Decision : 35 COM 7B.112
Kiev: Saint-Sophia Cathedral, Kiev Pechersk Lavra and Related Monastic Buildings (Ukraine) (C 527 bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-11/35.COM/7B,

2. Recalling Decision 34 COM 7B.103, adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010),

3. Notes the progress made with the adoption of protection laws since the 2009 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission and urges the State Party to define a protected historic urban area for central Kiev as soon as possible;

4. Also urges the State Party to strengthen the regulatory and practical mechanisms to ensure the satisfactory implementation of the above laws;

5. Also notes progress with the development of a Master Plan for Kiev and requests the State Party to submit it once approved;

6. Regrets that no management plan has been provided, as requested by the Committee, and that currently there are no plans to produce one, and further urges the State Party to address this issue as a matter of urgency;

7. Further notes the increasing contradictions between management in the two parts of the property, as highlighted by the mission, and also requests the State Party to put in place a unified system of management for the property as soon as possible;

8. Welcomes the important improvement in the relations between the national and religious authorities, commends the State Party and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for the organisation of the International Seminar which resulted in the adoption of the Kiev Statement on protection of religious properties within the World Heritage Convention and invites it to actively participate in the development of a thematic paper on religious and sacred heritage;

9. Expresses its great concern at the degradation of the panorama along the Dnieper river, and reiterates its request to the State Party to introduce a moratorium on tall buildings until a survey has been conducted of the overall monastic river landscape;

10. Notes furthermore that the issue regarding urban development pressure is now under special control of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, that the City Administration has been charged to inspect all disputed constructions in the historical part of the city from the point of view of their compliance with acting legislation, and that a special commission composed by all stakeholders concerned is being created;

11. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit the final revised plans for all ongoing projects to the World Heritage Centre as well as all information and documents on any major development, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;

12. Notes moreover the multi-disciplinary study that has been carried out on the Varangian caves, and also reiterates its requests to the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre details of the proposed rehabilitation plan for the caves;

13. Further 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.