Compensation for damage caused by war

The armed aggression of the Russian Federation has caused and continues to cause enormous damage to our economy every day. According to the data of the Ministry of Territorial and Community Development in Ukraine, more than 116,000 residential buildings have already been damaged or completely destroyed. For the first time, the question of reparation for the damage caused by the war arose before Ukrainians more than 8 years ago – in 2014, after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the beginning of the war in the East of Ukraine. At that time, Ukrainian legislation did not provide for any effective mechanisms to protect the property interests of people who lost their homes. What has changed in 2022? The lawyers of “PRIKHODKO & PARTNERS” will provide answers to these questions.

The legal basis of the problem

Unfortunately, our country has not yet developed a legislative framework that would determine the amount and how exactly compensation for destroyed and damaged housing to citizens was carried out. On April 1, 2022, a draft law entitled “On compensation for damage and destruction of certain categories of real estate objects as a result of hostilities, acts of terrorism, sabotage caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation” was adopted in the first reading. Until the adoption of the draft Law, only the procedure was in effect, according to which citizens could report to local authorities that their home was damaged or destroyed. Thus, at this moment we are only talking about the creation of a system of accounting for housing that was affected by the aggression of the Russian Federation. You can submit information about housing damage through the state portal “Diya”. The Register of Destroyed and Damaged Property will store all information about housing and other structures that were destroyed as a result of the Russian invasion.

Methods of compensation for damage caused by war

Compensation for damage caused by military actions is carried out in two ways: contribution and reparation.

Contribution – confiscation of property or forced payments made by the victorious state in a war.

Reparation – one of the forms of material responsibility, which occurs for a subject of international law for damages caused to another subject of international law as a result of an offense (which directly includes war). The nature and amount of reparations depends on the damage caused.

The application of contributions or reparations is possible only after the end of the war, after the relevant documents have been signed – the Act of Surrender or a peace agreement. The party that lost the war pays for compensation for damages and restoration of territories.

Damage compensation mechanism

The compensation mechanism for destroyed or damaged housing consists of the following components:

• Application submission

You can submit an application for compensation of losses remotely through the “Action” application, at the Central Administrative Service Center (Center for the provision of administrative services) or through a notary public.

• Compilation of the Property Survey Act by a special commission (it consists of representatives of local self-government and the military-civilian administration).
• Entering data into the Register of destroyed and damaged property.

The Register includes information related not only to damaged housing, but also to damaged objects of communal and state property. We are also talking about energy, transport and other infrastructure.

• Compensation.

Payment of compensation is a type of social assistance provided by the state. In this case, the state, using its own funds, pays a predetermined amount of money to a certain category of victims.

Importantly:

If we are talking about destroyed or damaged property, it is more appropriate to use the term compensation for the damage caused. However, we emphasize once again that currently there are no laws in Ukrainian legislation that regulate the procedure for compensation for damage caused by war.

The specialists of “PRIKHODKO & PARTNERS” will help you to correctly file an application for compensation for material damage and actually get compensation. Sign up for a consultation!