Oleksandra Kovalchuk will head the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund
Oleksandra Kovalchuk will become the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund (UCHF). The Fund is a multi-donor platform that brings together partners to preserve and restore Ukraine’s history, identity, and cultural heritage.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna.
According to her, Kovalchuk will head the fund’s general secretariat and coordinate work in cooperation with Ukrainian and international partners.
“The UCFS is moving into operational work and launching its first programs to protect and preserve Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Among the priorities are stabilizing monuments damaged by Russia, supporting museums and specialists, protecting evacuated collections, and documenting cultural heritage that is under threat,” Berezhna noted.
Prior to this, Kovalchuk served as deputy director of the Odessa Art Museum. She has over ten years of experience in museum management, cultural policy, and international partnerships. Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, she headed the NGO “Museum for Change.”
The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund was launched in 2025. Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom had previously announced investments in the fund.
In late January 2026, Berezhna reported that a starting budget of 10–15 million euros was needed to launch the fund’s operations, and that the UCHF planned to raise up to 50 million euros in its first year of operation.
At that time, the fund’s board of directors was formed, comprising:
- Valérie Fréland, Executive Director of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage (ALIPH);
- Pierre Elbron, Inspector General of Finance of France (chair of the board); Charles Personnaz, Director
- the French National Heritage Institute (INP);
- Alexandra Fibig, ALIPH Project Manager and Acting Executive Director of the UCHF;
- Olena Kovalskaya, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine;
- Oleksandra Kovalchuk, Deputy Director of the Odessa Art Museum;
- Snezhka Kwedlig-Mykhailovych, Secretary General of Europa Nostra;
- Johannes Nathan, President of the Ukraine Art Aid Center.
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