Left to right: Zurab Tsereteli, president of the Russian Academy of the Arts, Albert Charkin, the rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of the Arts and Valentina Matvienko, governor of St. Petersburg
Photo: Mikhail Razuvaev
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St. Pete Monuments Change Hands
Federally-registered monuments in St. Petersburg will be transferred to city governor Valentina Matvienko's administration next week. This could mark the beginning of their privatization, which Matvienko has long been lobbying the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade for. After talks with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Matvienko announced that 448 objects will be transferred, of about 1200 in her city that received federal status in 1991. Another 115 pieces of real estate, including the most potentially profitable ones, are in dispute.
The main criterion for dividing up the monuments is usage. If the building is occupied by a federal body, it remains in federal ownership. The city receives objects it occupies. Petropavlovsky Fortress, with the exception of the Mint, will be transferred to the city, as will the Gatchiny and Pavlovska palace and park ensembles and the Anichkov, Mariinsky and Elagin Palaces. Among the disputed objects are St. Isaac's and the Peter and Paul Cathedrals, the Shtirlits Mansion and several commercial facilities that bring in considerable income and could be privatized, such as Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor, Maly Gostiny Dvor and the Andreevsky Market. There are also 72 objects whose use is shared between the municipal and federal authorities, such as the Theatrical Museum and Theatrical Library. According to the agreement Matvienko reached with the prime minister, all disagreements are to be settled by July 1.
Moscow officials and federal authorities have settled disputes over more than 900 historical architectural monuments. That dispute lasted from 2002 until Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov signed an agreement with the minister of economic development at the time German Gref. Only those building occupied by the federal government remained in federal hands.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 15, 2008
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