Odessa Catholics returned church on Havanna street: they are not to pay taxes

The Church of St. Peter on Havanna street in Odessa was officially passed on to Roman Catholics. On December 16, Odessa City Council overturned its own decision according to which the building was to be sold to the community for 1 hryvnia. Instead, the Catholics were given the church back free of charge under the restitution law.

For the first time the decision to give the Catholics back their own property was adopted by the municipal assembly as early as on April 8, 2011, but the agreement was never signed. The point is that the city council decided for some reason to execute the returning of the church not as an act of restitution, envisaged by the Law of Ukraine “On freedom of conscience and religious organizations” (it refers to free transmission of religious buildings of state and municipal property in the property of religious communities), but as privatization of real estate. The building was valued at 1 UAH.

The transfer was to take place, but suddenly the tax inspectors got into action. At first they wanted the Catholics to pay money to the pension fund and notaries - UAH 100,000, thereafter the tax officials requested the city council to pay VAT amounting to UAH 869,000 from the appraised value of the building. The city told the community that the budget does not possess such money, so they have to raise money on their own.

Based on the decision of 16 December no tax liability will arise.

The Church of St. Peter is one of the few monuments of Odessa, built in the style of the Italian Baroque. The building was erected in 1912 on the money of Odessa Frenchman Alexander Vassal. Once in 1935 the Soviet authorities closed the Cathedral of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a year later blew up the Cathedral of St. Clement, the church on Havanna street remained the only Roman Catholic church not only in Odessa, but also in the south of Ukraine. It was reported by Dumska.