Decision 44 COM 7B.59

Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Ukraine) (C 527bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 7B.92, adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
3. Acknowledges the efforts made by the State Party to implement previous Committee decisions, and requests the State Party to finalize and submit the new Management Plan for the property to the World Heritage Centre, for revision by the Advisory Bodies, prior to formal adoption, by 1 February 2022;
4. Also requests the State Party to maintain the moratorium on Urban Development until the urban planning documentation has been adopted, and control and monitoring is fully in place;
5. Endorses the 2020 Reactive Monitoring mission recommendations, and further requests the State Party to implement them, and in particular to:
   1. Align the name spelling in all relevant documents following the change of the name of the property and establish, as a matter of urgency, the proposed Supervisory Board for the property,
   2. Introduce strict monitoring of the application of the new zone-by-zone protection regime and submit a progress report on its implementation,
   3. Assess the effectiveness of the amendment of the legal framework in prioritizing the protection of attributes, which contribute to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and the setting of the property,
   4. Establish an efficient system to protect from any visual impact on the skyline, the visual fields and vistas from the most characteristic viewpoints and introduce this system in the urban regulation documents, such as Kyiv City Master Plan, updated “Historical and Architectural Key Plan of Kyiv” and the Zoning Plan of Kyiv Central Area,
   5. Finalize “Historical and Architectural Key Plan of Kyiv” and submit it to the World Heritage Centre for review, prior to its adoption,
   6. Include in the Zoning Plans of the Kyiv City Master Plan specific requirement on protection of the property’s setting for all other “district” and “landscape protection” areas,
   7. Establish a comprehensive inventory of tall buildings, including all existing high-rise buildings, as well as the already-issued building permissions related to tall building projects;
6. Reiterates its request to the State Party to undertake an Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for developments within the property and its buffer zone as a timely and appropriate method of assessing the multiple and cumulative impacts of planned developments, taking into account potential impacts on the OUV of the property, in conformity with the ICOMOS Guidelines on HIAs for Cultural World Heritage properties, including reference to 3D visual simulations, prior to allowing any developments to take place; and encourages the State Party to continue to submit, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, detailed information on any proposed development projects within the property, its buffer zone and setting, which may impact the OUV of the property, for review by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies prior to any decisions being taken that could be difficult to reverse;
7. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, 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 46th session.