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Decision 36 COM 7B.90
Kiev: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Ukraine) (C 527 bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1.   Having examined Document WHC-12/36.COM/7B.Add,

2.   Recalling Decision 35 COM 7B.112, adopted at its 35th session (UNESCO, 2011),

3.   Expresses its grave concern at the degradation of the panorama along the Dnieper river and that the ongoing construction of high-rise buildings could affect the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;

4.   Reiterates its requests to the State Party to impose a moratorium on all high-rise buildings, to implement, in coordination with the City Administration all necessary measures to reduce their adverse effect, by modifying projects and by demolishing constructed levels to an appropriate scale and also to undertake a survey of the overall monastic river landscape as a basis for planning and impact assessment;

5.   Considers that the lack of legal protection and planning mechanisms that would enable the national authorities to exercise control over the property constitute a potential threat for the Outstanding Universal Value of the property and urges the State Party to strengthen protection and planning mechanisms as a matter of urgency, to define a protected historic urban area for central Kyiv and to develop special Area Plans for the property, its buffer zone and its setting, based on a careful analysis of important views, typologies and urban fabric, and to submit these to the World Heritage Centre by 1 February 2013, for review;

6.   Also expresses its grave concern about the continuous lack of a management system and defined mechanisms of coordination for the management of the property, and also urges the State Party to put in place a unified system of management for the property;

7.   Regrets that adequate information on these development proposals and the status of their approval was not provided by the State Party prior to the beginning of the construction works, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of Operational Guidelines and as previously requested and further urges the State Party to ensure that all major projects have adequate impact assessments in line with the ICOMOS Guidance on Heritage Impact Assessment for Cultural World Heritage properties and be then presented to the Committee before any irreversible decisions are made;

8.   Invites the State Party to consider the establishment of a special board, including representatives of the national authorities, the city administration, as well as site managers of the property and other relevant stakeholders, and to review all major development proposals and proposed planning controls and policies that could impact adversely on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property;

9.   Notes the multi-disciplinary study that has been carried out on the Varangian caves, and also reiterates its request to the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre details of the proposed rehabilitation plan for the caves;

10.  Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to the property which will discuss, at the highest decision makers level, the development of a national strategy for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in Ukraine, including all sensitive issues regarding the protection of the historic urban landscape of the city of Kyiv;

11.  Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2013, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 37th session in 2013

Documents
WHC-12/36.COM/19
Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session (Saint-Petersburg, 2012)
Context of Decision
WHC-12/36.COM/7B.Add
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