Dovzhenko Film Studio Under Threat: Prosecutors Uncover Attempt to Develop Hectare of State Land
On the territory of a legendary film studio, there are attempts to allocate a plot of land for office construction. The Prosecutor's Office qualifies this as an attempt to embezzle state property.
By Tetiana Suchkova-Ladik
April 7, 2026 · 1 min read
A land plot of approximately one hectare has been discovered on the territory of the state enterprise "National Film Studio of Artistic Films named after Alexander Dovzhenko," which is being attempted to be re-registered for the construction of office buildings. The prosecutor's office announced this, launching an appropriate investigation.
The scheme is standard for such cases: state land that legally belongs to a cultural enterprise receives a new purpose designation — and effectively comes out of state control. One hectare in Kyiv, even without accounting for future construction, is worth tens of millions of hryvnias.
Dovzhenko Film Studio is not merely a cultural institution. It is one of the few preserved large production facilities for cinema in Ukraine, the infrastructure of which could theoretically become the foundation for reviving the domestic film industry after the war. The loss of even part of the territory would mean irreversible limitations for any such project.
The prosecutor's office qualifies the actions as an attempt to seize state property. Details about who specifically initiated the change of purpose designation for the plot and at what stage the documentation process is, are not being disclosed at present — the investigation is ongoing.
It is noteworthy that similar attempts on the territory of cultural and industrial state enterprises are recorded regularly — and most often at the stage when documents are already partially processed. This raises a specific question: does the state have systematic monitoring of the intended use of land at state enterprises — or does the prosecutor's office intervene only when the scheme is already nearly complete?
