Court bans city council from transferring former Jewish cemetery site to private firm

The Odesa District Administrative Court has banned the Odesa City Council from granting permission to Ekatel Auto Limited Liability Company to develop a land management project for a plot of more than 1 hectare at 4B Krasnov Street.

This was announced during a meeting of the Commission on Spatial Development, Land Management and Regulation of Land Relations by the Chairman of the Commission Serhiy Strashnyi.

He read out the relevant court ruling, which thus granted the petition of the Primary Organization of Military and Civilian UAV Pilots of the All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Defenders of Ukraine, Athletes and Workers of the Spheres.

The public organization demanded to suspend the implementation of the decision of the city council, which was adopted on November 29, 2023. Due to the court's ruling, this decision was not submitted for consideration at the July 2 session. It should be noted that the meeting of the commission took place 40 minutes before the start of the session.

The organization insists that there may be Jewish burials there. According to the Dumskaya newspaper, the company is Ekatel Auto, which is affiliated with the Hephaestus construction holding.

In February 2024, members of the Odesa City Council at the land commission supported the allocation of 68 acres of land at 2-B Krasova Street for the placement and maintenance of road transport and road facilities to Nikas PE for a 20-year lease.

At a session of the City Council on November 23, 2023, the Servant of the People faction opposed the allocation of land opposite this site at 4B Krasnov Street to Ekatel Auto LLC for the construction and maintenance of parking lots. A representative of Ekatel Auto LLC, Serhiy Bohatyrev, noted at the time that the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine had made 15 pits, and the results of the study showed that there were no burials there: "The conclusion about the absence of cultural values and burials is clear and unambiguous."

Кирило Бойко