Special working group to develop algorithm for returning state, private property after de-occupation of Crimea – Vereschuk

KYIV. Feb 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk, who is also the Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, said that a specially created working group will work on the algorithm for the return of public and private property after the de-occupation of Crimea.

“According to her, the process of returning the de-occupied Crimea to the political, legal, socio-economic, and cultural field of Ukraine will differ from how it happened in the liberated territories of Kharkiv and Kherson,” the ministry’s press service said.

It is primarily due to the duration of the period of occupation.

“Ukrainian laws did not work in Crimea for nine years. During this time, the occupiers managed to nationalize part of Ukrainian property. There are cases when Crimeans who left the peninsula after the occupation lost it according to Russian laws. Someone could not inherit property that turned out to be in the property registers of the aggressor country,” the ministry said.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, many other issues are being discussed in the working group, which includes lawyers, representatives of central executive authorities, and the public sector.

“First of all, two categories are considered – state and private property. State property will be returned to the ownership of the state and local governments. But the issue of private property needs to be discussed. After all, over nine years, the sham judicial authorities in Crimea have made more than 1.2 million decisions on it. And something will also need to be done with this,” Vereschuk said.