On 30 May, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution "On Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 28 December 2001 No. 1768". The amendments to the Procedure for Concluding Security Agreements have updated the rules that had been governing the sector for more than twenty years and are now highly outdated. Simplification of procedures will help to cover more cultural heritage sites.

What changes have taken place in the field of concluding protection agreements:

• a new form of protection agreement for newly discovered cultural heritage sites has been introduced. This will finally allow for the practical implementation of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Cultural Heritage" and strengthen the preservation of newly discovered cultural heritage sites until they are included in the State Register of Monuments;
• forms of passports and certificates were improved depending on the type of monument;
• discrepancies that arose earlier when concluding a protection agreement for monumental art, landscape art, landscape, science and technology, history and archeology were resolved;
• the procedure for approving protection agreements for monuments of national importance with the MCIP has now been transferred to electronic form. This will shorten the time for their conclusion and reduce the financial costs of printing;
• the authority for the protection of cultural heritage with which a protection agreement may be concluded has been specified.

In general, the amendments to the Procedure is aimed to:

• speed up the procedure for concluding security agreements;
• streamline the discrepancies that existed previously in the Procedure for concluding protection agreements and the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Cultural Heritage”;
• help improve the protection of newly discovered cultural heritage sites.

From now on, cultural heritage protection authorities will have the right to conclude protection agreements with owners and users.