Ministry of Justice repeals the illegal re-registration of the Pochayiv Lavra complex

The Appeal Commission on State Registration to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has repealed the illegal re-registration of a complex of buildings of the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra. First Deputy Minister of Justice Olena Sukmanova was reported as saying this by Ukrinform which cited the press service of the Ministry of Justice.

“The Commission of the Ministry of Justice at its meeting upheld the appeal for Kremenets-Pochayiv State Historical and Architectural Reserve which asked to cancel the decision on the state registration of the right to use the complex of buildings of the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra for the religious organization the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra. The corresponding order of the Ministry of Justice was signed today,” Sukmanova said.

According to her, the members of the Commission came to the conclusion that the registrar carried out the state registration of the right to use the complex of buildings of the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra (Holy Assumption Cathedral, Trinity Cathedral, monastery cells, bishops' house, bell tower, goblet corps) in violation of the requirements of the current legislation.

“That is why this decision on state registration has been canceled, and the state registrar who carried it blocked access to the state register of real rights to real estate,” the official noted.

As reported, the Ministry of Culture appealed to the Ministry of Justice on the actions of the state registrar with the requirement to cancel the decision on the state registration of the right of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate for the use of the property of the Pochayiv Monastery and to bring the registrar to account.

In early November, the media reported that the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra in Ternopil region was illegally transferred to the UOC-MP. In particular, a councilor of the Pochayiv City Council Taras Palyanytsia revealed the documents of the state registrar who in 2018 executed the decisions of the ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych of the year 2003 and transferred to the use of the reserve until 2052 six objects of the Pochayiv Lavra (cathedrals, belfry, cells, the bishops' house – a total of 7,000 square meters). The councilor demonstrated an excerpt from the State Register, according to which the Lavra's buildings were registered with the UOC-MP until January 1, 2052, with the right to prolongation.