Local self-government has undergone significant changes under martial law. However, it is important to maintain the principles of transparency and accountability now. Without this publicity, it is virtually impossible to gain trust, resist the war and postwar period, and strengthen democratic processes in the country. 

One of the indicators of local government performance is the transparency of municipal property management. The property and land resources owned by territorial communities allow them to generate revenue for the local budget, create opportunities for developing services according to community needs, and increase the number of resources to help the army. These resources can also be used to help IDPs and relocated businesses to make cities and communities more stable and able to respond to challenges effectively.

Transparency in municipal property

Last-year city transparency study by Transparent Cities program identified five indicators that cities performed the least during the full-scale war.

Two of them are related to ensuring access to data on land, housing, and municipal property:

• publication of land lease agreements; 
• informing about free municipal housing. 

The overwhelming majority — more than 80% of the involved 70 cities — paid the least attention to the implementation of these indicators. 

It is important to emphasize that a low level of transparency in cities does not necessarily indicate lack of integrity or corruption risks. The low performance of the indicators may also be due to wartime limitations, ranging from the limit of public information to a lack of resources to fulfill all indicators, in particular, due to the need to respond to current challenges. An example is the closure of the Open Data Portal in February 2022, where municipalities, among other things, published data on community-owned housing and leased land plots.

At the same time, the housing policy sphere had some of the worst implementation rates in previous years. According to local government officials, this is one of the most difficult areas to implement. 

How to increase transparency

It is possible to increase the transparency of land use and municipal property management under martial law. Here are a few steps to get started:

• publish information on residential premises owned by the community;
• the number of residential premises leased or otherwise used; 
• the number of unused (vacant) residential premises that can be transferred for use; 
• the number of rooms in dormitories.

According to a study of the cities’ transparency during the war in 2022, 85% of city councils did not publish the above information. 

• introduce an electronic service for apartment registration;
• publish registers of land lease agreements: 84% of city councils did not publish this information;
• publish relevant and complete information on all advertising media/structures (date of issuance and name of the advertiser, validity of the outdoor advertising permit, type, size, address/geographic location of the advertising media): 77% of city councils did not implement this indicator; 
• publish a list of land plots for development: 77% of city councils did not implement this indicator;
• publish and update the list of municipally owned real estate in a machine-readable format: 70% of city councils did not publish registers of such objects;
• publish lists of municipally owned real estate to be leased - 5% of city councils did not publish such information; 
• publish each land decision separately in the draft agenda, not as a “package”; ensure the availability of information about the subject of land relations and the land plot itself.

The proposed steps are among the criteria used to assess the city councils’ transparency level in 2022. 

Publishing open data

Publishing open data will add even more transparency to these areas. According to The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 835, the datasets to be published in the form of open data in municipal property and land use include:

• a list of municipal property objects;
• information about the advertising media (data on the location of the advertising media, its type and size, the name of the outdoor advertiser and their telephone number, e-mail, the date of issuance of the permit and its validity period, the number and date of the agreement if the location of the advertising media is municipally owned);
• data on the accessibility of buildings for people with disabilities and other low-mobility groups;
• planned and actual payment rates under municipal property lease agreements, placement of temporary structures, and placement of advertising media;
• a list of municipal property that have been leased or otherwise used (with data on the terms of the lease or other use) before the expiration of the term established by clause 6 of the section Final and Transitional Provisions of the Law of Ukraine Lease of State and Municipal Property;
• a list of municipal property objects that may be leased (until the date specified in section 6, clause 1, subclause 1 of Final and Transitional Provisions of the Law of Ukraine on Lease of State and Municipal Property);
• a list of municipally owned land plots offered for transfer to the ownership of individuals and legal entities or for use;
• a list of lessees with whom municipal land lease agreements have been concluded.

To determine whether it is appropriate to publish certain information, the Law of Ukraine Access to Public Information provides for a three-part test, which requires:

• determining the type of information: whether it is confidential, insider, or secret;
• analyzing whether the requested information relates to the interests of national security, territorial integrity, or public order, whether there are possible riots or crimes if access to the requested information is granted, or whether the restriction is in the interests of public health;
• understanding whether the harm from disclosure of such information outweighs the public interest in obtaining it. 

Publication of open data sets on municipal property and land use will help to move away from the practice of total closure of registers. This will help improve the efficiency of leasing/selling municipal property and minimize corruption risks. At the same time, this practice will ensure that citizens’ right to access public information is respected and will promote their awareness of the disposal of municipal property/assets.

Moreover, in a separate material, the Transparent Cities program team answered the most frequently asked questions from local communities about land use during the war. The information is useful for reference, although it would not hurt to check the relevance of the legal acts referred to by the experts in 2022 separately: some provisions may have changed since then and some regulatory acts may have appeared in a new version. In particular, the material contains explanations on:

• the procedure for renewal of agricultural land lease agreements whose lease term has expired;
• the possibility of leasing land to citizens (not sole proprietors) for commercial agricultural production;
• the possibility during martial law to grant permission to change the designated purpose of a privately owned land plot;
• the possibility of changing the designated purpose of the land plot “other agricultural purpose” (for real estate) to another category, for example, transportation;
• the need to register the right to lease a land plot in the State Register for municipal property lease agreements concluded for 1 year;
• the possibility for a third party to produce technical documentation at its expense.

The program’s experts are open to cooperation with Ukrainian city councils to implement best transparency practices in cities. Representatives of municipalities can contact transparent-cities@ti-ukraine.org for advice.