A community in the Odesa region won a lawsuit against an agricultural enterprise for 1.5 million in debt

In the Odesa region, the Velykoploskivska community successfully sued an agricultural enterprise to recover nearly 1.5 million hryvnias. The company owed the money because it had used a municipally owned plot of land for its property free of charge for over 20 years.

This is stated in the ruling of the Commercial Court of Odesa Oblast.

According to the court’s decision, the community’s claim was granted in full. The agricultural enterprise was ordered to pay 1,493,273.88 hryvnias in debt for the use of the land, as well as 17,919.29 hryvnias in court fees. The court confirmed that the absence of a signed lease agreement does not exempt the property owner from the obligation to pay for the actual use of municipal land.

The defendant’s representatives did not appear at the court hearings and did not provide any objections or evidence of payment. 

The case file indicates that the state-owned enterprise “Agro-Industrial Trading House of the ENLIL Agricultural Enterprise” is the owner of real estate with an area of over 2,000 square meters in the village of Velykoploske, which is located on a 1-hectare plot of communal land. The enterprise has been using this plot since 2001, but never formalized the lease agreement and did not pay land rent to the local budget.

The agricultural firm ignored repeated requests from the village council to formalize the legal relationship. As a result, the Velykoploske Village Council filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court.

Юлія Калабайда