The Supreme Court has officially returned the lake in Bryukhovychi to communal ownership.

The Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court has definitively returned the land with a lake in Bryukhovychi to the communal ownership of the Lviv City Council. This plot was illegally developed by the controversial entrepreneur Albina Savchuk, but the prosecution challenged the allocation of the land for construction.

This concerns 4.5 hectares of land under the lake at 20 Kurortna Street. In 2015, the Bryukhovychi Village Council leased this plot for 25 years to the scandalous local entrepreneur Albina Savchuk. She paid 179,000 UAH annually for the land.

However, the land was leased without considering the presence of a water body on it. In this case, it was necessary to conduct bidding and approve the water object passport. Additionally, the lease agreement contradicts the decision of the village council, as part of the land was allocated for the construction of a café, while the 4.5 hectares were designated solely for establishing a recreational area; the village council did not pass any other decisions regarding the change of land use for residential and public construction. Because of this, in 2016, the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office appealed to the court.

On October 4, 2021, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv recognized that the Bryukhovychi Village Council violated the procedure for transferring the land plot for lease, as well as legislation concerning the water body on this plot. Renters built a fence around the lake, although they were supposed to ensure residents' access to the water body. The court declared the decision of the Bryukhovychi Village Council and the lease agreement invalid and ordered Albina Savchuk to return the land plot to communal ownership.

Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court ordered a re-examination of the case, and on September 28, 2023, the Lviv Court of Appeals confirmed the decision of the first instance. On October 31, 2024, the Supreme Court finally declared invalid the decision of the Bryukhovychi Village Council to lease the land with the lake to Albina Savchuk, deemed the lease agreement invalid, and ordered that the plot be restored to its previous state and returned to the communal ownership of the Lviv City Council.

Currently, this plot is developed with hotels and fenced off as a construction site, while Albina Savchuk has registered property rights over the real estate. According to information from the Lviv City Council, the developer built a hotel in the coastal zone without the necessary permits. In February 2024, Albina Savchuk managed to re-register the lease rights to the plot, contrary to court decisions. In March, the Yavoriv District Court arrested this plot within a criminal proceeding.

Albina Savchuk and her family are known for several construction scandals in Bryukhovychi, and it was recently revealed that she gifted a house in Bryukhovychi, valued at over $100,000, to the son of Lviv military commissioner Andrii Dubovyi.