The term "real estate" includes the following:

• Land
• Any capital buildings or structures on it

The main laws governing real estate transactions are the Civil Code, the Commercial Code and the Land Code.

Real estate transactions are also governed by the following specific laws:

• Law of Ukraine On State Registration of Property Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances dated 1 July 2004, with the restated version having legal effect from 13 December 2015, governs the registration of property rights (e.g., ownership, lease rights) to real estate (including land) and encumbrances.
• Law of Ukraine On Land Lease dated 6 October 1998 is a specific law governing lease of land plots.
• Law of Ukraine On Lease of State and Municipal Property dated 3 October 2019 applies to all leases of state or municipal property, as well as to private leases unless the relevant opt-out provision is included in the lease agreement.
• Law of Ukraine On Mortgage dated 5 June 2003 establishes the specific rules and procedure for mortgaging real estate property (including land).

There are currently two real estate registers in Ukraine:

• The State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate ("Register"), in which the ownership, lease and other property rights to land, as well as servitudes and encumbrances over land, are registered
• The State Land Cadaster, in which the technical information about land is recorded (e.g., the area, zoning (designated use), owner and/or user, and restrictions and encumbrances) (The operation of the State Land Cadaster is regulated by the Law of Ukraine On the State Land Cadaster dated 7 July 2011.)

The State Land Cadaster and the Register are electronically connected. Under the law, information contained in one of these registers must be automatically transferred to the other register. However, in practice, such automatic transfer is not always carried out.

The State Land Cadaster is maintained and operated by the State Service for Land Survey, Cartography and Cadaster.

The registration of rights (including ownership and lease rights) to real estate (including land) and encumbrances in the Register is done by a state registrar, which is any of the following:

• A notary

During martial law in Ukraine, only notaries included in a specific list amended from time to time and approved by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, are entitled to carry out state registration.

• A state registrar of the executive body of a village, town or city councils, Kyiv and Sevastopol city state administrations, district state administrations

During martial law in Ukraine, only state registrars are entitled to carry out state registration of rights to real estate that is located outside the territory where the hostilities are taking place or the territory temporarily occupied by Russia.

• State or private executor

A state or private executor may impose or lift an attachment over the real property during an execution proceeding.

If an agreement regarding real estate is subject to notarization, the state registration of the rights arising under the agreement must be performed by a notary on the same date as the notarization of the agreement.

Generally, the registration of property rights to real estate is carried out by a state registrar within a particular region, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Kyiv or Sevastopol where the relevant real estate is located. However, during martial law and one month following its termination or cancellation, the registration of property rights to real estate located within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhya region, Luhansk region, Mykolaiv region, Kharkiv region or Kherson region may be carried out by any state registrar regardless of the location of the real estate.

The following rights to real estate must be registered:

• Ownership and trust ownership
• Special proprietary rights to the objects under construction or future real estate objects (such as future apartments, nonresidential premises, parking lots, etc.)
• Lease, perpetual use right (to the land), servitude, superficies (the right to construct on someone else's land plot) and emphyteusis (the right to use someone else's land plot for agricultural purposes)
• Asset management, operating control, operational management
• Encumbrances, such as prohibition of alienation and/or use, mortgage, tax lien, arrest, owner's requirement to notarially certify any agreement with respect to the real estate, etc.
• Any other property rights and encumbrances, if required under the law

Ownership of land that was acquired before 1 January 2013 is confirmed by the state act on ownership rights to the land plot. Ownership right to the real estate other than land that was acquired before 1 January 2013 is confirmed by the ownership certificate and the extract from the ownership rights register issued by the relevant bureau of technical inventory. Other title documents may also be used to prove ownership over real property, such as notarially certified agreements (sale and purchase agreements, gift agreements, exchange agreements), court decisions, etc.

If ownership of land was acquired after 1 January 2013, the title to the land is confirmed by the extract from the Register in electronic or paper form.

Yes. Any person or legal entity can obtain information about real property from the Register in paper or electronic form.

Ukrainian law recognizes private ownership of real estate. Foreign citizens and legal entities may own real estate. However, foreign individuals, legal entities and joint ventures are prohibited from owning agricultural land in Ukraine, until such restriction is lifted by a referendum. In addition, they may own non-agricultural land only within city limits if they acquire real property or land for commercial development; and beyond city limits if they acquire real property located on targeted land.

The Land Code appears not to grant the right to own any land in Ukraine to Ukrainian companies with 100% foreign investment, stipulating that only Ukrainian legal entities that have been founded by Ukrainian individuals or legal entities may own land in Ukraine.

On a separate note, the following entities are prohibited from acquiring any real property (including land) in Ukraine:

1. The Russian Federation
2. Citizens of the Russian Federation (except those who legally reside in Ukraine)
3. Legal entities incorporated under the laws of the Russian Federation
4. Legal entities incorporated under the laws of Ukraine or any other jurisdiction whose ultimate beneficial owner or member or participant (shareholder) holding 10% share or more in the charter capital thereof is any of those listed in items (1-3) immediately above

The government and local authorities can expropriate real estate in exceptional cases, such as natural disaster, accident, epidemic, epizootic and other extraordinary circumstances, or for public necessity. In such case, the appropriate compensation must be paid in advance (except for expropriation during martial law, when real estate can be expropriated with the compensation ex post).

Real estate owned by the Russian Federation or its residents may be expropriated for public necessity without any compensation.

Real estate can be confiscated without compensation as a sanction for breach of law upon a court decision.

Generally, an interest is held by any of the following means:

• Freehold
• Leasehold
• Easement
• Special property right

Ukrainian law provides for a special property right starting from 2022, which a person may hold with respect to either an object under construction or a separate future real estate object that is a part of the object under construction (for example, future apartments, nonresidential premises, parking lots, etc.). The special property right is transferable and may be sold, mortgaged or otherwise alienated.

In addition, Ukrainian law provides that an interest in land can also be held by any of the following means:

• Perpetual/indefinite time use
• Superficies
• Emphyteusis

The following are the usual structures used in investing in real estate:

• Special purpose vehicle in the form of a limited liability company or a joint-stock company
• Mutual investment institutions (MIIs) (mutual investment funds)
• Investment/joint-activity agreement
• Purchase of shares (participatory interests) in the owner of the real estate (share dealing) or direct purchase of the real estate (asset dealing) by the investor

Due to the above-mentioned changes in the state registration of rights to real estate, the registration of an investor's ownership rights to real estate based on the relevant investment agreement is not sufficiently tested in practice and, therefore, it cannot be presumed that the State Registration Service would refuse to perform such state registration. 

Both debt and equity financing are widely used for real estate transactions in Ukraine.

In construction, financing can also be secured through mutual funds, which are known in Ukraine as MIIs. MIIs accumulate investors' funds to raise profits from investments (e.g., in securities, corporate rights or real estate).

Lending institutions seek to take a pledge or mortgage over the existing assets to secure debt repayment by the company. Without a pledge or mortgage of the existing assets, the banks may consider taking a pledge of the shares of the project company, the holding company or both. Lending institutions may also request other means of securing the debt, for example, suretyship, bank guarantee or pledge of funds at the pledgor's bank account.

Generally, the buyer's lawyer will prepare the initial draft of the sale and purchase agreement.

If a transaction is subject to notarization, a notary may also prepare some transactional documents (such as a spousal consent to the sale or purchase,) and provide a special/notarial blank on which the agreement is printed and executed. Each special/notarial blank has a unique number.

As a rule, a new owner should not be liable for any debts related to the maintenance of the real estate that occurred before the acquisition of the real estate by the new owner (except for the acquisition by way of inheritance). However, the agreement between a previous owner and a new owner may state otherwise.

At the same time, a new owner may bear responsibility in case the acquired land was developed by a previous owner in breach of construction and land laws and regulations that is why due diligence of the target real estate object is highly recommended before the transaction.

In addition, for properties held in freehold, state authorities can require the owner to clean up ecological contamination even if the owner did not cause it. However, the owner may require the previous owner (seller) to compensate for losses/costs caused by such contamination and its removal.

For properties held in leasehold, the tenants are not usually held liable for environmental damage caused by a previous tenant.

A seller (previous owner) will retain liabilities relating to the maintenance of real estate that occurred before the sale of the real estate, unless otherwise provided by the relevant agreement. The seller can also be liable for ecological contamination caused before the disposal of the property.

For properties held in leasehold, the tenant is generally not held liable for a previous tenant's obligations.