First court session on the lawsuit of Lavra vs Reserve held in Kyiv

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: putidorogi

On July 19, 2023, the first court hearing was held at the Commercial Court of Kyiv city on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’s lawsuit against the Reserve to invalidate the Reserve’s refusal to lease the monastery, reported Lavra’s lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman.

“It is symbolic that exactly 10 years ago, on July 19, 2013, an Agreement was signed between the Reserve and the Monastery, which today is the subject of consideration,” the lawyer wrote.

During the court session, representatives of the monastery pointed to the grounds for satisfying the claims of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and urged the court to recognize the right of the monastery to use the shrine.

“The parties asked each other questions in order to finally resolve all the differences, which, as it turned out, are enough in the case,” the Lavra’s lawyer said.

Also today, the court examined the results of inspections, which allegedly established violations by the monastery of the terms of the contract.

Representatives of the monastery drew the attention of the court to who exactly established that the property of the monastery is kept in poor condition: the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Economics, the SBU, the DESS, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

That is, “by persons who do not have a special technical education, but somehow established violations of building codes,” the monastery’s lawyer underscored.

Nikita Chekman paid special attention to the fact that during the court session questions arose, "which the counterparts cannot answer, since they do not have special knowledge in the technical field."

As a result, the court gave the parties the opportunity to prepare for the judicial debate and adjourned the court session to August 9, 2023, 11:00. The meeting will take place in the premises of the Kyiv Economic Court.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the court refused to order a review of the conclusions of the Ministry of Culture about "violations" in the Lavra.

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