The following are the usual documents for the acquisition of real property:

• Sale and purchase agreement

The main document in any real estate acquisition is normally the sale and purchase agreement between the buyer and the seller, which must be executed before a notary. This agreement should contain all necessary business terms for the transaction, including a description of the real estate, purchase price and any other special terms. These agreements also typically contain representations and warranties by the seller.

The conclusion of the sale and purchase agreement can be preceded by the conclusion of a preliminary sale and purchase agreement before a notary ("Preliminary Agreement"). Under the Preliminary Agreement, the parties would agree to enter into the sale and purchase agreement before a certain date (which cannot be later than one year after the execution of the Preliminary Agreement unless both parties are private individuals) upon fulfillment of the conditions precedent. The Preliminary Agreement should include all the main terms of the future sale and purchase agreement.

For the duration of martial law, only those notaries included in the list approved by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine ("List") may certify certain real estate related agreements. To be included in the List, the notaries must apply to the Notarial Chamber of Ukraine or directly to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and undergo a special procedure for verifying their compliance with certain requirements.

• Due diligence report

Before the conclusion of the sale and purchase agreement (within the term of the Preliminary Agreement), the buyer would, usually through a lawyer, conduct a legal due diligence investigation of the property being acquired. This includes verification of the title documents, previous transfers of the property, zoning, title searches and a review of any leases and encumbrances of the property.

An independent technical due diligence investigation is often recommended, particularly for property for development.

The seller would normally warrant and represent the following to the buyer:

• That the seller is the sole registered owner of the property and there are no encumbrances over and disputes concerning the property
• That there are no pending, contingent or outstanding debts and obligations regarding the property
• That the property is free of any defects, any ecological pollution, and there are no breaches of the ecological legislation with respect to the property
• That the seller has all power and authority to enter into the sale and purchase agreement

However, there is little practice in Ukraine relating to the consequences when a warranty and/or representation appears to be untrue. Thus, a buyer is generally recommended to conduct an extensive due diligence investigation of the property to be acquired.

Parties are legally bound as soon as they execute the sale and purchase agreement. Under Ukrainian law, a sale and purchase agreement for real estate should be notarized and the ownership rights to the acquired real estate are subject to state registration.

The title is deemed transferred upon the state registration of the ownership rights of the buyer in the Register, which is performed by the notary certifying the sale and purchase agreement.

The buyer usually pays for the following:

• The buyer's agent's fees
• The costs of the due diligence investigation
• Notarial fees
• Registration fees
• Pension fund duty

The seller usually pays for the following:

• The seller's agent's fees
• Income tax on any profit made on the sale of the real estate (unless statutory exemptions apply)
• Military duty (unless statutory exemptions apply)
• VAT (unless statutory exemptions apply)