Prisons from Lviv and Sokal will be moved to Mykolaiv district even before Euro-2012

This was announced by the deputy head of the Lviv Regional State Administration, Zinon Kotyk, who came today to speak on a telephone hotline with residents of the region.

“It is inexpedient to keep such facilities, like pre-trial detention centres and penal colonies, on the territory of the city, since the possibility of prisoners escaping cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, buildings and towers do not adorn the city's appearance. Therefore, a programme is currently being considered to move these institutions from the city to the territory of the Mykolaiv district,” reported Zinon Kotyk.

According to him, the Lviv penal colonies No. 30 and No. 48, as well as the pre-trial detention centre No. 19, are still planned to be moved outside the city limits even before Euro-2012. Currently, the project is being reviewed in the Department of Corrections, however, the agreement for a plot of land with an area of almost 40 hectares is already in place. They plan to build a prison complex, where they will transport approximately 5,000 prisoners from the Lviv colonies and the Sokal penal colony No. 47 (those serving sentences for particularly grave crimes and life-sentenced prisoners), as well as the Lviv pre-trial detention centre No. 19.

To implement the project, according to the deputy head of the LODA, state and city budget funds will be attracted, and they are also counting on the support of international organisations. However, they plan to receive the main amount of funding, 70–80% of the project's cost, from the sale of plots of land and property where the penal colonies are currently located. The total area of the territory of the pre-trial detention centre and two colonies in Lviv is over 25.5 hectares of land.

“If an investor is found who is ready to design and build the complex, he could buy the plots in Lviv, which are valuable in view of the hosting of Euro-2012 in the city. If the investor takes on all obligations regarding the project, we, in turn, will transfer the plots into his ownership,” said Zinon Kotyk.