In Chernivtsi, UOC parish suing authorities over church on hospital grounds

The UOC Church of the Great Martyr Panteleimon in Chernivtsi. Photo: molbuk.ua

In Chernivtsi, the religious community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is trying to legally defend its right to St. Panteleimon's Church, located on the grounds of the former city hospital. According to the resource molbuk.ua, the city authorities terminated the lease agreement and demand that the building be returned to municipal ownership.

Parish representatives claim that the church was built with funds from the faithful and belongs to the community by right. Monk Luke (Krulik) noted that more than half a million hryvnias were spent on constructing the church. He emphasized that the original agreements with the hospital (from 2008 and 2011) secured an “inalienable right to carry out church activities”. However, at the end of 2021, the community was notified that the lease agreement was being terminated and was required to return the premises.

Disagreeing with this decision, the UOC parish appealed to the commercial court, which ultimately confirmed the legality of the lease termination and imposed a penalty of over 135,000 hryvnias.

Lesia Nastas, head of the municipal property leasing department, stated that the decision to terminate the lease was made on April 27, 2023. According to her, since the premises were not vacated voluntarily, the authorities turned to the court for forced recovery. “It [the religious organization] must leave the premises and return the property to the community,” the official said. She also added that the organization could apply for a new lease through the “Prozorro” system if it provides proof of non-affiliation with Moscow, which, according to her, has not been done.

As the UOJ reported, in Chernivtsi, OCU provocateurs came to the UOC cathedral “to hold a prayer service”.

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