According to the procedure, inscription on the World Heritage List is preceded by inscription on the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. First, a country, taking into account UNESCO's cultural and natural criteria, prepares a list of sites that it considers to be of world value and inscribes them on the Tentative List. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) assess the natural and cultural significance of the site.
Once a site is nominated and evaluated, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee makes the final decision at its annual sessions. Ukraine's Tentative List includes 12 sites of cultural type, three of mixed type, and one of natural type.