Medvedev turns attentive ear to critics of Gazprom tower in St Pete.

MOSCOW, May 22 (By Itar-Tass World Service writer Lyudmila
Alexandrova) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has turned an attentive
ear to the critics of plans for building a 400-meter-tall Okhta Center
tower that would house offices of the gas corporation Gazprom in St.
Petersburg. The presidential staff has instructed the cultural heritage
watchdog Rosokhrankultura to look into the problem of building the Okhta
Center with due regard for the recommendations from the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, the watchdog's
chief, Alexander Kibovsky, told a conference last Thursday.
In fact, this means that the president threw his weight behind the
recommendation from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee for suspending all
work on the project and for reducing the height of the Okhta Center, to be
built on the Neva River embankment opposite the Smolny Cathedral.
Presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko dispatched a special message to the
federal and regional authorities, including St. Petersburg Governor
Valentina Matviyenko, to explain the position taken by the head of state.
"The President of the Russian Federation has considered and approved
of the proposals for changing the borders of the cultural heritage sites
of world importance of St. Petersburg's historical centers and the
monuments concerned," the message runs. "In particular he noted the
decision by the World Heritage Committee to urge suspension of all work
under the project for designing and building the Okhta Center in St.
Petersburg and to consider alternative options of its height."
Gazprom's plans for building a skyscraper in St. Petersburg drew many
and strong protests from the city's residents, who are certain that the
tower will spoil the entire historical center of the city, recognized as a
cultural heritage. According to the latest findings the tower will be seen
practically from all central streets, embankments and bridges of St.
Petersburg. The Opposition has more than once demonstrated in protest
against the plans for putting up the skyscraper, and workers of culture
and the arts have bombarded the authorities, including President Dmitry
Medvedev, with letters.
Yet, the city authorities under Governor Valentina Matviyenko last
autumn approved of a deviation from the authorized height parameters to
set the tower's top point at a level of 403 meters above the surface.
Rosokhrankultura believes that this is a violation of St. Petersburg's law
on the zones of monuments' protection. Under the law no newly-erected
building in this particular place can be taller than 40 meters.
Besides, UNESCO's mission last March inspected the condition of the
world heritage site, officially known as the historical center of St.
Petersburg and the related group of monuments, situated in St. Petersburg
and the Leningrad Region. UNESCO's mission presented its report to Russia
on the eve of the June session of the World Heritage Committee. At the
previous session the committee adopted a harsh resolution addressed to
Russia. In part, it called for stopping the 400-meter-tall Okhta Center
project. The organization declared that St. Petersburg may be put on the
list of cities where the world heritage is in jeopardy, if only the tower
is built.
The daily Kommersant says it is noteworthy that Governor Valentina
Matvienko last July said in public that the city had not received anything
from UNESCO and that the international organization is "nothing but a
beautiful bow on the body of St. Petersburg."
The chief of the state committee for the control, use and protection
of St. Petersburg monuments, Vera Dementieva, said, for her part, that she
felt no fear about the risk of the city being excluded from the UNESCO
lists. In her opinion, "in people's minds there will occur no change - the
masterpieces will remain masterpieces."
The president has given us firm instructions to ensure strict
compliance with Russia's international liabilities contained in UNESCO's
Convention, Alexander Kibovsky warned. "This fully agrees with our
position it is impermissible to violate monuments protection legislation,
irrespective of the subjective opinion of the regional authorities."
Kibovsky believes that Matvienko will now be hardly able to ignore the
presidential point of view and very probably she may overturn the
scandalous resolution concerning the height of the Okhta Center tower.
Russian human rights activists last Friday handed over to the
president their materials concerning the Okhta Center construction
project, said the chief of the presidential council for the promotion of
civil society institutions and human rights, Ella Pamfilova. She claims
that a large number of arguments related to the problem has been collected
and that "the president has taken a very serious attitude to this theme
and issued instructions to inquire thoroughly into the affair."
"I would like to hope very much that this is a clear expression of the
position taken by Dmitry Medvedev, and that his position is confined to
strict compliance with Russia's international liabilities and,
consequently, with the requirements posed by the UNESCO World Heritage
Committee, which is categorically against the Okhta-Center skyscraper,"
the ZAKS.ru website quotes political scientist Boris Vishnevsky as saying.
"The authorities of St. Petersburg and Governor Valentina Matvienko
personally have so far brushed off these demands with contempt. I hope
that after the instruction that has arrived from the presidential staff
they will no longer be able to do so," he said.
Until just recently neither the president, nor the government
intervened in the plans for building the controversial tower, leaving the
issue to the mercy of the regional authorities - and these had developed a
great liking towards Gazprom's idea, says the weekly Argumenty I Fakty.
The press-service of the Okhta Center public and business center told
the daily Vedomosti no work is in progress at the selected site at the
moment, and the city authorities had made no decisions regarding its
design and construction yet.
The press-secretary of St. Petersburg's governor, Alexander
Korennikov, has said that the instruction from the presidential staff must
certainly be acted on.

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