9 March 2026 saw another hearing at the Western Court of Appeal in Lviv in the case concerning a 0.66-hectare plot of land in the city centre — behind the Opera House, on the site of the former Dobrobut market. Lviv City Council is seeking to annul the registration of property rights held by the limited liability company “Joint Ukrainian-Austrian Enterprise Halinvest” over this land, as well as to cancel the ownership title to the Dobrobut shopping centre at 3 Stara Street.
Deputy Mayor Lyubomyr Zubach recalled that the roots of this fraud stretch back to the 1990s. At that time, Lviv City Council became a co-founder of the joint venture Halinvest, transferring to it a substantial volume of assets, land-use rights, and other property. In return, the investor undertook to build a five-star hotel in the city centre. The hotel never materialised, and the city council’s stake in the enterprise shrank from 55% to 0%.
“In more recent history, a temporary market operated there — and I stress, temporary. Temporary structures cannot be registered as owned property; nevertheless, ownership rights were formalised over that property, those square metres. We consider this unlawful, and it is the subject of the challenge in these proceedings. Equally, a permanent land-use right was established over the plot which, in our view, was done on the basis of forged documents. The old state deed that was issued at the time could not have contained the number and date that our opponents presented in court — because that day was a public holiday, so it would have been impossible to issue it. This is an obvious forgery. I very much hope that this criminal case will be seen through to the end and that those responsible will be brought to justice.” — Lyubomyr Zubach, Deputy Mayor of Lviv.
The city authorities have also announced an architectural competition for the site. Once the legal proceedings have concluded, plans are in place to create a modern, barrier-free public space featuring a city-wide recreational park of 1.4 hectares, a high-quality pedestrian zone, and comfortable public transport stops. The project envisages two phases: first, a comprehensive improvement of Prince Yaroslav Osmomysl Square, followed by the redevelopment of the Dobrobut market site, Syanska Street, and the surrounding green spaces. Syanska Street is to be pedestrianised in order to unite the currently fragmented green areas into a single cohesive space.
“Lviv City Council will defend the interests of the community to the very end. We believe that this shameful practice from the 1990s must be brought to a stop. Our goal is to ensure that the rule of law and a legal culture prevail in this country. This is a straightforward case: there were assets and corporate rights of which the city was stripped. What more needs to be proved? We simply need to draw a line under this and give the city’s community some peace.” — Lyubomyr Zubach.
Lviv City Council had previously approached the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General in connection with the Dobrobut case, and also filed a complaint with the High Council of Justice regarding a ruling by Judge Oksana Dolinska of the Commercial Court of Lviv Oblast. The former market site lies within a UNESCO buffer zone, close to the Opera House and the Old Market Square, and is of considerable historical significance — associated in particular with the city’s historic Jewish quarter and its princely era.
A video recording of the court hearing is available at the following link: watch the video