Zelensky closed real estate registers: how it will affect business and anti-corruption control
18 September 21:50
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Law No. 11533, which restricts access to public electronic registers under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the official website of the President.
This is the law “On Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine and Some Other Laws of Ukraine on the Peculiarities of Providing Information from Public Electronic Registers Owned by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and Some Other Public Electronic Registers” of August 29, 2024.
The law has already entered into force, and some of its provisions will come into effect in two months. The government is to develop a procedure for the technical implementation of the restrictions.
The document provides for significant changes in the approach to the publicity of data on real estate and legal entities. Although the authors of the law call it a step towards strengthening cybersecurity, experts and journalists warn of risks to transparency and corruption control.
What exactly is changing
The key innovation is the restriction of access to the exact addresses of real estate objects. From now on, only the region, district, and settlement will be allowed to see in open data, without a specific street and house number.
In addition, access to cadastral numbers of land plots owned by legal entities will be closed for the duration of martial law and for a year after its termination. In the registers, legal entities will be able to indicate a contact address, which is not necessarily the actual address. The law also provides for the possibility to restrict access to data on intellectual property objects if they are important for national security or defense.
The law restricting access to public real estate registers: arguments of the authorities
The initiators of the changes explain that the law is aimed at protecting national security, in particular, the defense industry. In their opinion, the public domain should not contain information that the enemy can use for reconnaissance or preparation of attacks.
The law allows the Ministry of Justice to quickly restrict the dissemination of sensitive information without waiting for long bureaucratic procedures. This is especially important in times of war, when information leaks can be very costly.
The position of critics
However, representatives of civil society and investigative journalists emphasize that the law makes it much more difficult to control the property of officials and politicians. Public registries are what allowed the media to expose cases of hidden assets, fictitious transactions, or illicit enrichment.
Anti-corruption activists warn that the ability to indicate a “conditional” address for legal entities creates loopholes for fraud, complicates the verification of counterparties, and increases the risk of raider attacks. In addition, the closure of cadastral numbers makes it almost impossible to monitor large land transactions.
Balance between security and transparency
Experts believe that the government’s decision should be as balanced as possible. Restrictions may be justified for defense companies, critical infrastructure, and objects of strategic importance. However, the extension of such restrictions to all categories of property creates a risk of excessive secrecy of state data.
The issue of access to classified information by journalists and civil society organizations is particularly concerning. If the mechanism for obtaining data is too complicated, it will effectively block independent control over officials.
The Cabinet of Ministers should develop a procedure for restricting access to data within the next two months. The balance between security interests and citizens’ right to information will depend on how clear and transparent the procedures are.
For businesses and legal entities, this means the need to adapt internal compliance and counterparty verification procedures to the new conditions. For the media and civil society organizations, it is a challenge to maintain the effectiveness of anti-corruption control in the context of partially closed registers.
Дивіться нас у YouTube: важливі теми – без цензури
In fact, Ukraine is facing a dilemma: protecting sensitive data from the enemy without destroying the transparency system, which was one of the key reforms after 2014. How the government will find a balance between these goals will become clear after the regulations are issued.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
