At the 3rd All-Ukrainian Land Forum in Lviv, participants discussed plans for large-scale residential development in the village of Sokilnyky near the city, on land that had previously been considered as a reserve for the expansion of Lviv airport. Following the public discussion, representatives of the Government and the StateGeoCadastre stated that they would examine the situation regarding these plots.
The Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, appealed to representatives of the central authorities regarding the plots in Sokilnyky. According to him, it concerns dozens of hectares where there are now plans to build high-rise housing, which could significantly change the scale of the settlement and put pressure on infrastructure.
“They somehow obtained dozens of hectares of land that had always been reserved for the development of the airport. And now there is this idea – ‘let’s build high-rise housing here and turn a small village with 9,000 residents into a town of 50,000 residents’. Without water supply, sewerage, schools, social services, healthcare. No one is interested in that,” said Andriy Sadovyi.
The First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Denys Bashlyk, stated during the discussion that the ministry was ready to develop additional tools for better protection of land resources. He stressed that the current situation in the land sector should not create opportunities for abuses, and that existing control mechanisms may be insufficient and therefore need to be strengthened.
The issue of development in Sokilnyky was also commented on by the Head of the StateGeoCadastre, Dmytro Makarenko. After it was raised at the forum, he reported that he had requested additional materials regarding the disputed plots and intended to look into the situation together with law enforcement agencies.
The 3rd All-Ukrainian Land Forum 2026 took place in Lviv on 25 September. The event was organised by the Department of Natural Resources and Construction of the Lviv City Council. The forum brought together around 200 participants – representatives of local communities, state authorities and land sector experts.