On July 12, a roundtable discussion on “Recording War-Inflicted Damage: Regulatory Support, Challenges, Awareness” was held at the Ukrinform press center. Participants: local government leaders, experts, and representatives of the public sector.
The event was held within the framework of the Project “Raising Awareness among Local Governments and Citizens on Recording War-Inflicted Damage”, which is implemented by the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils within the framework of the “Phoenix” project, implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation with the support of the European Union.
“The aggressive war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has entered every Ukrainian family without exception, every territorial community, and today many people have found themselves in a state where their property has been destroyed, everything that has been acquired over the years has been destroyed. So today our task, and that of the Phoenix Project, which is implemented with the support of the Eastern Europe Foundation with the support of the European Union, is to help and tell every citizen of Ukraine who needs help in terms of how to record the destruction and how to correctly and timely draw up documents, as well as to inform and draw up methodological assistance for local self-government bodies, which are elected by the people and which, according to the legislation and regulatory framework, must organize this work on the ground. Also to the executive authorities, which are involved in making decisions on these issues and certainly to everyone who is trying to organize all these issues today, to correctly record and bring closer both the victory of Ukraine and the restoration of Ukraine after the consequences of the aggressive war. Therefore, a team of specialists has gathered here today to help organize high-quality feedback to everyone who needs it,” said Serhiy Chernov, president of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils.
In turn, Olga Voytovych, manager of the Phoenix project, program manager of the Eastern Europe Foundation project, noted that Russia’s full-scale invasion has caused many serious consequences: occupation of territories, mining, mass displacement of people, environmental disasters, but these are only some of the problems that require urgent action today.
“One of these challenges is the destruction of houses and infrastructure. Unfortunately, the war is still ongoing, so new destruction may still occur. According to various data, as of February 24, 2022, more than 150 thousand Ukrainian houses have been destroyed, and about 18 thousand of them are high-rise buildings. Millions of people have faced damage or destruction of property, and many people simply do not know what to do next. Therefore, we consider this project important and are able to support it with a grant. It is aimed at raising awareness among people and local governments, telling them what needs to be done to correctly record the destruction and subsequently receive compensation,” noted Olga Voytovych.
The Head of the Project “Raising Awareness among Local Government Authorities and Citizens on Recording War-Induced Destruction” Andriy Malyar emphasized that today the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils has launched a large-scale project to develop methodological and informational materials on recording the consequences of destruction.
“At this time, we have already developed an Algorithm. This Algorithm streamlines actions to record destroyed or damaged property. This Algorithm was developed by leading lawyers, attorneys with the participation of experts, it was approved by expert institutions. This Algorithm is not dissonant, it complements the entire regulatory and legal framework that has already been created and continues to be created in the state. The main goal of creating this Algorithm is logic and clarity. That is, with this Algorithm we have summarized a very large number of regulatory and legal documents and made the understanding of these documents more accessible and clearer. Secondly, this Algorithm makes it possible to collect evidence very quickly, record and preserve this information in extreme situations that are currently occurring in Ukraine. We believe that the development of such recommendation materials is extremely necessary and very useful. Therefore, I believe that our project will bring great benefits to citizens and Ukraine,” said Andriy Malyar.
During the round table meeting, the president of the NGO “Union of Experts of Ukraine” made a report on the topic: “Expert assessment in the context of recording”. At the beginning of the report, Igor Starodubov noted that valuation is the process of determining the value at the date of valuation according to the appropriate procedure, and expertise is a study based on special knowledge in the field of science, technology and art. The results of these processes are the appraiser’s report and the conclusion of a judicial expert.
“The determination of damage and losses caused to the state by military actions is subject to compensation in only two ways: in the form of reparations and contributions. It should be noted that these two concepts can be used only after the end of the war and the signing of the necessary documents, either a peace agreement or an act of surrender,” explained Igor Starodubov.
He noted that it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of compensation and compensation for losses. After all, compensation for losses may not cover the cost of lost or damaged property, while compensation for losses means full compensation for direct and indirect losses, but in this case, a court procedure is inevitable. Igor Starodubov explained in detail both mechanisms for receiving money for lost or damaged property to the attention of the participants of the event. It should be noted that Igor Starodubov took a direct part in the development and approval of the Algorithm, which is designed to streamline actions to record destroyed or damaged property.
Also during the round table, the Project expert, Konstantin Kovalev, spoke, who informed the attendees about what needs to be done to restore destroyed or damaged property and further develop the community, spoke about the procedure for recording the consequences of aggression, and explained the prerequisites for creating the Algorithm of actions to record destroyed or damaged property.
In addition, expert Yaroslav Belykh and professor of the Yaroslav the Wise National Law University – Oleksandr Serdyuk spoke.
The need for this event and the work begun was also emphasized by the heads of local governments, who were present at the discussion and had the opportunity to ask questions to the experts.
You can watch the video broadcast below: