In the case concerning the preservation of Protasov Yar, the Supreme Court of Ukraine has decided to retain the Kyiv site’s status as a landscape reserve, in line with the decision of the capital’s city council. All attempts by the property developer to revoke the site’s protected status came to nothing following the Supreme Court of Ukraine’s ruling, handed down on Wednesday, 22 July.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The country’s highest court dismissed the proceedings brought by a private company. The firm had sought to have the decision to establish the ‘Protasiv Yar’ nature reserve of local significance partially overturned.
The final word
The developer had attempted to deprive local residents of their recreational area through the courts at various levels. The courts of first instance and appeal initially dismissed the claim.
The company sought to challenge the previous rulings in the Supreme Court, but withdrew its claims even before the cassation appeal was heard. The Supreme Court accepted the withdrawal of the claim and closed the case.
“Therefore, the decision to create the landscape reserve ‘Protasiv Yar’ remains in effect. Currently, all legal disputes initiated by business entities to annul its protected status have been resolved,” the Office of the Prosecutor General emphasized.
EcoPolitic reported that at the end of June 2026, the Supreme Court sided with civic activists and the Kyiv City Council, confirming the status of the landscape reserve for the 16.5 ha section of Protasiv Yar. However, the defenders of the recreational area were concerned at the time that developers might file appeals in international courts.
The Kyiv City Council decided to create the Protasiv Yar landscape reserve in 2022. However, the city authorities made a regrettable mistake, as environmentalists pointed out, by not withdrawing the plots from private lease in advance. This became an argument for the developer, which helped strip the protected status from 16.5 ha of land through a ruling by the Northern Appellate Commercial Court.
The struggle for Protasiv Yar has lasted for years. The Kyiv City Council approved the sale of plots to LLC “Protasiv Yar” for the construction of a residential complex back in 2000. In 2019, the district court permitted the development. The Kyiv City State Administration appealed this decision, and the local community staged protests.
