This Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 740 dated May 20, 2026, approves the unified Procedure for determining the boundaries and protection regimes of cultural heritage site protection zones, reserves, and protected areas. The document strictly regulates the procedure for development, the composition, and the content of scientific project documentation, which is mandatory for the establishment of such zones. The Resolution also defines the mechanism for entering information about these zones into the State Land Cadastre, ensuring legal certainty for landowners and developers. Importantly, previously established protection zones remain in effect, and their review is carried out only in accordance with the newly defined procedure.
**Structure and Main Provisions:**
The Resolution consists of a regulatory part (the Resolution itself) and a detailed “Procedure.” The main sections of the Procedure cover:
* **General requirements:** definitions of types of zones (protection zone, development regulation zone, protected landscape zone, archaeological layer zone) and the objectives of their establishment.
* **Development procedure:** requirements for clients, a list of necessary initial data, and stages of research and scientific-project work.
* **Approval and endorsement:** clear timeframes for the review of documentation by cultural heritage protection authorities (up to 30 days) and requirements for the electronic format of documents.
* **Amendments:** an exhaustive list of grounds for adjusting documentation (e.g., a change in the category of a site or the discovery of new scientific data).
Compared to previous approaches, this act unifies requirements for documentation, implements digital standards (electronic signature, geodatabase), and integrates the process with land legislation.
**Key Provisions for Practical Use:**
1. **Typology of zones:** The Procedure clearly distinguishes four types of zones, for each of which specific restrictions are established (e.g., prohibition of construction in protected landscape zones or the mandatory nature of archaeological supervision in archaeological layer zones).
2. **Priority of preservation:** In the event of overlapping protection zones of different sites, the regime that ensures a higher degree of preservation of the environment shall be applied.
3. **Integration into the cadastre:** After the approval of the documentation, the cultural heritage protection authority is obliged to initiate the entry of information about the restrictions into the State Land Cadastre within 10 working days.
4. **Electronic format:** All documentation must be submitted in a specified electronic format, which simplifies access to information and its verification.
