Klitschko promises to take land from UOC after adoption of anti-church law

Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said that he supports an electronic petition to the Kyiv City Council to deprive the UOC of the right to use land plots, but the city authorities will take them away after the adoption of a law banning religious organizations with administrative centers in the aggressor country.

“Given the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation and the ongoing large-scale armed aggression on the territory of Ukraine, as well as the current public request, I support the electronic petition No. 11929 ‘Revoke the right to permanent use of land plots on which the religious buildings of the Moscow Patriarchate (MP, ROC, etc.) are located’,” the mayor said.

He noted that the city authorities still have no legal grounds for terminating contracts with the UOC on land use. According to Klitschko, the Kyiv City Council twice asked the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Security and Defense Council to immediately adopt legislative acts on the prohibition of religious organizations associated with the Russian Federation, and on the termination of lease agreements or the use of property "with religious organizations that do not comply with the requirements of the laws of Ukraine," but so far such acts are not adopted.

Klitschko said that the Kyiv City Council is pinning its hopes on the government bill No. 8371, aimed at banning the activities of the UOC. After its adoption, “landlords of communal property of the territorial community of the city of Kyiv will take measures to terminate lease agreements with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the basis of a new legislative norm.”

The mayor also reported that the City Council is conducting an inventory of land plots leased or used by religious organizations whose activities “are aimed at glorification, propaganda, justification and denial of the fact of military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, numerous war crimes committed by the aggressor country, actions and /or inaction of persons who committed/are committing military aggression against Ukraine, inciting religious hatred and posing a threat to the national security of Ukraine.”

“The work on the inventory of land plots leased and/or used by such organizations is currently going on. Decisions to refuse to provide land plots to these religious organizations are submitted for consideration by the Kyiv City Council, and the Kyiv City Council is considering them,” wrote Vitaliy Klitschko.

As the UOJ reported, earlier the deputies of the Kyiv City Council deplored the activities of the UOC, accusing it of a number of state crimes, and forbade the Church to hold any events outside the temples. In addition, they instructed KSCA specialized departments to check communal property and land used by religious organizations.