Reconstruction Digest:
Ukraine

The New Housing Policy Law: New Models for the Implementation of Housing Projects Are Emerging in Ukraine

On 15 February 2026, the Law of Ukraine "On the Basic Principles of Housing Policy" No. 4751-IX entered into force. The Law establishes a new legal framework for the implementation of housing projects involving private capital, State support mechanisms and cooperation instruments with local communities.

   The new approach provides, among other things, that:

• an affordable housing operator may be a legal entity irrespective of its form of ownership;
• by decision of local self-government bodies, such operators may be granted land plots for the construction of affordable housing;
• affordable housing operators may obtain preferential long-term loans, grants, compensation, as well as State and local guarantees for the purposes of financing the construction and management of housing;
• housing construction cooperatives, whose members may benefit from State support, may be granted a land plot for the construction of an apartment building;
• the financing of housing stock formation may be sourced not only from the budget, but also from private companies, banks, international donors and loans backed by State and local guarantees;
• local self-government bodies may establish local revolving funds to finance the construction and repair of housing stock.

The Procedure for Commissioning Completed Construction Projects and the Functioning of the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction (the "EDESSB") Has Been Updated (CMU Resolution No. 50)

On 21 January 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 50, which introduced amendments to the Procedure for the Commissioning of Completed Construction Projects, approved by CMU Resolution No. 461 dated 13 April 2011, and to the Procedure for Maintaining the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction, approved by CMU Resolution No. 681 dated 23 June 2021.

The amendments are aimed at regulating the electronic recording of the results of on-site inspections of construction projects during their commissioning and at enabling the use of the Transparent Construction mobile application within the EDESSB functionality.

   The Resolution provides, inter alia, that:

• the completion and submission of a checklist based on the results of an on-site inspection of a construction project, as well as photo and video recording during such inspection, shall be ensured. These actions shall be performed by an official of the state architectural and construction control authority using the electronic system, including the Transparent Construction mobile application;
• the completion of the checklist and the uploading of photo and video materials shall be finalised by the affixing of the qualified electronic signature of the relevant official of the state architectural and construction control authority;
• once the qualified electronic signature has been affixed, the checklist and the photo and video materials shall be transferred to the Construction Activity Register of the EDESSB;
• the Transparent Construction mobile application has been integrated into the mechanism for access to the data contained in the Construction Activity Register and for recording the results of the relevant procedures.

The checklist form has been restated in a new wording and is available by the link.

As of 1 April 2026, the use of the Transparent Construction application during on-site inspections became mandatory. At the same time, the scope of application of this mechanism primarily concerns projects falling within consequence classes CC2 and CC3. No changes were introduced for CC1 projects: for such projects, the declarative commissioning principle remains in place, without mandatory photo and video recording. Accordingly, the Resolution is of particular practical importance for medium-sized and large-scale projects, where safety, compliance with the design documentation and procedural controllability are of critical importance.

The Rules for Construction on the Basis of a Building Passport and a Land Plot Development Intent Scheme Have Been Updated (CMU Resolution No. 305)

On 13 March 2026, Resolution No. 305 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine entered into force. By this Resolution, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine introduced amendments to the rules governing the construction of projects on the basis of a building passport or a land plot development intent scheme.

The amendments are aimed at clarifying the list of projects that may be carried out under the simplified procedure, digitalising the preparation of the development intent scheme within the EDESSB, and strengthening control over its preparation and uploading. According to reports on the practical application of the Resolution, one of its practical effects has been to prevent attempts to use a building passport or a development intent scheme for construction that does not comply with the designated use of the land plot and the parameters of the simplified procedure.

    The Resolution provides, inter alia, that:

• the simplified mechanism applies only to specified individual development projects;
• the development intent scheme shall be prepared in electronic form through the EDESSB by a certified designer, with a qualified electronic signature affixed thereto;
• in order to commence construction works, the registration number of the development intent scheme must be specified in the system;
• development on the basis of such a scheme is not permitted in areas subject to historical, cultural or heritage protection restrictions;
• where violations are identified in the course of preparation of the scheme, the designer shall be issued with a compliance order, and where two or more such compliance orders have been issued, the system shall automatically block the further creation or uploading of schemes by that designer.

The Resolution is intended to narrow the scope of application of the simplified development mechanism and to strengthen control over its use through the EDESSB instruments.

Safety Requirements During Construction Have Been Strengthened: Mandatory Shelters in New Developments

The design of new projects must now mandatorily incorporate civil protection measures, including the provision of shelters or so-called dual-purpose structures.

  The key points are as follows:

• the design documentation for a significant proportion of new developments, in particular projects with medium and significant consequences (CC2 and CC3), must mandatorily include a section on engineering and technical civil protection measures;
• such section may provide for the construction of protective structures or dual-purpose shelters;
• shelters must ensure the possibility of temporary accommodation of persons, including persons with reduced mobility;
• civil protection requirements are becoming mandatory not only at the construction stage, but also at the stage of preparation of urban planning documentation;
• responsibility for compliance with these requirements is imposed on customers, developers, designers and construction contractors.

It has also been expressly provided that, for the protection of the population, not only purpose-built shelters may be used, but also dual-purpose facilities, namely buildings or parts thereof which, in ordinary times, perform other functions but may be rapidly adapted for the protection of people. Accordingly, the new legislative amendments effectively formalise the integration of shelters into the planning and construction of residential and commercial projects. This reflects a shift from the ad hoc creation of protective structures to a systemic approach, under which the availability of a shelter becomes an integral component of modern development.

At the same time, the practical implementation of these requirements will depend on the adoption of further secondary legislation, in particular as regards the specific technical parameters of shelters, the procedure for their design, and supervision of compliance with applicable building regulations.

EUR 100 million for housing: the CEB supports the third phase of the HOME 3 project

On 18 March 2026, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) approved additional financing for Ukraine in the amount of EUR 100 million for 2026 under the third phase of the HOME3 project, Compensation for Destroyed Housing, implemented as part of the eVidnovlennia programme:

  The financing will allow to:

• increase the number of compensation recipients;
• enable more than 3,000 additional families that have already received certificates to secure housing;
• accelerate disbursements under the programme;
• strengthen the State’s ability to provide a systematic compensation mechanism.

Assistance is available depending on the extent of the damage, both in cases of damaged housing and destroyed housing. The maximum amount of assistance is UAH 350,000 for apartment owners, while for owners of private houses the maximum amount is UAH 500,000.

The terms and conditions of the programme, as well as the relevant procedure, are available on the official eVidnovlennia page on the Diia portal.

A new category in the International Register of Damage: expanded opportunities for sole proprietors

On 10 March 2026, the Register of Damage, established to record damage caused by the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, opened a new claims category, A3.5, concerning loss of income from private entrepreneurial activity.

The new category is intended specifically for sole proprietors who have lost income in connection with war-related events. It applies both to sole proprietors registered in Ukraine and to persons whose activity is governed by another applicable law, but was carried out in the territory of Ukraine. 

Applicants must provide basic information about themselves and their entrepreneurial activity, substantiate the fact of loss of income with relevant evidence, provide an approximate amount of the losses suffered, and confirm the information submitted, part of which may be verified through state registers, in particular data of the State Tax Service of Ukraine.

The opening of this category expands the instruments for recording business-related economic losses at the individual level. At the same time, separate claims categories are provided for legal entities within the framework of the Register. The new functionality allows entrepreneurs to document lost income, which may subsequently serve as a basis for compensation under international mechanisms for redress of damage.

Concession of the Port of Chornomorsk: the pre-qualification stage has been completed

As part of a public-private partnership project, the State has put the First and Container Terminals of the Port of Chornomorsk out to concession. The Port of Chornomorsk is one of Ukraine’s key seaports and an important logistics hub. In this case, a concession means that the asset is not transferred into private ownership: the State retains title, while the private partner obtains the right to operate the terminals, use them in its business activities, invest in their modernisation, and derive income from their operation under the terms of the concession agreement.

At present, the pre-qualification stage of the concession tender has been completed. At this stage, the participants were assessed for compliance with the applicable requirements, in particular as regards financial capacity, relevant experience and the successful completion of security screening. The next stage is expected to be a dialogue with the selected participants, after which a further evaluation of tender proposals will be carried out and the future concessionaire will be selected.

The Ministry for Development and QTerminals discussed the resumption of the Olvia port concession project

On 23 February 2026, the Ministry for Development reported on a meeting of the working group concerning the performance of the concession agreement in the specialised seaport of Olvia under force majeure conditions.

The Olvia port is one of the most notable concession projects in Ukraine’s port sector: in 2020, it was granted in concession to the Qatari company QTerminals for a term of 35 years. 

Under this model, the private partner does not acquire ownership of the port, but obtains the right to operate it, invest in the modernisation and development of its infrastructure, and derive income from its operation under the terms of the concession agreement.

Since Olvia is a cargo port of significance for exports, logistics and port infrastructure in general, the preservation of this project goes beyond a purely contractual matter and is directly linked to the investment attractiveness of the sector.