The site of the protests is a picturesque, white-walled courtyard on Kontraktova Square in Kyiv. For nearly three months, a handful of activists have occupied Hostynny Dvir, or Hospitable Courtyard, to save it from privatization and preserve it as a city landmark.
The public
activists have picked up garbage, organized classes and art events as part of
their protests against plans that would turn the historical building into the
city’s newest trade and office center.
It looks to
be an uphill battle.
The
government has excluded Hostynny Dvir from a list of architectural landmarks,
with parliament sanctioning privatization. After a private company with
offshore roots presented a multimillion-dollar reconstruction project,
volunteers do not dare leave their vigil to preserve what they describe as a
rare cultural public space.
“I
understand pretty clearly that our chances are not big because, on the opposite
side, there are our opponents, powerful state authorities and unimaginable
money,” said Vladyslava Osmak, a Kyiv guide and activist who comes to Hostynny
Dvir almost daily and takes a night shift once a week. “We are [just] a bunch
of intellectuals who are eager to sacrifice our time, efforts and health for it
to be possible to live in this city, not only to survive; to create, not only
to consume,” she added.
At present,
Hostynny Dvir houses a state library, a state research institute and private
company Ukrrestavracia. It used to have several shops, a bank outlet and a
photo studio, but they left the building recently because of the
reconstruction.
Prime
Minister Mykola Azarov signed a decree depriving Hostynny Dvir of its status as
an architectural landmark last August, but this attracted public attention only
in April. The Kyiv City Administration then issued a permit for Ukrrestavracia
to develop a reconstruction plan for Hostynny Dvir. Holding the right to lease
Hostynny Dvir from the State Property Fund, Ukrrestavracia wants to reconstruct
it into a trade and office center.
Learning a
lesson from numerous reconstructions and constructions in the past, including
the recent overhaul at Andriyivsky Uzviz where old buildings were mistakenly
demolished, city activists moved first and fast, entering the building’s yard
during Kyiv Day celebrations on May 26.
Activists
proclaimed Hostynny Dvir a Hospitable Republic and launched its official
website at http://hostynnyidvir.org.ua (in Ukrainian only). Since then more
than 4,000 Kyivans signed on in support of preserving Hostynny Dvir. Several
thousand hryvnia have been donated to the activists, who are using the money to
light the courtyard at night, buy food and to clean the facilities.
“We took
away 10 trucks of garbage from here to make this place look more aesthetic,”
said Osmak. “I paid myself for the first two trucks. Then a friend of one
activist made an enormous donation and we took away six more loads. After that,
another supporter donated money for one more truck load. And then a woman came
in, heard the problem we were talking about, took money from her pocket and
gave it to us. This is how the last track was taken away. Miracles are
happening here. Fantastic people are coming,” she added.
Hostynny
Dvir also became a place for numerous events such as language and yoga classes,
lectures and seminars, art performances, literature presentations, movie
screenings and music concerts.
“During
this time we have tried different kinds of activities which can take place in
the courtyard in the future,” said Osmak who personally gave a dozen lectures
on Kyiv history there.
Activists
say they don’t mind book stores or art cafes here but don’t want yet another
average shopping mall or office center.
They also want an architectural library and a state research institute
to stay in the building where they are now.
Ukrrestavracia
sticks to another point of view.
“It will be
a trade and office center,” Dmytro Yarych, director at Ukrrestavracia, told the
Kyiv Post, adding that he doesn’t see any room for the library nor the
institute.
“There is
no sense in it. They do not pay money [for rent]”, he said adding that the
project should be profitable. “[To keep them here] is the same as giving money
to someone as a gift.”
Yarych
confirmed information reported by local media that over 90 percent of his company’s
shares were owned by Cyprus-registered Afidreko Holdings Limited. But he
refused to disclose who stands behind it.
Yarych said
his company initiated removal of Hostynny Dvir from a list of architecture
landmarks protected by the state. The argumentation was that the modern
building of Hostynny Dvir was constructed in 1971-1990.
“It would
be illegal to know that this is a newly constructed building and to keep it in
the lists of monuments of architecture,” Yarych said.
While the current reconstructed version of Hostynny Dvir is standing only since the 1971-1990 period, its history dates back much further. This lithography made from Nikolai Sazhyn’s watercolor depicts old Hostynny Dvir with a market inside it at the end of the 1840s. (Vladyslava Osmak’s family archive)
Valentyna Shevchenko, an architect who headed that Soviet construction argues that the modern building of Hostynny Dvir was constructed on the place of the old one and was built according to the 1809 project by Italian architect Luigi Rusca in Neoclassical style. Therefore, it should be a monument protected by the state, she said.
Shevchenko is also against the reconstruction project that was presented recently by Kyiv city council deputy and architect Andriy Myrhorodsky. According to this plan, the basement of the two-story building will be significantly strengthened to withstand vibrations of the subway which passes under it. The external galleries will be covered by glass, the attic will be turned into a third floor with windows looking in the yard, a central gate will be added and the courtyard will be covered by a glass roof.
“This is nonsense. This reconstruction will change the architectural look of the building. Hostynny Dvir as we know it now will disappear,” Shevchenko said.
Ukrrestavracia has already confirmed the Hr 109 million reconstruction plan with the State Property Fund, still legally owner of the building. But Yarych said they will have to invest three times more to complete the project.
Ukrainian legislation allows tenants to apply for privatization of a property they rent. Moreover, if a tenant made improvements which amounts to 25 percent of the property’s value, then they can privatize the object without a competitive tender. Yarych does not dismiss his company exercising this option now that Hostynny Dvir has been removed from the list of cultural monuments that cannot be privatized.
“If we are disturbed in our reconstruction plan of this building, then we will have to exercise our right [to privatize it],” Yarych said.
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s District Administrative Court is hearing lawsuits filed by activists and a company to cancel government decrees depriving the site of architectural landmark status. Suitors also requested construction works inside the building be stopped while the case is being heard. The judge denied the request and scheduled the next court hearing for Sept. 12.
Osmak said activists are willing to stay at Hostynny Dvir and organize different events as long as necessary.
“What is happening here is very important for the establishment of civil society in Ukraine. We lack public space, but here it is being created,” Osmak said.
Kyiv Post staff
writer Oksana Faryna can be
reached at [email protected]
