintenance of property in an improper condition. After the discovery, a warning should have been received, and after the warning, the termination of the contract. None of these stages took place, “the lawyer emphasized.