Ministry of Culture Dismisses Director of Kyiv Cave Monastery

Minister of Culture Mykhailo Kulyniak on January 20 signed an order to dismiss the General Director of the Kyiv Cave National Historic and Cultural Reserve, Maryna Hromova, kommersant.ua reported.

The Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Values of the Ministry of Culture, Andrii Vinhranovskyi, reported to the publication that "the reason for the dismissal was a number of violations registered with regard to the activity of the reserve. The order specifies the early termination of the contract." Maryna Hromova was appointed general director of the reserve in April 2010.

She does not see any "logical explanations" to her dismissal. "We were recently inspected by KRU which found no financial violations. I do not understand what complaints can be made about me, the contract was signed for five years. According to informal information, former deputy Minister of Culture Viktoria Lisnycha desires to take my place. They say, she will be promoted to this position," said the ex-director. However, the ministry representatives did not confirm Maryna Hromova's assumptions.

According to Kommersant Ukraine, the dismissal of Maryna Hromova coincided in time with the submission to the parliament of the bills regarding the Kyiv Cave Monasteries and other historic monuments. On January 12, representatives of the parliamentary majority registered a bill on exclusion of the Kyiv Cave, Pochayiv and Kremenets Monasteries, which are the state property, from the list of objects which are not subject to privatization. It is proposed to include the Cabinet of Ministers in the list of organizations which can establish property rights to such objects. These rights are currently established by the local authorities.

The parliamentary Committee on Culture and Spirituality objected to the mentioned initiative. On January 19, the head of the committee registered in the parliament a bill prohibiting alienation of objects of cultural heritage in favor of religious organizations.

"If the Cabinet of Ministers establishes the right of ownership of the Kyiv Cave Monasery, it will apparently be transferred to the ownership of the Moscow Patriarchate! Such a reverence with respect to UOC-MP before the election shows that the ruling party intends to secure the support of its parishioners at the election," stated Pavlo Movchan, the head of the Subcommittee on Creative Activity, Art, Cultural and Educational and Language Policies.