Vasyl'
S. Kuybida is the Mayor of the City of Lviv.
He was re-elected to the city Mayor on March 29, 1998
Mr. Kuybida is a representative of a
new generation of Ukrainian politicians.
He is a person of vast education. He studied at the
Department of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Lviv
University, continued his studies upon graduation at a
graduate school, getting his degrees of MS and Ph.D. In
the late eighties and early nineties he became active in
the RUKH national movement and was elected to the Lviv
City Council. Mr. Kuybida went on with his education and
collected several more degrees in law.
In 1994 he was elected Mayor.
Professor Kuybida holds several degrees in science and in
law. He is an Academician of the Academy of Construction
of Ukraine, a Corresponding Member of the International
Academy of Management, a representative of Ukraine at the
Congress of Local and Regional Councils of Europe, a
member of the Association of Cities of Ukraine, a member
of the Writers' Union of Ukraine. In fact, he holds many
more memberships and titles. He has been awarded a medal
for distinction in work.
Mr. Kuybida is married and has a son and a daughter.
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In
recent years the city of Lviv has been visited by a
number of distinguished guests among who were the Prime-
Ministers of Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Presidents
of Poland and Czech Republic, Mrs. Clinton, US
President's wife. In May next year the city will play
host to the meeting of presidents of the countries of
Eastern Europe. There must be something that attracts
people from all walks of life and different stations to
Lviv, probably its special atmosphere of old traditions
and freedom-loving spirit.
Historical
overview
Lviv is an old town, one of the oldest in Eastern
Europe. It was founded in the middle of the
thirteenth century by Danylo Romanovych, the
Halytsia-Volyn' Prince, who named the
newly-founded town after his son Lev («Lviv» in
Ukrainian literally means: «a place belonging to
Lev /Leo/). The chronicles start mentioning it
from the year 1256.Since then the city changed
hands many times — it was under domination
of Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Austrian, Russian
and Soviet Empires, but no matter who the rulers
were it always played a significant role in the
history of Ukraine.he Lviv city authorities have
prepared materials to be submitted to the UNESCO
with the aim of having the architectural
landmarks in the central part of Lviv put on the
List of Historical Towns. Incidentally, Lviv is
the only town in Ukraine which, in its central
part, has preserved its basic features from the
Mediaeval times. About 2,000 architectural
landmarks have been put under protection by the
state. They reflect all the styles of
architecture from Gothic to Modern and give Lviv
its unique cityscape. |
Fragment of
St. Yury's Cathedral. |
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16th and 17thcenturies were the time of
architectural boom. The influences of the
Renaissance and Baroque styles can be easily
discovered in many of the houses built then and
preserved to our days (Uspenska Church; St. Yura
Cathedral, Dominican Church, etc.).At the end of
the 19th-early 20th centuries Lviv acquired its
water supply and sewage systems, electric light
in the streets which were paved. Boulevards and
parks were laid out, and the architecture of
those times reflects the advances of European
architecture combining them with Ukrainian
national traditions.In 1975 Ukrainian Parliament
gave the central part of Lviv the status of a
National Preserve. |
St. Yuriy's
Cathedral. |
Public
awareness
Getting Lviv on the UNESCO list would help
attract the public attention to a number of
problems that are to be urgently dealt with. Due
to a number of natural processes some
architectural landmarks are in danger of being
damaged by underground waters. The restoration
and repair work is slow and often is behind the
rates at which the old buildings are ageing.
Water supply and sewage systems cannot meet the
requirements of a big modern city. The growing
traffic creates additional dangers to the
architectural landmarks through vibration and
pollution. There is a lot be done yet to preserve
the architectural glory of the central part of
Lviv for the generations to come. |
In addition to being a historical
and cultural centre Lviv is a place of much
diplomatic and trade activity.Its geographic
situation is very advantageous for maintaining
trade between Eastern and Central Europe on the
one hand and Ukraine and Russia on the other. The
city has started attracting investors, both
foreign and domestic. Investments are very
important for Lviv whose budget is very low now.
In fact, the city gets only about a third of what
it should have in order to maintain the
infrastructure of the city in a proper order.
The people who were elected to the City Council
several years ago knew what they wanted to do and
they had developed a plan of actions. Means of
transportation, water supply, drainage road
repair, heating systems are the things on top of
the list of priorities.
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Olesky Castle
Yard. |
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