The effective and coordinated work of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has resulted in a court decision restoring state ownership of a historic building in central Lviv that had been unlawfully alienated.
The case concerns a cultural heritage site – the building of the former Institute of Banking (previously the Queen Jadwiga Gymnasium), located at 9 Taras Shevchenko Avenue in Lviv.
The NACP uncovered the illegal disposal of an architectural monument during an inspection of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES).
The Agency established that, contrary to legal requirements prohibiting the alienation of educational property, officials of the Ministry of Education and Science unlawfully approved the privatisation of the building, after which it was groundlessly transferred to the State Scientific Institution “Institute of Education Content Modernisation.”
During the inspection, the NACP also found that the decision to privatise the building had been made in the interests of individuals connected to the leadership of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
The Agency forwarded the collected materials to the Office of the Prosecutor General to take representative measures. Risks of abuse by Ministry officials in the transfer of state-owned property, particularly under martial law, are detailed in the NACP inspection report published on the Agency’s official website: https://surl.li/pnmwry
Following consideration of the case, the court supported the prosecution’s position and ruled that the historic building be returned to state ownership.
“Detecting violations of anti-corruption legislation, exposing unlawful schemes and hidden corruption risks that create preconditions for the loss of state property, remains one of the NACP’s priorities. At the same time, alongside stopping existing schemes and offences, the Agency systematically works to prevent their occurrence in the future by eliminating the causes and conditions that facilitate them,” said Oleksandr Ampleiev, Head of the Department for Monitoring and Control over the Implementation of Legislation on Conflict of Interest and Corruption Prevention at the NACP.
Background. In accordance with Part 3 of Article 80 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education,” fixed assets, working capital, and other property of state and municipal educational institutions are not subject to withdrawal, except in cases established by law.
