Odesa has submitted a Nomination dossier for the inscription of the Historical center on the UNESCO List under the accelerated procedure.
A tripartite meeting for the submission of the Nomination dossier of Odesa with the participation of Odesa Mayor Gennadii Trukhanov, Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko and First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Head of the Ukrainian National Commission on UNESCO Emine Dzhaparova took place today in Kyiv.
Odesa has been waiting for this event for many years, because at one time the object was included in the Tentative List of UNESCO. However, since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the issue of preparing the nomination dossier has become even more urgent.
Therefore, a number of Ukrainian and international experts worked with and helped Odesa to complete all the necessary documentation. The submitted nomination file passed all the necessary examinations.
The Minister of Culture and Information Policy emphasized that Odesa deserved to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under an accelerated procedure, because the city is under constant threat of russian shelling.
“I want to express my gratitude to all those who participated in the compilation of the dossier: the City Hall, colleagues from the Ministry, and other specialists. To everyone who made efforts so that the dossier could be submitted to UNESCO right now for a decision to inscribe Odesa on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Why is this important now? Because it’s fair! Odesa deserves it. This is the first. And secondly, we want to preserve our heritage, which is currently being destroyed. In addition, we strive to draw the attention of the whole world to the crimes committed by the russian federation,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko.
“I am glad to be here at this landmark event. We have prepared and present the nomination dossier of our city, which will be submitted to Paris in the nearest future. This is a very big job, which was performed by many specialists. We hope that the right decision will be made, and Odesa will finally be inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO!” – noted during the meeting the mayor of Odesa, Gennadii Trukhanov.
“We made today’s ceremony as convenient as possible. Because the standard procedure involves the following algorithm: the mayor submits the nomination file to the Minister of Culture and Information Policy, who, in turn, submits it to the UNESCO Commission. Instead, we have now shortened this bureaucratic path as much as possible,” said Emine Dzhaparova, Head of the Ukrainian National Commission on UNESCO.
She also emphasized that the National Commission for UNESCO will as quickly as possible transfer the documents for consideration by the World Heritage Committee under the “urgent” procedure.
“We believe that culture is another front of our struggle,” added Emine Dzhaparova.
It should be reminded that in order to preserve the traditional nature of the environment, by Resolution No. 878 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 26, 2001, the city of Odesa was included in the List of Historical Inhabited Places of Ukraine.
The submission of the Historical center of the port city of Odesa is the result of a long-term project that began in 2001 with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 26, 2001 No. 878 regarding the inclusion of the city of Odesa in the List of Historical Inhabited Places of Ukraine. In 2009, the site was added to the Tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage. As part of a special program aimed at preparing the historical heritage of Odesa, the urban environment and buildings located in the heart of its historical center, for inclusion in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites and the development of the corresponding nomination dossier, a number of complex measures for the repair and reconstruction of engineering networks were carried out, roofs and roofing structures. Repair and restoration works were carried out on the facades of cultural heritage objects, as well as complex restoration of buildings and landscaping objects within the Central Historical Area of the city of Odesa. The development of the nomination dossier within the framework of the Program was completed at the end of 2018. In 2019, the materials were submitted to the Ukrainian National Committee of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) for recommendations and to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine for consideration and approval.
In 2022, at the time of the final review of the dossier and development of the Management Plan, the scenario completely changed, Odesa found itself at the center of a military conflict due to the military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine.
