On Wednesday 25 June, the European Commissioner for Intergenerational Equality, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, presented the report ‘Case Studies on Cultural Heritage Funds in Europe’ to the Ukrainian Minister for Culture and Strategic Communication, Mykola Tochytskyi.
The document will serve as a basis for the creation of the Ukrainian Heritage Fund, an instrument that will be set up to provide national funding for the preservation of Ukraine’s war-damaged cultural heritage.
Written by the European Expert Network on Culture, it analyses a series of heritage funding models in EU Member States and beyond, with the aim of “inspiring the creation of a transparent, effective and sustainable mechanism in Ukraine”, according to Commissioner Micallef.
Since February 2022, UNESCO has verified damage to 485 Ukrainian cultural sites. But according to data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, 1,419 heritage sites and 2,233 cultural infrastructures had already been damaged by April 2025, according to Mykola Tochytskyi.
“Russia is not content with bombing our infrastructure, it is trying to wipe out our culture, including our intangible heritage”, the minister also denounced the destruction of the historic centre of Odessa, which was listed as a world heritage site.
“Protecting Ukrainian culture also means defending its sovereignty”, said Glenn Micallef.
The details of the Ukrainian fund will be worked out at the Fourth Conference on Ukraine’s Recovery, to be held in Rome on 10 and 11 July.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/hki (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)