Over the past 10 years, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has ineffectively managed the preservation and maintenance of architectural monuments in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, and is making untimely management decisions. Expenditure analysis also points to ineffective use of public funds.
This is stated in the report of the Accounts Chamber.
During the analyzed period, 388.8 million UAH were allocated for repair and restoration work, but some of it was used ineffectively or not used at all, which entailed financial consequences for the state budget.
According to the report, 388.8 million UAH were allocated for repair and restoration work of the reserve: 166.8 million UAH. – was allocated from the state budget to the monastery for landslide and emergency work, and another 214.4 million UAH. (Of which UAH 40.8 million was sponsorship) - for repair and restoration work.
However, almost 12 million of these funds were not used effectively. In particular, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services, which financed work on the territory of the monastery, improperly allocated 86.3 million UAH in 2011-2013, since, according to the approved criteria, the monastery could not be a recipient of budget funds.
During the analysis carried out by specialists from the Accounts Chamber, it was established that the Ministry of Culture and the administration of the reserve committed a number of violations in real estate matters. Specifically, the rights of permanent use of land plots of approximately 27 hectares were not determined, seven cultural heritage sites of the reserve were not included in the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine, and balancing of nine historical objects was not carried out.
Moreover, during the analysis period, the Ministry of Culture did not make appropriate changes to the plan for organizing the territory of the reserve, which created risks of non-preservation of architectural monuments of national and local significance.
According to the report, the monastery, ignoring the norms established by law, transferred the basement of one of the historical buildings to the use of the Kupol restaurant, which violates the intended purpose of the premises and does not comply with the procedures established by law for the use of state property.
The Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Monuments also violated the terms of the contract and subleases 27% of the premises without the appropriate permits, while owing the reserve for electrical energy, which creates an additional financial burden on the state budget.
Illegal new buildings on the territory of the Lavra
Due to ineffective control over the implementation of repair and construction work on the territory of the Lower Lavra, the monastery did not care about preserving the authenticity of the cultural objects that it used, and carried out the completion/restructuring of 18 state-owned objects without approved project documentation and permission from the cultural heritage protection authority.
The analysis also revealed that 36 buildings and structures were built unauthorized on the territory of the Lower Lavra, including 15 capital ones and without the necessary permits and approvals. This has led to violations in preserving the authenticity of cultural objects.
All illegal new buildings have nothing to do with the everyday life of clergy, but, on the contrary, have commercial or economic significance. In addition to construction, the leadership of the UOC MP monastery, which was located on the territory of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, was also involved in demolition.
Termination of the agreement between the UOC and the reserve
Let us remind you that the National Reserve “Kievo-Pechersk Lavra” terminated the lease agreement with the existing monastery as part of the UOC MP on March 29. The church appealed this decision in court, and its representatives refused to leave the Lavra.
After lengthy squabbles , fights, and blocking of the Lavra by representatives of the UOC-PM, the Ministry of Culture commission for the acceptance and transfer of state property began work in the temple and other premises near it.
The UOC MP did not dismiss 79 state property objects in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. Now they will be forced to do this through the courts.
On August 9, 2023, the Economic Court of the city of Kiev recognized as legal the termination of the agreement concluded between the UOC monastery and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra nature reserve.
