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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called on the government to transfer Hostynnyi Dvir on Kontraktova Square to the capital’s municipal ownership as soon as possible. According to the mayor, this is necessary to carry out urgent anti-emergency work and subsequent restoration of the monument. This was written on Facebook by civic activist Dmytro Petrov, who shared Klitschko’s statement.
According to Klitschko, the city currently has no legal ability to fully fund work on the site because Hostynnyi Dvir is state-owned. The mayor said that Kyiv has the necessary financial resources and professional expertise to carry out priority works, conservation, preparation of design documentation, and comprehensive restoration. After restoration, the building is planned to be used as a multifunctional cultural space.
How they wanted to turn Hostynnyi Dvir into a shopping center
Hostynnyi Dvir on Kontraktova Square was built in 1809. In 1994 the building was leased to the private enterprise Ukrrestavratsiya. Under the terms of the contract, the lessee was responsible for preserving the monument and maintaining its proper technical condition. However, later the State Property Fund recorded violations of the lease terms and deterioration of the building’s condition.
In 2011 the Cabinet of Ministers removed Hostynnyi Dvir from the list of architectural monuments under state protection. In 2012 the Kyiv City Council leased the plot of land under the building to Ukrrestavratsiya for reconstruction of Hostynnyi Dvir into a retail-office center with a guest parking area. That same year President Viktor Yanukovych removed the object from the list of cultural heritage monuments not subject to privatization.
The project envisaged significant alterations to the building: the inner courtyard was to be covered with a glass roof, the attic rebuilt into a third floor, and the outer galleries glazed. In effect, it was about creating a retail-office complex inside a historic building.
Mass protests began against the reconstruction. In 2013 the building suffered a fire, after which it was left without a roof, and later without windows and much of its finish.
How the prosecutor’s office achieved return of the monument to the state
After long court disputes, the State Property Fund applied to the Commercial Court of Kyiv with a lawsuit to terminate the lease agreement and return the building to the state. The trial court in 2016 dismissed the claim.
The Kyiv prosecutor’s office appealed that decision, citing the need to protect the state’s interests. In February 2018 the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal terminated the lease agreement and ordered Ukrrestavratsiya to return Hostynnyi Dvir to the state.
In May 2018 the Supreme Court left that decision in force. Thus, the building was finally returned to state ownership. The prosecutor’s office emphasized that the lessee did not fulfill obligations to properly maintain the site, and the building’s condition had deteriorated so much that there was a threat of its collapse.
After the monument was returned to the state, its further fate effectively hung in the balance. Kyiv authorities repeatedly stated their readiness to accept Hostynnyi Dvir into municipal ownership and restore it with funds from the city budget. Back in 2017 the Kyiv City Council agreed to accept the building free of charge, but the transfer did not take place.
What’s with Hostynnyi Dvir now
As of August 2026 Hostynnyi Dvir remains state-owned. The object falls under the management of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and is assigned on the right of operational management to the National Preserve "Saint Sophia of Kyiv". It has the status of an architectural monument of national significance.
At the same time, the technical condition of the building continues to deteriorate. An inspection conducted in 2026 confirmed the need for urgent anti-emergency work: a significant part of the structures is still not conserved, and precipitation and temperature fluctuations are causing further destruction.
That is precisely why Klitschko in August 2026 again appealed to the government — this time to Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi — asking for a decision to transfer Hostynnyi Dvir to Kyiv. The mayor asserts that after acquiring the object the city will be able to carry out priority anti-emergency and conservation work.
At the same time, activist and defender of Kyiv’s historic buildings Dmytro Petrov urges people not to trust the mayor:
“There are no grounds not to trust the mayor. None whatsoever. I’ll just give a few examples of monuments that are already in municipal ownership and that the head of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Kyiv City State Administration, Maryna Soloviova, is saving right now together with Klitschko:
1) Buildings of the Podil Archaeological Expedition
2) Emergency Medical Society Hospital
3) Murashko estate…”, emphasized Dmytro Petrov in his post.
"Argument"
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Дмитро Петров: Кличко вимагає передати Гостиний двір Києву - чому пам’ятка досі стоїть у руїнах". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: argumentua.com.
