Twice as much Money Allocated to Renovate Parliament Building than Renowned Kyiv Churches

To renovate the building of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, 35 million UAH was allotted in the state budget for 2010, whereas 15 million UAH was allocated to renovate and restore St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Andrew’s Church, and that money is from the fund to prepare for Euro 2012.

According to the head of the Commission on Culture and Tourism in the Kyiv City Council, Oleksandr Bryhinets, this demonstrates the true attitude of the Ukrainian government to culture. “For the cosmetic renovation of the parliament building two times as much money was allocated than that which was allocated to renovate and restore some the most famous monuments of culture: one of which Ukraine wants to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and the other which has almost made it to the ‘blacklist’ of this organization precisely because of the negligence of officials at all levels.”

As reports Nightly News, commenting on the fact that the money allocated for the churches was only found in the Euro 2012 fund, the head of the commission says that as odd as it may sound, these churches may be saved thanks to football, for the government did not plan to finance these monuments.

The deputy of the Kyiv City Council points out that the total deterioration of monuments of Ukraine is, first of all, the fault of the government for it does not engage in work to save these monuments. To renovate a monument in critical condition always costs more than timely, regular work on a monument. The extra money needed to renovate could have been used to save 2-3 other monuments.