In the Lviv region, a court ruled that the rental of almost 33 hectares was illegal and returned the land to the Trostyanets community.
The господар court of the Lviv region ruled that contracts for the lease of two plots of land, totaling almost 33 hectares, which the farmer obtained without an auction in 2014 for the agricultural enterprise "Dnipro," are invalid. The farmer was ordered to return the land to the Trostyanets community in the Stryi district, and the registration of the lease right was cancelled. The prosecutor's office has proven that the farmer had previously obtained more than 347 hectares of state land without an auction; the decision can be appealed.
The господар court of the Lviv region fully satisfied the prosecutor's lawsuit and declared the contracts for the lease of two land plots outside the settlement of the former Stilska community invalid. In March 2014, they were transferred to a farmer by the Main Department of the State Land Service in the Lviv region, and in June of the same year, contracts for a lease of 20 years were concluded with him.
The area of the plots is 20,8271 hectares and 11,8493 hectares, totaling almost 33 hectares. The court ordered the farmer and the agricultural enterprise "Dnystrovske" to return both plots to the Trostyanets village council in the Stryi district, and to cancel the registration of the lease agreement. A fine of 4,8 thousand hryvnias was imposed on each respondent. The decision can be appealed.
According to the prosecutor's conclusion, at the time of the transfer of these plots, the farmer had already received 18 other plots for operating a farm with a total area of over 347 hectares. Therefore, there was no reason to grant him more land without a land auction. The court also established that the management of the State Land Agency did not conduct a proper check and ignored the fact that he had already received land without an auction.
The agricultural enterprise "Dnipro," disputed the return of the land plots, arguing that they had obtained the land legally, and the prosecutor's office had not provided sufficient grounds for depriving them of the right to use it. The court rejected these arguments, explaining that the preferential procedure was intended for the creation of the agricultural enterprise, and additional plots should have been leased through auctions.
This is not the first time such a decision has been made: previously, the court ordered this same farmer and the "Dnister" agricultural enterprise to return plots of land totaling almost 28 hectares and almost 49 hectares to the communities.