You're reading: Defenders of old Kyiv call on president to prevent privatization of Hostynny Dvir

Activists defending the old parts of Kyiv have called on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to veto the law envisaging the privatization of Hostynny Dvir (Hospitality Court, a historic building in the city) in Kyiv.

The participants in a rally in defense of Hostynny Dvir, which took
place near the building of the presidential administration, passed an
open letter with such a demand to a representative of the administration
on Friday.

The letter notes that in Ukraine a law envisaging such a norm
concerns the president’s social initiatives on subsidizing the cost of
mortgage loans.

At the same time, the first wording of a bill, which was proposed by
the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, did not include such a norm.

The said amendment was introduced to the bill after second reading by
Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense faction deputy Oleksandr Klymenko.

The letter notes that the exclusion of Hostynny Dvir from the list of
monuments of cultural heritage does not correspond to the subject of
the legal regulation of the project, since the exclusion of this
facility from the respective list will not contribute to mortgage
lending.

The activists are demanding that the head of state veto the law and
send it back for revision, stressing the need to remove the provision on
the privatization of Hostynny Dvir.

“Hostynny Dvir should function as an educational and cultural center,
and it cannot be transferred to private ownership,” the activists said.

The rally was attended by about 20 people, and they handed slogans
with the inscriptions: “The City Is Not For Sale,” and “Return the
Monument to the People.”