Ukraine begins compensating citizens with housing destroyed because of war
This year, unfortunately, nothing will change for this house with the help of the state
Ukraine has begun compensating citizens whose homes were destroyed due to the war.
According to the statement by the Minister of Community Development, Territories, and Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, starting December 27, every Ukrainian who has already received a housing certificate can reserve funds for buying a house or apartment using the "Diia" government app, Rubryka reports.
What's the problem?
As of the end of May 2023, over 8% of Ukraine's housing stock has been damaged during the hostilities, according to Kyiv School of Economics estimates. The full-scale war has caused direct losses amounting to over $54 billion. A total of 18,600 buildings were affected, with 13,200 being damaged and 5,400 completely destroyed. An additional 7 billion in losses resulted from destroyed and damaged private homes.
Ukraine started the second stage of implementing the eRestoration state program in early August. Owners of destroyed housing can apply through the "Diia" app to receive compensation for purchasing a new apartment or house.
The amounts of payments are also determined by local commissions. The application is submitted through the "Diia" app.
"A person receives a certificate with which they can choose new housing. The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Digital Transformation will communicate all the details of the mechanism additionally and in detail. It's important that we now cover assistance to all people whose housing has been affected by the war in one way or another," said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The highest number of applications for damaged property came from the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions.
What's the solution?
Compensation payments to citizens whose homes were destroyed due to the war started in Ukraine on December 27. Any Ukrainian who has received a housing certificate can now reserve funds for buying a house or apartment using the "Diia" app.
Currently, 1,636 certificates, totaling over ₴3 billion, have been issued. Compensation will be made within the available funds on the non-budget account of the Ministry of Infrastructure until its closure.
How does it work?
Reserving funds means that the system is informed about your intention to purchase housing. Within five working days, confirmation will be received in the "Diia" app that the funds are reserved. Afterward, the person has 30 days to finalize the purchase agreement for new housing. If they fail to do so within this time, you will need to reapply for a fund reservation in "Diia."
"Before concluding the agreement to purchase housing with the certificate, you need to terminate the ownership right to the destroyed real estate object. This can be done with a notary who has the authority of a state registrar or at the Administrative Services Centers," said the minister.
According to Minister Kubrakov, the applicant can purchase any apartment or house — new or resale, in any region of the country — regardless of the location of the destroyed property.
"You can pay the difference if the chosen property's value is higher than the certificate's value. Multiple certificates can be combined to purchase one property. If the property's value is lower than the certificate's nominal value, you can receive the difference after the restitution procedure from Russia is initiated," said Kubrakov.
Kubrakov mentioned that in January-February 2024, there will be an opportunity for those who want to build a new house independently on their own land to use the certificate for purchasing building materials and contracting works.
The experimental project for inspecting housing in temporarily occupied territories (TOT) is ongoing. The first results are expected in the first quarter and could be scaled to other TOTs.
"Kindly understand potential technical glitches – the system is unique, interacts with several existing registers, and maximally streamlines bureaucratic procedures. However, to prevent abuse, complete simplification, as in the case of state financial aid for repairs, is currently complicated," said Oleksandr Kubrakov.
