LESHCHENKO & PARTNERS successfully defend client’s lease rights in land dispute with prosecutor’s office

The team of LESHCHENKO & PARTNERS successfully defended a client’s right to lease a land plot in a dispute initiated by the prosecutor’s office.

On 6 February 2026, the Commercial Court of Odesa Region rendered its judgment in a case filed by the Deputy Head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, acting in the interests of the Kuyalnytska Village Council, against an individual entrepreneur – a client of LESHCHENKO & PARTNERS.

The court fully dismissed the claim, in which the prosecutor’s office sought to cancel the state registration of the lease right to a water fund land plot and to return the land to the territorial community.

The client’s interests were represented by attorney, partner, and Head of the Odesa Office of LESHCHENKO & PARTNERS, Andrii Leshchenko.

The full text of the judgment is available at:
https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/134082634

Background of the Case

Our client, an individual entrepreneur, has been lawfully using a land plot together with a water body on the Yahorlyk River in Odesa Region since 2010.

For more than 15 years, the entrepreneur openly conducted business activities, systematically paid lease fees, and duly fulfilled all contractual obligations.

In 2025, the prosecutor’s office filed a claim alleging that the state registration of the lease agreement had been carried out in violation of procedural requirements and, therefore, that the lease right had not validly arisen.

In essence, the claim aimed at depriving a bona fide lessee of the land plot due to potential procedural deficiencies allegedly committed by state authorities more than 15 years ago.

Legal Position of the Defence

The legal strategy of LESHCHENKO & PARTNERS was built upon the principles of:

• legal certainty;

• bona fide acquisition of rights;

• good governance;

• the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

A key argument relied on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of
“Odesa Sandwich Company LLC v. Ukraine”, previously handled by the firm’s team.

In that judgment, the Court emphasized:

“The risk of any mistake made by a state authority must be borne by the State itself, and such mistakes must not be remedied at the expense of other individuals.”

The circumstances of both cases were substantially identical: a business entity had, for a long period, acted in good faith and relied on the lawfulness of actions taken by public authorities, while the State subsequently attempted to revisit the legal relationship on the basis of its own procedural shortcomings.

The defence demonstrated that the consequences of possible errors by state authorities cannot be imposed on an entrepreneur who acted in good faith and properly fulfilled contractual obligations.

Court’s Findings

Having examined the case materials and the arguments of the parties, the court concluded that there were no grounds to satisfy the prosecutor’s claim and upheld the client’s right to use the land plot.

In its judgment, the court reaffirmed the principle that stable property relations may not be interfered with in the absence of proven violations on the part of the lessee.

The prosecutor’s claim was dismissed in full.

Significance of the Decision for Business

This case is important for shaping modern judicial practice in the protection of leasehold and property rights in Ukraine.

The court effectively confirmed that:

• the State may not retrospectively revise established legal relationships;

• procedural mistakes of public authorities must not be corrected at the expense of bona fide businesses;

• the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights is an effective instrument for protecting property rights in commercial disputes.

LESHCHENKO & PARTNERS continue to consistently apply international standards of property rights protection and business interests before Ukrainian national courts.