Kyiv prosecutors challenge trade unions’ privatization of October Palace

The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office has filed a lawsuit seeking the return of the historic building of the International Center of Culture and Arts (formerly the October Palace) to state ownership.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the claim concerns the building located at 1 Heavenly Hundred Heroes Alley in central Kyiv.

Prosecutors are asking the court to invalidate the ownership certificate issued by Kyiv’s Main Department of Communal Property to the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTU) and to cancel the state registration of the FTU’s ownership of the building complex, which has a total area of 17,597.7 square meters. The property’s former address was 1 Instytutska Street.

The lawsuit argues that the Federation of Trade Unions registered ownership of the palace in violation of the law, as the building is a national cultural heritage monument that cannot be privatized and must remain state property.

Since 2022, the State Bureau of Investigation has been probing the circumstances surrounding the privatization of the October Palace.

The court has scheduled a preparatory hearing in the case for March 2, 2026.

• The International Center of Culture and Arts is one of Kyiv’s most prominent landmarks. It was designed and built in the mid-19th century by architect Vincent Beretti as the Kyiv Institute for Noble Girls. In 1979, the building was granted the status of a national monument of cultural heritage. The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine has owned the property since 2007.