Repair of the fence of the Baykovo Cemetery in Kyiv has been suspended. The reason was the lack of coordinated scientific and design documentation and public outcry regarding the preservation of cultural heritage. The Kyiv City State Administration initiated an inspection, which showed that part of the historic brick fence had already been dismantled.
What happened
In December 2024, the Funeral Service of the SPC “Spetskombinat PKPO” began major repairs to the fence of the Baikovo Cemetery, implementing a landslide prevention project. The tender for the work was won by LLC “Construction Company “DENKO”, and the total contract amount was almost 200 thousand hryvnias.
After the renovation began, monument conservator Dmytro Perov registered a petition calling for the work to be stopped and the historic part of the fence to be preserved. This caused a significant public outcry.
Why did the conflict arise?
Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Panteleev explained that not the entire fence of the Baykovo Cemetery is a cultural heritage monument. Historical elements include:
- gate church,
- 12 sections of brick fence with metal bars,
- Catholic and Lutheran gates.
According to Panteleev, the work is aimed at preserving the burials, not changing the historical structures. At the same time, an inspection by the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection of the Kyiv City State Administration revealed that part of the brick fence had already been dismantled.
What's next?
The Department of Cultural Heritage Protection has issued an order to suspend work until the relevant scientific and design documentation is received. It is also planned to involve experts to conduct comprehensive studies of all structural elements of the fence.
Experts from the State Research Institute of Building Structures determined that the dismantled brick was made in the mid-20th century. Due to its poor condition, experts do not recommend reusing it.
Currently, construction and demolition work on the territory of the Baikovo Cemetery has been completely stopped. It is not yet known whether repairs will resume after the development of new project documentation.
