During the First World War, the Russian government confiscated, seized, or sequestered a large part of the property belonging to the subjects of the Central Powers in the Russian Empire. After the collapse of the empire and the formation of the Ukrainian state, its leadership faced the question of returning the seized property to its former owners. The article examines the position of the governments of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Ukrainian State regarding the ways to resolve this issue. The republican and hetman governments of Ukraine (1918) viewed differently the post-war restoration of property rights of the subjects of the Central Powers, which were limited, violated or canceled during the First World War. The socialists leading the Ukrainian People’s Republic considered it necessary to return lost property to foreign citizens, with the exception of what was subject to the legislation on property socialization, namely, land plots «with their waters, above-ground and underground wealth» (i. e., mines, reservoirs, forests etc.). The Hetman government, upholding the principle of the inviolability of property rights and canceling socialization, intended to restore foreign property in Ukraine on the basis it had existed before the start of the World War, and took initial practical steps for this process. Institutions managing the confiscated property were ordered to stop all measures aimed at the liquidation or sale of the confiscated property. They were not allowed to conclude agreements on use or transfer of such property. They had to provide reports on the management of the property (especially on expenses and profits) at the request of the owners or their representatives acting solely for the benefit of the owner. In September 1918, the draft law on institutions designed to consider appeals from foreign subjects regarding the return of confiscated property («Regulations on District Commissions in the Matter of Restoration of Property Rights of German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turkish Subjects») was completed. According to this document, it was planned to create four commissions – in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Katerynoslav. Their composition was to be made up of representatives of the judicial authorities, the State Control, the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade and Industry, and Finance. The overthrow of the Hetman government at the end of 1918 prevented these initiatives from being fully implemented.