Posts Tagged ‘Okhta Center’
I Missed This
The saga of Okhta Centre continues…
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said Friday that the Okhta-Center should be built in St. Petersburg, but that a better location should be chosen, Itar-Tass reported.
The controversial 400-meter high skyscraper should be constructed on Vasilyevsky Island, where it could function as a lighthouse, or on the territory of the Rzhevsky range outside the city, Gryzlov told reporters at a United Russia forum in St. Petersburg.
Okhta Centre: The Saga Continues
Article at Radio Free Europe on Okhta Centre.
Writing on the gazeta.ru news site, political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky suggested it had long been clear “the corncob would most likely never get built,” adding that Gazprom’s total debt “has reached $60 billion — that is, 30 corncobs.”
The energy giant, he concluded, “would have a hard time finding an extra $2 billion to build a business center. One which, if you look at it carefully and think it through, no one needs.” Read the rest of this entry »
More on Okhta Centre
The deputy director of Okhta Center, Vladimir Gronsky, sang praises to the skyscraper in the NTV report. “People call it a corncob, but I don’t see anything bad in a corncob,” he said. “The corncob is nature’s ideal creation.”
Well, that’s what I always think about when I think about Okhta. Hence my nickname for it: “The Corn Palace.”
But according to The Moscow Times, the Clan War continues:
In a sign of the division, two state-controlled television channels aired competing reports on Sunday night about Okhta Center, which is to serve as the headquarters for Gazprom Neft but has met with fierce public opposition.
Over at Russia Profile Svetlana Kononova asks the question: Are Skyscrapers a Crime Against St Petersburg’s Heritage, or a Boon to Its Development?
According to a recent poll conducted by TOY-Opinion Research Company and ECOM Center of Expertise, 66 percent of respondents would vote against construction of the tower. Forty percent said they “categorically object” and 26 percent said that they are “somewhat against” it. Seven percent support the project “entirely,” and 13 percent said they are “fairly” supportive of it.
If St. Petersburg were added to the list of world heritage sites in danger, 63.6 percent of respondents said that this loss could not be compensated for with any amount of money.
Those who are most supportive of the project are students and managers—20 percent of them voted for the Okhta Center.
And now Okhta Centre, and Valentina Matviyenko are back-pedalling. Well, it’s not for sure yet. Really? Well, that’s cool. If true, then maybe Russians will see that they have the power to affect change.
Okhta Centre
If you find it a little odd that I keep writing about this subject, I do too. It should technically have nothing to do with the Power Vertical, but as I noted in my previous post on this subject, it is turning into a possible Clan War. It is also something that is close to my heart because I lived in Peter for 4 months at Uni. And if I were there now, I would so have been out there with the protesters last weekend. To me this is just another example of the complete lack of respect that the Putin regime has for its country, and its citizens.
P.S. Watch the video in this article entitled “Miller, put your phallus away!” It is worth it for the sign alone. Actually, just watch all the videos.
Putinania 