Decision 39 COM 7B.85

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

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.33, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Takes note of the measures taken by the State Party to implement the previous decisions of the World Heritage Committee;
4. Acknowledges the steps taken by the State Party to develop legal measures for the protection of the property including the moratorium on construction projects in the buffer zone and urges the State Party to adopt all relevant legal documents, regulations and measures specified in its previous decisions to support the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and prevent any potential threat to the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
5. Requests the State Party to reduce the height of non-conforming and dissonant buildings in the buffer zone of the property which threaten and/or have negative impact on the OUV of the property, by means of demolishing the already constructed stories to the level of neighbouring historical buildings in accordance with its previous decisions;
6. Expresses its concern about the reconstruction of the lost buildings undertaken at the property that can potentially erode its conditions of authenticity and requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, technical details, including Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs), for all proposed projects that may threaten the OUV of the property;
7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, an electronic and printed copy of the draft management plan of the property revised, in conformity with the ICOMOS recommendations, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
8. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.