Kyiv city authorities cannot sell the premises to the foreign governments and the international organization, since the Ukrainian law envisages that municipal premises can be sold only via auctions. The municipal company "General Direction of the Kyiv City Council for Services to Foreign Offices" has said the resolution of the Kyiv city council to hold auctions on privatization of premises occupied by 13 foreign embassies and the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine as a necessary legal move to give an opportunity to foreign states and the international organization to purchase these premises, according to the press service of the Kyiv city state administration.

According to Pavlo Kryvonos, the director general of the municipal company, the premises of embassies of France, Austria, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Bulgaria, Romania, Egypt, Algeria, Poland and the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine will be put up for sale at auctions following the requests to the Kyiv city council from the governments of the said states and the international organization who want to purchase the premises.

He said the Kyiv city authorities cannot sell the premises to the foreign governments and the international organization, since the Ukrainian law envisages that municipal premises can be sold only via auctions.

"This is the reason why the premises were put up for the auction. The embassies have a priority right to purchase the premises," the press service quoted Kryvonos as saying.

On behalf of Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi the press service assures that no premises of the diplomatic missions will be put up for the auction without a prior consent and discussion with the embassies.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the faction of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko in the Kyiv city council has announced a resolution of the council dated 17 September 2009 on privatization of premises of 13 embassies and the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.

The Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko believes that new owners of the premises will have a right to remove the embassies from the premises.