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NGOs urge Zelensky to veto bill restricting access to real estate registers

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Several non-governmental organizations have called on President Volodymyr Zelensky to veto a bill restricting public access to real estate registers, the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported on Aug. 26.

The NGOs argue in a joint statement that the restrictions will be a major obstacle to exposing corruption and journalistic investigations.

The bill was approved by parliament on Aug. 21 with 263 votes in favor, 3 against, and 24 abstentions. To become law, it needs to be signed by the president.

The legislation seeks to ban public access to registers linked to national security and defense during martial law and for one year after it ends.

It would also ban access to information on the location and cadastral number of real estate owned by all legal entities.

The NGOs demand that access to information be restricted not for all legal entities, but only for defense industry enterprises.

"Corrupt properties are often registered to legal entities associated with an official's inner circle. Now, all of this is done with limited access for us," Martyna Bohuslavets, head of the Anti-Corruption Center MEZHA, , said on Facebook on Aug. 22.

Among others, the NGOs that signed the statement include the Anti-Corruption HQ, the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, and the Closed Data Conference.

Officials accused of using war as pretext for hiding ill-gotten wealth
As Ukrainian soldiers are defending their homeland on the front line, officials in the rear are accused of using the war as a pretext for hiding their wealth. They are able to do so because one of Ukraine’s main anti-corruption tools, the asset declaration system, has been effectively eliminated. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian authorities passed a law to allow officials not to file electronic asset declarations and shut down public access to all p
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Yuliia Taradiuk

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Yuliia Taradiuk is a Ukrainian reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She has been working with Lutsk-based misto.media, telling stories of Ukrainian fighters for the "All are gone to the front" project. She has experience as a freelance culture reporter, and a background in urbanism and activism, working for multiple Ukrainian NGOs. Yuliia holds B.A. degree in English language and literature from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, she studied in Germany and Lithuania.

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