Court orders OCU to sign heritage protection agreement for church
A court in the Khmelnytskyi region has ordered an OCU community to sign a heritage protection agreement for an 1818 church after the community refused to do so.
The Khmelnytskyi District Administrative Court has granted a lawsuit filed by the Letychiv District Prosecutor's Office, ordering a community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) to sign a heritage protection agreement for an architectural landmark in the village of Trebukhivtsi, Khmelnytskyi district.
The case concerns the St. John the Theologian Church complex, built in 1818, which consists of a church and bell tower. In 2013, the complex was added to the region's cultural heritage register under the categories of architecture and urban planning.
Prosecutors found that OCU representatives had registered ownership of the historic complex but failed to comply with legal requirements for its protection. The Department of Information, Culture, Nationalities and Religions of the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration had prepared a draft agreement and sent it to the community in advance. However, representatives of Epifaniy Dumenko's organization refused to sign it without providing any explanation.
The heritage protection agreement establishes rules for the use of historic landmarks and requirements for repairs and restoration work to prevent deterioration of the buildings. Because the community failed to comply with the law, prosecutors took the matter to court, which granted their claims in full.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that prosecutors in Ternopil had filed a lawsuit against the OCU over its failure to pay a required contribution to the city budget.
