With assistance of deputy A. Yatsenyuk, on October, 3, the monument to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph the First was opened in Chernivtsi. The first stone for the future monument A.Yatsenyuk laid a year ago, on October 4, 2008, just as the 600th anniversary of Chernivtsi was being celebrated.

The unveiling took place in the public garden in Mary Korduby str. during the celebration of the 601th anniversary of Chernivtsi. The ceremony was attended by Mayor of Chernivtsi Mykola Fedoruk, representatives of regional authorities as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Austria in Ukraine Jozef Markus Vuketych. The authors of the monument are the honored artist Sergei Ivanov and Lviv sculptor Vladimir Tsisaryk. The bronze casting of the monument was made by the company "Pikart".

Serhiy Ivanov: "Every effort has been made to do a good job for the beautiful city of Chernivtsi. We wish the monument would adjust to this place and would be popular with citizens, who would meet, socialize and have great time hear. During the unveiling ceremony the atmosphere of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was created by young people dressed in costumes of those times.

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Franz Joseph I von Habsburg, the Emperor of Austria and the king of Hungary, ruled for 68 years - from 1848 to 1916. The city of Chernivtsi reached its greatest prosperity, when Bukovina formed a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the rule of Franz Joseph I(1848 - 1916). His name is associated with rapid economic and cultural development of the city, including the emergence of the railroad Chernivtsi-Lviv, the electric station, the introduction of electric trams, water supply system and sewerage, construction of the Cathedral, Municipal Theater, schools, including four national Ukrainian schools. In 1875 Chernivtsi University was founded.