According to the Regulations of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, accepted in 1991 by all Russian regions, cultural and historical monuments are to be treated as federal property. However, with time a number of regions, including Moscow, have tried to challenge the ownership of number of such places.

Today the Russian Constitutional Court stopped proceedings regarding Moscow’s claim due to the fact that Moscow disputed ownership of a number of properties and property law is not in the competence of the Constitutional Court. This decision will result in the renewal of hundreds of currently suspended cases regarding historic monuments in the Russian Supreme Court and Arbitration Courts throughout Russia.

“The claim of the Moscow authorities to the Constitutional Court in order to find non-existent contradictions in Russian legislation, showed the intention to reconsider the earlier announced law of division of state property between regions and Federal Government” - says Daniil Petrov, the senior lawyer of EPAM who took part in the court proceedings on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation. “Today’s decision will finally unfreeze a number of cases, concerning the ownership of particular property holdings. The halting of of the proceedings signifies that the regulations of property ownership disputed by Moscow, are still in force and could be applied to all. This fact will be a basis of further work by the Federal Government concerning the protection of federal monuments and reinstatement of those rights in the regions where they have been lost.