Following a lawsuit filed by the Smila District Prosecutor's Office of the Cherkasy Region, the court ordered the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC (MP) to return to state ownership the twelfth-century Assumption (St George's) Cathedral, the Office of the Prosecutor General reports.
It was established that in 2003, the executive committee of the Kaniv City Council granted permission to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) to register ownership of the archaeological site. This later became the basis for the registration of collective ownership.
Prosecutors proved in court that the transfer of the Assumption Cathedral building was illegal. The legislation explicitly prohibits the alienation of state-owned cultural heritage monuments.
The court declared illegal and cancelled the decision of the executive committee of the Kaniv City Council, the certificate of ownership of the building for the UOC (MP), and cancelled the state registration of property rights to the cultural heritage site of national importance.
The estimated value of the Assumption Cathedral building is over UAH 8.5 million.
The court has now granted the claim filed by the district prosecutor's office in the interests of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine against the executive committee of the Kaniv City Council and the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC (MP).