Construction boom continues at the Lavra

The Day has already published reports on the destruction of historic architectural landmarks in Kyiv, particularly those at the Kyivan Cave Monastery. A few days ago Serhii Krolevets, director general of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve, sent an appeal to the Ukrainian authorities, requesting that all construction work underway on the territory of the Lavra be halted immediately, UNIAN reports. According to Krolevets, there is an urgent need to draft a general plan of such development to avoid ‘on-the-spot’ management, which is observed today. He is convinced that without such a plan, this piece of historic heritage “not only faces the threat of being removed from the UNESCO list, it will be destroyed.”

Krolevets reported that the new construction is taking place at the Lavra without coordination with the administration of the preserve and does not meet international standards. He emphasized that some buildings that were still standing when the preserve was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List are disappearing. He added that the Ukrainian government is unable to ensure a proper level of protection for cultural landmarks that are on the UNESCO list.