St Pete govt to closely study Okhta Center tower recommendations.

ST. PETERSBURG, May 22 (Itar-Tass) -- The government of St. Petersburg
will closely study in strict compliance with the applicable legislation
the recommendations it has received from the presidential staff regarding
plans for building the Okhta Center tower, Governor Valentina Matviyenko's
press-secretary, Alexander Korennikov, told Itar-Tass on Friday.
"I do have a message from presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko addressed
to the governor of St. Petersburg. The recommendations contained in it
will be closely studied in compliance with the existing legislation,"
Korennikov said.
Delegates from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization UNESCO have visited St. Petersburg several times for
familiarizing themselves with the Okhta Center project on site and for
discussing the status of St. Petersburg in UNESCO's rating. After one of
such meetings Valentina Matvienko told the media that "specialists from
the World Heritage Center are thoroughly examining the plans for building
the public and business center Okhta, and that they are well aware this is
a depressive zone requiring renovation." The governor said that "this plot
of land lies beyond the protected zone of the city."
As she talked to the media, Governor Matvienko repeatedly confirmed
that "the decision to build the Okhta Center tower in St. Petersburg had
not been made yet. For the time being the city authorities have only
agreed the possibility of deviations from the maximum parameters of a
construction project on this site."
A final decision in favor of going ahead with the plans for erecting
this high-rise building that is bound to change the city's familiar
skyline will be possible on the condition the project undergoes government
scrutiny and receives approval.
The press-service of the company Public-Business Center Okhta has told
Itar-Tass that no construction work was currently in progress on the site
selected for building the tower.
"The Okhta Center project does have the earlier declared public
parameters, and we are determined to comply with all of the procedures
required by the Russian legislation for obtaining the permission to start
construction work," the company's spokesman said.
A future multi-functional public and business compound called Okhta
Center may be put up in the Krasnogvardeisky district of St. Petersburg on
the bank of the Okhta river. In the past the area was taken up by an
industrial plant and the district itself was considered a depressive one
for a long while. The group of companies Gazprom plans to invest about 60
billion rubles into the project.
The Okhta Center tower will be built in three stages. First, there
will emerge the 396-meter tall tower of the Okhta Center, designed by
Britain's RMJM bureau.
Under the general concept of the project the Okhta Center will house a
theater and concert hall, a sports compound, parks, cafes, restaurants, a
museum of modern art and St. Petersburg's first museum of archaeology.

.Raspadskaya coalmine continues to be flooded to force methane out.

KEMEROVO, May 22 (Itar-Tass) -- At the Raspadskaya mine in the Kuzbass
coalfields underground tunnels continue to be flooded with the aim to put
out the remaining fires and force methane out.
As the coalmine's chief engineer Vladislav Valts has told Itar-Tass,
the flooding is partial and under control. The water is being pumped into
layers six and seven at a pace of 17 cubic meters per hour.
This weekend rescue workers plan to go inside the mine for
reconnaissance. At present the gas content situation is being monitored
from the surface.
Search work inside will resume after the air inside has returned to
normal.
Two nighttime methane gas explosions inside the mine on May 8-9 are
known to have killed 66 workers. The plight of 24 others remains unknown
to this day.

-0-str


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