“In 2005 we received a letter from the contender. We analyzed the letter jointly with the Lutsk city council members, informing Mr Lubart that we are not ready to take any decision on his claim.”

“Mr Lubart, however, filed the case in court. Simultaneously, we found a document in the archives on the marriage between Count Lubart and a Ukrainian countess. One of the terms of this marriage contract was that the Lutsk castle can be inherited only by immediate descendants of Lubart and his wife. Their marriage, however, left no off-springs.”

“We knew then that the alleged Kharkiv descendant claim was illegal, and Ukrainian courts based their rulings on the marriage contract.”

“As far as I know, Mr Lubart turned the case to the European Court, but I am convinced it is a hopeless attempt,” deputy head of the Volyn oblast council added.