A commission of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has completed an inspection of the preservation of state property of the Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra in the Ternopil Region, which is used by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). Violations were found during the inspections.
This is evidenced by the commission's report, which was published by Ukrinform on July 27.
"The Commission found that the user did not comply with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Cultural Heritage", in particular, paragraph 1 of Article 26 on the mandatory obtaining of permits for conservation, restoration, museumification, repair, and adaptation of monuments of national importance. Also, the requirements of Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Cultural Heritage" regarding the impossibility of altering monuments were not met. The user carried out unauthorized repairs, extensions, changes in structural elements, external and internal finishing, and restoration of monuments without the appropriate permits and scientific and design documentation, which led to improper maintenance of monuments and the loss of authentic elements of the monuments' finishing, and increased structural load," the report says.
In particular, the commission found an extension of the vestibule to the main entrance to the Assumption Cathedral, an attic-type extension on the third floor of the Monastery Cells monument, and an extension to the Gatehouse complex, which is used as a dining room for pilgrims.
In addition, members of the Commission recorded the renewal and/or cleaning of murals and icons, the replacement of the panicle in the Assumption Cathedral, changes in murals and repair work in the galleries and the Cave Church of St. Job and the Church of St. Anthony and Theodosius, and other violations.
"The commission's inspection of the state of preservation of iconography revealed the absence of a significant number of icons recorded in the passports of cultural heritage monuments and the inventory list compiled on the basis of passports for works of art during the inventory of icons and works of art in 1967," the report says.
On the territory of the Pochayiv Holy Dormition Lavra, in addition to the six objects owned by the state, other real estate was found that is not included in the agreement on free use.
In addition, during the inspection of the monastery's territory, specialists of the regional department of the State Emergency Service found violations of fire safety requirements. They also noted the failure to implement a number of measures to eliminate violations identified during a routine inspection in 2019 and recorded in the relevant order. According to the Main Department of the State Emergency Service in Ternopil Oblast, the user has been "systematically and deliberately" failing to comply with fire safety requirements since 2004.
The MCIP Commission recommended that the Kremenets-Pochayiv Reserve take an inventory of the six objects that were transferred to the Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra for free use by December 1 and raise the issue of terminating the contract in court for failure to comply with the basic requirements for the preservation of monuments of national importance - state-owned objects and their territories.
The acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy, Rostyslav Karandieiev, instructed the commission to check the state of preservation of the real estate of the Kremenets-Pochayiv State Historical and Architectural Reserve, which was transferred to the UOC-MP in December 2003 for free use.