The Prosecutor's Office Lost a Court Case Over a Dam in the Odesa Region Due to an Error in the Complaint

The Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office lost its appeal in the case regarding the return of a dam and spillway—owned by the private company “Alkalia”—to the Marazliivska community in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi District. The court confirmed that the hydroengineering structures’ status as private property was unlawful but dismissed the lawsuit due to a legally incorrect choice of legal remedy.

This is stated in the ruling of the Southwestern Commercial Court of Appeals dated October 26.

The court agreed with the prosecution’s main argument that hydraulic structures located on water fund lands cannot be independent objects of private ownership. At the same time, the panel of judges determined that the prosecutors had committed a procedural error in the complaint itself.

Instead of demanding the “termination of ownership rights,” the prosecutor’s office should have filed a claim to revoke the state registration of ownership rights and close the corresponding section in the State Register of Real Rights. Since the chosen legal remedy was deemed inappropriate, the court overturned the lower court’s decision and dismissed the claim in its entirety. 

The structures at issue in the court case are located on water fund lands within the territory of the Marazliivska Village Council. They are integral parts of a guardhouse used for fisheries purposes. Ownership of this property was initially registered under the “Pridunaiska Niva” cooperative and later transferred to the private enterprise “Alkalia.”

Since the Marazliivka Village Council failed to take measures to protect the community’s property, the deputy head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit. Prosecutors emphasized that the dam and spillway are integral parts of the water fund lands and, therefore, by law, can only be held in state or communal ownership.

In May 2025, the Odesa Regional Commercial Court granted the prosecutor’s office’s claim and ruled that the registration of ownership rights in the name of the private enterprise was unlawful. However, “Alkalia” appealed this decision to a higher court. The company argued that the property has been used for its intended purpose since 1997 and does not constitute a dam in the classical sense.

Юлія Калабайда