For over two months, specialists representing different Ukrainian municipalities participated in the “Steps for Specialists. Bringing Property under Municipal Ownership” program organised by U-LEAD with Europe. The programme included online seminars and practical training sessions designed by U-LEAD experts specifically for officials dealing with municipal property.
The training programme covered the entire spectrum of processes, from assigning property to municipal ownership to the registration of title. Viktoriia Kopchak, Adviser on Decentralisation and Local Self-Government of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Kherson Oblast, commented on this:
“Municipal property is not just a resource but an opportunity for municipal development. That is why you should never miss out on a chance to bring such property under municipal ownership. However, our municipalities often face a situation where the property is there but has no legal documents, which, unfortunately, greatly complicates its management. Hence, throughout its course, the training programme as well as the participants focused on studying the legislation regulating the process of bringing property under municipal ownership and on mastering the skills needed to draft the necessary documents so that the property does become a useful asset of the municipality.”
According to the adviser, the training programme consisted of six seminars on specific topics and three practical training sessions that covered all aspects of municipal property management. The ways to bring property under municipal ownership were prominently highlighted. Participants learned to distinguish between primary and secondary methods of acquiring property rights, avoid legal mistakes and meaningfully protect the property interests of the municipality.
One of the key issues discussed was assigning property to municipal ownership: experts clarified the main stages, legal requirements and possible risks. Participants also learned about the civil law grounds for acquiring property, from preparing deeds to preventing their invalidation. The programme also spotlighted specific aspects of acquiring property through alienation (redemption), working with ownerless and abandoned property, as well as procedures for registering title to the property, which provides the municipality with legal protection.
In addition to exploring the legal aspects of bringing property under municipal ownership, the participants also mastered practical tools for resolving urgent issues. The training programme helped them develop skills that will contribute to the effective use of municipal property assets and avoid possible risks when managing them. This was stated by Viktoriia Cheban, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Chernivtsi Oblast.
According to her, the training programme featured the practical training sessions that helped reinforce the theory. For example, the training session “How to Determine the Type of Assistance and Accept It” equipped participants with practical approaches to dealing with humanitarian and technical assistance. In turn, “Ownerless Property and Dead Heritage” offered step-by-step procedures for registering such property as municipal. The final session — “How Can a Municipality Register Title to the Property?” — clarified a straightforward procedure for successful registration. The training ended with a dialogue event to discuss the challenges municipalities face when registering different types of property as municipal property.
“Municipalities must distinguish between methods of acquiring property and be well-versed in the legal nitty-gritty of it. This enables them to protect the interests of the municipality and ensure transparency of processes,” said the head of the Chernivtsi Office.
The participants appreciated that the course was most useful and practical, saying that the knowledge gained would help them act with more confidence. They highlighted the opportunity to improve professional competencies facilitated by high-quality materials and the support of U-LEAD experts.
“This course was yet another step in supporting the development of municipalities and strengthening their ability to effectively acquire and manage assets,” said Viktoriia Cheban.
