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.
The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Documents WHC-12/36.COM/8B and WHC-12/36.COM/INF.8B1,
2. Defers the examination of the proposed extension of Kiev: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, to include St. Cyril’s and St. Andrew’s Churches, Ukraine, to the World Heritage List, in order to allow the State Party, with the advice of ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre, if requested, to:
a) Clarify the situation with regard to Saint Cyril’s Church boundaries,
b) Consider creating a buffer zone northeast of Saint Andrew’s Church, on the hillside below the building,
c) Confirm that the right of ownership of the extended property was transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 2011,
d) Confirm that the ministerial responsibility over the body in charge of the extended property, the Saint Sophia Conservation Area, was transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 2011,
e) Clearly indicate the legal protection in place and the management system responsible for its application, and include the conservation schedule,
f) Put an end to the absence of control over construction work in the buffer zone, guarantee under the new draft Law on Town Planning Regulations that all new projects in the buffer zone will be examined by the Ministry of Culture, which will have a suspensive power in the event of a threat to the environmental and landscape values of the property’s sites,
g) Implement a unified Management Plan for the properties, buffer zones, and landscape protection of the Orthodox Metropolate of Kiev,
h) Stop the project to rebuild a bell tower at Saint Cyril’s Church,
i) Implement forthwith a moratorium on the restructuring of Andreevsky Spusk street, alongside Saint Andrew’s Church, in order to manage better the visual impacts on the site;
3. Considers that any revised nomination should be examined by a mission to the site;
4. Recommends the State Party give consideration to the following:
a) Continuing the research and monitoring efforts for the unstable subsoil at both churches,
b) Confirming the possibility for rapid intervention of emergency services in the event of a fire at Saint Cyril’s Church,
c) Settling the issue of the abundant use of tapers and candles that are blackening and damaging the already fragile painted and decorative schemes,
d) Regulating automobile traffic and parking within the perimeter of Saint Andrew’s Church,
e) Improving tourist facilities outside these two churches, especially Saint Andrew’s, where the environmental quality of the church is threatened (booths, parking, etc.),
f) Ensuring the property’s overarching authority, the Saint Sophia National Protection Area, involves the other parties in the property’s management, notably the Orthodox Churches and the municipality of Kiev, as well as the local population.
Draft Decision: 36 COM 7B.90
The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-12/36.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 35COM 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 tor 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, with a view to considering, in the absence of substantial progress, to inscribe the property on the List of the World Heritage in Danger.
