The Office of the President is preparing to install a monument to Mazepa on the site of Lenin: details

The Office of the President held the first specialized meeting with the city authorities to discuss an architectural competition and the concept of the future monument.

На території Лаври встановили погруддя гетьмана Івана Мазепи / фото зі сторінки Зеленського

Updated at 03 July, 22:02

At the first meeting at the Office of the President chaired by the Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak with the participation of the Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko, proposals and ideas regarding the installation of a monument to Hetman Ivan Mazepa in the center of Kyiv were discussed. The monument is planned to be erected at the beginning of Taras Shevchenko Boulevard – precisely at the location where the monument to Volodymyr Lenin stood until December 2013. This was reported by the press service of the Office of the President.

Organization of an architectural competition and public hearings

The meeting participants examined in detail the options for arranging the public space and related infrastructure, which should fully correspond to the outstanding historical role of Ivan Mazepa.

Particular attention was paid to involving city residents, relevant experts, and specialists in active discussion of the future monument project, as well as the overall architectural concept around Bessarabian Square. Following the meeting, officials agreed to develop a clear plan for holding an open architectural design competition, a series of public hearings, and thematic round tables.

"The Cabinet of Ministers should consider a resolution that will allow for discussions together with the National Union of Architects and announce a design competition. The Verkhovna Rada, the government, the Office of the President, and local authorities will jointly work out all organizational and technical issues," the press service said.

A broad governmental and city delegation participated in the meeting:

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk;
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for Humanitarian Policy – Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna;
Kyiv City Mayor Vitali Klitschko;
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Vereshchuk;
authorized representatives of the Kyiv City State Administration and the Ministry of Culture.

History of the location and previous statements by authorities

It is worth recalling that on June 28, during the celebrations dedicated to Constitution Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a bust of Hetman Ivan Mazepa would definitely be placed in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

At the same time, the head of state announced the appearance of a full-fledged monument to Mazepa at the beginning of Taras Shevchenko Boulevard.

Previously, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko had expressed the idea of installing a neutral fountain opposite Bessarabian Market, noting that this would help avoid ideological disputes among the public regarding any new sculptures at the site of the former Soviet monument.