Reconstruction Digest:
Ukraine 2025

NEW GUARANTEES FOR REAL ESTATE OWNERS:
THE VERKHOVNA RADA HAS PROVIDED PROTECTION FOR BONA FIDE ACQUIRERS

On 12 March 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law No. 12089 (the "Law"), which introduces a number of amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine aimed at protecting bona fide acquirers of real estate previously owned by the state or municipalities. The Law will come into force after its signing by the President and publishing.

Why is the Law needed?

For a long time, law enforcement authorities could, practically without any time limits, challenge the transfer of state or municipal property (land plots, buildings, etc.) into private ownership by filing so-called 'negatory actions' (i.e., claims to remove obstacles to property use). This created significant risks for investors and owners of such assets.

What will change?

Upon the Law coming into force, if state or local authorities have taken any actions to alienate property, all disputes over its return must be resolved exclusively under the rules of Articles 387 and 388
of the Civil Code of Ukraine, i.e. by filing a vindication claim (a claim for reclamation or recognition of rights). The definition of a bona fide ('good faith') acquirer and the cases under which the property may be reclaimed from such an acquirer remain the same. A bona fide acquirer is one who acquired the immovable property for
value and did not know, and could not have known, that it was alienated.

 The main innovations of the Law:

• Time limit for reclamation
  If more than ten years have passed since real estate was transferred into private ownership, it can no longer be reclaimed by the state or a local community. These provisions have retrospective effect and also apply to property transferred before the Law comes into force. The time limits do not apply to certain critically important cases (critical infrastructure, defence facilities, assets of strategic importance, cultural heritage monuments, and some others).
• Statute of limitation in reclamation disputes
  A three-year statute of limitations applies, calculated from the date of the first private acquired title (i.e., from the date of state registration or the actual transfer, if registration was not mandatory).
• Compensation for property value
  The court, when deciding on the reclamation, simultaneously decides on compensation for the bona fide acquirer based on the appraised value of such property. In this case, the plaintiff (the state or the local community) must deposit the required funds with the court in advance. At the same time, the plaintiff acquires the right of recourse against the person through whose fault the property was unlawfully alienated. These provisions also have a retrospective effect and apply to cases already pending in court but not yet decided by the first-instance court.

UPDATED CONDITIONS FOR AUTOMATED REGISTRATION OF CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS

On 4 February 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (“CMU”) adopted Resolution No. 117, introducing a number of simplifications for the automated submission and review of documents in the construction sector.

There are now broader options for confirming that the intended development is consistent with the land plot's purpose when automatically registering a notice of commencement of construction work and a declaration of readiness for operation regarding facilities with minor consequences class (so called СС1) or those constructed pursuant to a building passport.

Previously, the system automatically checked only the correlation between the designated land use and the functional zoning data contained in the Unified State Electronic System in the Construction Sector.

From now on, such compliance can also be confirmed if the
relevant information is included in:

• urban planning conditions and restrictions,
• a building passport,
• a schematic plan of intentions for the development
  of the land plot.

RESUMPTION OF SCHEDULED INSPECTIONS FOR MARKET SURVEILLANCE OF CONSTRUCTION PRODUCT QUALITY

CMU Resolution No. 1511 dated 27 December 2024 lifted the moratorium on scheduled state market surveillance of the quality of construction products for the period of martial law. In this regard, it was announced that the first scheduled inspections will be resumed in the near future.

CHANGES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC INVESTMENT PROJECTS
 

According to the new Law of Ukraine No 4225-IX of 16 October 2025, starting from this year the Unified Information System for the Management of Public Investment Projects ("PIP") will be used to form a single portfolio of public investment based on the DREAM
ecosystem.

Currently, DREAM is a digital ecosystem for accountable management of recovery and reconstruction projects, providing access to open data on all project stages. Implementation of a similar system for PIP management will provide centralised storage of information, including data on project assessment, prioritisation and preparation stages.

CONCESSION TENDERS EXCLUSIVELY VIA PROZORRO
  

As of 1 January 2025, the provisions of CMU Resolution No. 909 came into force, stipulating that all concession tenders, competitive dialogue procedures, and publication of documents in the procedure of direct negotiations with a tenant of state property transferred under concession must be carried out exclusively through an electronic trading system.

The administrators of this system are:

• Prozorro – for large projects valued at UAH 250 mln or more, as well as for projects with pre-selection
   
• Prozorro.Sale – for smaller projects (up to UAH 250 mln)
  without pre-selection and for publishing documents
  during direct negotiations with a tenant of state property

UPDATE OF THE CATALOGUE OF INDUSTRIAL PARKS (IP) 

In January 2025, the Ministry of Economy updated the Catalogue of Industrial Parks, a source used to identify locations with developed infrastructure and favourable business conditions.

The catalogue provides systematised information to better guide businesses in selecting a location, including:

• Specialisation – areas of park activity (mechanical engineering, light industry, etc.)
• Infrastructure – data on utilities, transport interchanges, and connections
• Additional local incentives – exemptions from land tax, etc.
• Location and other IP characteristics  – a detailed description of the facilities, including cartographic data

The catalogue is available here