Decision 41 COM 7B.53

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

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.6, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Acknowledges the measures taken by the State Party to address urban development issues, notably through amendments to legislation and ongoing revisions to the Master Plan enhancing cultural heritage protection of the property;
4. Notes the conclusions and recommendations of the March 2017 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission, notably that, while the general state of conservation of the property remains satisfactory, the impact of inappropriate town planning, lack of regulations and overall strategic vision pose a threat to its visual integrity and thus to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
5. Requests the State Party to:
   1. Finalize, adopt and implement the Management Pan for the property as a matter of priority,
   2. Prepare an inventory of existing licensed constructions, and particularly approved tall buildings, in the protected area,
   3. Carry out comprehensive Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) including 3D visual simulations of all potential projects to ensure the impacts on the property and its visual integrity can be considered and avoided,
   4. Impose a legal ban on all previously delivered and planned permits for constructions in the buffer zone of the property and its vicinity until these HIAs have been reviewed by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies,
   5. Facilitate urgent finalization and adoption of the Master Plan of Kyiv, which should incorporate an Urban Development Concept, and the Zoning Plan of Kyiv Central,
   6. Impose stringent regulations to prohibit high rise buildings within the buffer zone, maintain the height of buildings undergoing renovation,
   7. Adopt and implement the amended Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Cultural Heritage including a legal definition of World Heritage;
6. Also requests the State Party to address and resolve weaknesses in management observed by previous missions, by ensuring institutionalised coordination and cooperation in management of the property within the framework of the Management Plan;
7. Recommends the State Party to develop a long term programme applying the principles and requirements established in the Nara Document of Authenticity (1994) and the Riga Charter (2000) prior to further planned reconstruction and rehabilitation works at the Monastery of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra;
8. Also recommends monitoring mechanisms to survey stability of structures be installed at all monuments at risk;
9. Further requests the State Party to implement previous Committee decisions and the recommendations of the 2017 mission;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2018, 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 43rd session in 2019, with a view to considering, in the case of confirmation of the ascertained or potential danger to Outstanding Universal Value, the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.