An historic meeting for the submission of the Nomination dossier of Odessa to UNESCO took place in Kyiv with the participation of Odessa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko and First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Head of the Ukrainian National Commission in UNESCO Emine Dzhaparova.

Odessa has been waiting for this event for many years, because once the city was included in the Tentative List of UNESCO. However, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the issue of preparing the nomination dossier has become even more urgent. The Minister of Culture and Information Policy emphasized that Odessa deserved to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List under an accelerated procedure, because the city is under constant threat of Russian shelling.

Therefore, a number of Ukrainian and international experts, with the external support of the Ministry of Culture of Italy, worked with and helped Odessa to complete all the necessary documentation. The submitted nomination file passed all the necessary examinations.

I want to express my gratitude to all those who participated in the compilation of the dossier: the City Hall, colleagues from the Ministry, and other specialists. To everyone who made efforts so that the dossier could be submitted to UNESCO right now for a decision to inscribe Odessa on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Why is this important now? Because it's fair! Odessa deserves it. This is the first. And secondly, we want to preserve our heritage, which is currently being destroyed. In addition, we strive to draw the attention of the whole world to the crimes committed by the Russian Federation.

Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine

The submission of the Historical center of the port city of Odessa is the result of a long-term project that began in 2001 with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 26, 2001 No. 878 regarding the inclusion of the city of Odessa in the List of Historical Inhabited Places of Ukraine. In 2009, the site was added to the Tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage.

We made today's ceremony as convenient as possible. Because the standard procedure involves the following algorithm: the mayor submits the nomination file to the Minister of Culture and Information Policy, who, in turn, submits it to the UNESCO Commission. Instead, we have now shortened this bureaucratic path as much as possible.

Emine Dzhaparova, Head of the Ukrainian National Commission in UNESCO of Ukraine

She also emphasized that the National Commission for UNESCO will as quickly as possible transfer the documents for consideration by the World Heritage Committee under the "urgent" procedure.

"We believe that culture is another front of our struggle," added Emine Dzhaparova.

The development of the nomination dossier within the framework of the Programme was completed at the end of 2018. In 2019, the materials were submitted to the Ukrainian National Committee of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) for recommendations and to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine for consideration and approval. In 2022, at the time of the final review of the dossier and development of the Management Plan, the scenario completely changed, Odessa found itself at the centre of the military conflict due to the military aggression by the Russian Federation.

I am glad to be here at this landmark event. We have prepared and present the nomination dossier of our city, which will be submitted to Paris in the nearest future. This is a very big job, which was performed by many specialists. We hope that the right decision will be made, and Odesa will finally be inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Gennadiy Trukhanov, Mayor of Odessa