Kyiv city state administration will look through the permits it issued for building in protected areas of national sanctuaries Saint Sofia of Kyiv and Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra, first deputy chairperson of Kyiv city administration Anatolii Holubchenko has announced at a meeting of the administration college.

"I give the instructions to the main directorate for preserving of cultural heritage, together with the main architecture directorate, to urgently revise all the permits recently supplied for building in the memorial areas," Holubchenko reported.

This review is formed to subsequently annul them, if applicable, or impose meaningful constraints on the development in these areas, he proclaimed.

As to Holubchenko’s words, the city administration has to take such measures to avert suspension of these sites from the UNESCO World Heritage List.

He admitted, this threat is a reality, as long as UNESCO did not approve building in the protected areas.

The municipality bears no less responsibility for these sanctuaries than the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

As it was earlier reported, specialists have the fear that the United Nations Scientific, Cultural and Educational Organization (UNESCO) could suspend inscribing new protected sites in Ukraine on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of the state's negligent attitude toward already protected ones.

By now, 4 objects in Ukraine are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage: one natural (Primeval Forests of the Carpathian Mountains) and three cultural (Saint Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, the Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra in Kyiv; the Ensemble of the Historic Centre of Lviv; the Struve Geodetic Arc).