The Verkhovna Rada Committee approved for the first reading the draft law on compensation for damaged real estate during the war
Kyiv • UNN
The Verkhovna Rada Committee approved the draft law on compensation for damaged and destroyed property. The document extends the eRecovery program to housing destroyed since February 19, 2014, and simplifies the procedure for occupied territories.
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development recommended that Parliament adopt in the first reading Bill No. 13136 on compensation for damage and destruction of real estate as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, initiated by the temporary investigative commission (TIC) of the Verkhovna Rada on the protection of the rights of internally displaced and other persons. This is reported by UNN with reference to the website of the "Servant of the People" party.
Details
As reported by the head of the TIC, People's Deputy from "Servant of the People", co-author of the bill Pavlo Frolov, this document will make the eRecovery program fairer.
This bill is an important step for the accessibility and effectiveness of compensation mechanisms
Frolov said that according to the document, compensation will apply to housing destroyed or damaged since the beginning of Russia's aggression - from February 19, 2014. Priority will be given to families who have lost their only home.
It is noted that the bill separately regulates the issue of housing in temporarily occupied territories (TOT).
Based on the results of a remote survey of all destroyed housing in the TOT (using satellites, drones, and other video recording sources), owners of such housing will be issued eRecovery certificates if they have moved to the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine.
The People's Deputy emphasized that completely destroyed settlements, such as Popasna, Bakhmut, Soledar, Maryinka, and others, are recognized by the government as not requiring additional inspections to confirm the right to compensation.
Regarding multi-story buildings that will be restored, residents will have the right to choose. "Owners of destroyed apartments in multi-story buildings will have the right either to keep the restored apartment or to receive compensation in the form of an e-certificate for the purchase of new housing, and the restored apartment will become communal property as social housing," Frolov explained.
Another change will be an increase in the period for submitting applications for compensation - instead of one year after the end of martial law, citizens will have three years.
As reported in the bill's card on the Verkhovna Rada website, it was submitted to parliament on March 26. The co-authors include 14 people's deputies from various factions and non-factional members, in addition to Frolov, including Mykhailo Volynets, head of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine, head of the subcommittee on interaction with state authorities and the public of the parliamentary committee on energy and housing and communal services; Maksym Tkachenko, head of the subcommittee on temporarily occupied territories of the committee on human rights, de-occupation and reintegration of TOT of Ukraine; and Vitaliy Voitsekhivskyi, member of the committee on state power organization, local self-government, regional development and urban planning.
"As a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the total damage amounts to $486 billion. The housing stock suffered the greatest damage... As of January 2024, 250,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including: 222,000 - private houses; 27,000 - apartment buildings; 526 - dormitories. The largest number of destroyed residential buildings was recorded in Donetsk, Kyiv, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions. In total, this is 135.8 thousand residential buildings, of which: 119.9 thousand - private houses; 15.6 thousand - apartment buildings; 0.2 thousand - dormitories. Direct losses from the destruction of these objects are estimated at $58.9 billion," the explanatory note to the bill states.