Baturyn: a preserve or a residence?

The government of Ukraine is studying the question of granting national status to the historical and cultural preserve “Hetman’s Capital” in Baturyn, Chernihiv oblast, reports ForUm, quoting Vice- Premier Vyacheslav Kyrylenko. “Very soon, not only Ukrainians but foreigners will see a revived Baturyn, the famous and revered capital of the hetmans, which will become a Ukrainian tourist mecca,” he told journalists during an away-ministerial conference in Baturyn. Kyrylenko said that the conference participants discussed the accelerated construction of new gas-, heat-, water-supply and telecommunications facilities in Baturyn as well as the unveiling of new architectural and historical monuments. A report drawn up by the vice-premier’s press service emphasizes that this historical monument began to be revived in 2002 on the initiative of the then Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko. That year the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a special comprehensive program. Construction costs were estimated at UAH 12 million. In the two past years the state budget has allocated UAH 5.6 million for this purpose, and there are plans to provide a special subvention worth several million hryvnias this year. “The bulk of the funds are supposed to come from patrons of the charitable foundation “Hetmans’ Capital,” Kyrylenko said. Incidentally, the media have reported that bureaucrats are still toying with the idea of establishing a president’s residence in Baturyn. Was this idea coordinated with the patrons who made donations to the preserve? According to museum curator Tetiana Rebrova, up to 32 million hryvnias were remitted to the foundation’s account in 2005. “Baturyn is being restored on an enormous scale. All the work is supposed to be completed by 2007,” Rebrova noted.