The National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv" reacted to the scandal that caused the state's plans to invest almost 80 million hryvnias in the rescue and restoration of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. This cathedral of the XI century. is one of the most valuable monuments and is considered the main temple of the country.
Now it is a museum, and almost no services are held there. On October 30, it became known that almost 80 million hryvnias will be allocated for its restoration through the Prozorro system.
The name of the tender is "For the restoration of the roof, structural systems of the roof and gilding of the domes of the architectural monument of the 11th century. Sophia Cathedral".
A number of social media users and organizations began to criticize such an initiative to spend money during the war. After all, according to many, it is much more efficient to use these funds to purchase weapons for the needs of the Armed Forces. In the end, the reserve "Sofia Kyivska" reacted to the scandal and explained how and when they plan to spend money there. The main thing is that during the war they want to spend only two million state hryvnias on urgent emergency works. Everything else is at the expense of patrons. The main amount of budget expenditures there is promised already after the end of martial law.
"The current extremely unsatisfactory condition of the roof, structures and domes of the cathedral has become not only a problem for the museum, but also a threat to the preservation of the integrity of the unique monument, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List," the reserve said.
They said that in recent years, the authorities have not responded to requests to save the monument. And this led to the fact that on January 14, 2022, during bad weather, the cross collapsed from the southeastern dome of St. Sophia Cathedral. Thanks to patrons, the cross was returned, but experts pointed out that the state of other crosses and domes is in an emergency, so the problem needs to be solved. Therefore, they urgently ordered a project for the restoration of the roof, structural systems and gilding of the domes of St. Sophia Cathedral. The reserve insists that the domes of the cathedral and the crosses on them may collapse at any time. Therefore, the Ministry of Culture approved the restoration project.
"To date, six crosses have been made at the expense of philanthropic funds, and it is planned to conclude an agreement on the production of the central cross - also at the expense of philanthropists," the reserve insists.
In general, the entire project of restoration and rescue of the monument is designed for five years - until the end of 2028. From the total amount of almost 80 million in 2023, 2 million were allocated from the budget for the installation of crosses bought with private money and the replacement of structural fastening systems on all domes.
"Other works, including gilding, will be carried out after the end of martial law," the reserve assured.
Earlier, after the scandal with the completion of the Holodomor museum complex for half a billion hryvnias, these works were canceled. Canada agreed to finance the construction. In recent months, a public initiative has been underway in Ukraine to redirect money from construction and repair to the needs of the Armed Forces. In various cities, rallies are held demanding that local authorities spend money not on paving stones, but on drones or other weapons.
