Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has asked Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky to help ensure the Cabinet of Ministers quickly decides to transfer Hostynyi Dvir on Kontraktova Square to the ownership of Kyiv’s territorial community, the Kyiv city authorities’ website reported on Friday.
"This monument of national significance has been in a state of disrepair for many years and continues to deteriorate. A significant part of the building remains unconserved. The lack of proper waterproofing and the shallow depth of the capital’s metro tunnels beneath it create additional risks both for this notable landmark of Podil and for a key facility of the capital’s transport infrastructure. In his appeal, the Kyiv mayor stressed that further delay could lead to further deterioration of Hostynyi Dvir’s technical condition," the statement said.
The statement said the capital has the necessary financial resources and professional expertise to carry out priority emergency and conservation work, prepare scientific and design documentation, and move on to a comprehensive restoration of Hostynyi Dvir, after which the building is planned to be used as a multifunctional cultural space.
"Dialogue with the government about transferring Hostynyi Dvir to Kyiv has been ongoing since 2017. That was when Kyiv City Council agreed to accept the building free of charge into the capital’s communal property. Since then, the city has repeatedly raised this issue with the government and central executive authorities," the Kyiv City State Administration said.
As has been reported, construction of Hostynyi Dvir on Kontraktova Square in Kyiv began in 1809 and was completed with significant deviations from the original design; the building was subsequently rebuilt several times. Between 1983 and 1990, Hostynyi Dvir was fully rebuilt according to the original design but retained its protected monument status. In 2012, it was stripped of that status, and work began the same year to reconstruct it into a retail and office center with an additional floor and an enclosed inner courtyard, which sparked protests from Kyiv residents and halted the work.
In March 2016, the Kyiv regional branch of the State Property Fund filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv Commercial Court seeking to terminate the lease agreement for the Hostynyi Dvir building, which had been signed with Ukrrestаvrаtsiya Special Scientific Restoration Design and Construction Enterprise PJSC. The lease was signed on March 18, 1994, and under its terms the tenant assumed full responsibility for preserving the architectural monument and maintaining the buildings in proper sanitary, fire-safety and technical condition. The grounds for the lawsuit were the tenant’s failure to fulfill its obligations to preserve the monument and keep it in proper condition, creating a risk of its destruction. The State Property Fund asked the court to order the tenant to return the state-owned real estate — the Hostynyi Dvir building, a local architectural monument with a total area of 9,433 square meters.
The Kyiv Commercial Court denied the Kyiv regional branch of the State Property Fund’s claim to terminate the Hostynyi Dvir lease agreement in November 2016. To protect the state’s interests, the Kyiv prosecutor’s office opened proceedings on the case on its own initiative and appealed the first-instance court’s ruling to the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal.
In November 2017, Kyiv City Council approved a decision to agree to accept, free of charge, into communal ownership a number of cultural and sports facilities on the state’s books, including Hostynyi Dvir. Since then, the building has remained state property and falls under the Culture Ministry’s management, assigned under operational management to the Sofia Kyivska National Reserve, which holds it on its books.
On Jan. 30, 2021, then-Culture and Information Policy Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko appealed to then-Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal regarding the transfer of Hostynyi Dvir onto the ministry’s books. He also announced plans to sign a memorandum between the ministry and the Museum of Contemporary Art NGO to create a cultural hub based at Hostynyi Dvir.
On May 19, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers changed Hostynyi Dvir’s monument category to national significance and assigned it protection number 260097/1. In June of that year, the State Property Fund transferred Hostynyi Dvir to the management of the Culture and Information Policy Ministry, and emergency repair work was due to begin on the site at the end of December.
In August 2023, the Kyiv District Administrative Court upheld the legality of changing Hostynyi Dvir’s status to a monument of national significance.
