The case of returning the yacht club in Odesa to the state was put on hold

The case on the lease of a part of the Odesa seaport and millions of dollars in debt has been put on hold. The judge who was supposed to consider the application for reconsideration of the decision refused to hear the case.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The court granted judge Serhii Nikitenko 's request to recuse himself from the case concerning a long-standing dispute over the lease of state property in the buildings of the Odesa seaport.

This is a case brought by the Deputy Prosecutor of Odesa Region in the interests of the state and the Regional Office of the State Property Fund in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions against TCF Marine Club LLC (formerlyYacht Club Odesa-2009). The prosecutor's office demanded that the company recover the debt under the lease agreement for state real estate, terminate the agreement itself and oblige the lessee to return the property to the state.

The amount of claims amounted to UAH 1 million 438 thousand 952. Of this amount, over UAH 1 million 162 thousand is the principal debt, and over UAH 276 thousand is the penalty. The property in question is a part of the seaport building complex with a total area of more than two thousand square meters at 6 Primorskaya Street.

By a court decision dated November 21, 2024, the prosecutor's office's claim was fully satisfied. The court ruled to recover the entire amount of the debt and penalties from TCF Marine Club LLC, terminate the lease agreement of September 20, 2005, and order the company to return the leased property to the state. The company was also ordered to pay court costs, totaling more than UAH 200,000, for the proceedings in the first, appellate and cassation instances.

In June 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision, and in September 2025, the Supreme Court closed the cassation proceedings on the complaint of an individual who tried to appeal the decision.

However, on December 11, 2025, the same individual again applied to the Commercial Court of Odesa Region for a review of the decision based on newly discovered circumstances. The case was referred to Judge Serhii Nikitenko. After reviewing the materials, the judge recused himself. He referred to the provisions of the Commercial Procedure Code, which provide for the recusal of a judge in the event of circumstances that may cast doubt on his or her impartiality.

The court granted the recusal request and ruled to transfer the application for review of the decision based on newly discovered circumstances for repeated automated distribution among other judges.

At the end of November, the court ordered the State Property Fund of Ukraine to provide documents in the case of returning theKuyalnyk sanatorium to state ownership. At the same time, the prosecutor's office insists that the subsidiary Pirogov Clinical Sanatorium vacate the premises.

Анна Бальчінос