President Dmitry Medvedev has urged St. Petersburg authorities to reconsider the height of the controversial skyscraper that Gazprom plans to construct in the city.
Medvedev gave no direct orders about the Okhta Center, but his office sent a letter to St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko reminding her "of the need to fulfill the Russian Federation's international obligations," Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said Friday.
UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural arm, opposes the construction of the Okhta Center, saying the 403-meter tower may spoil the skyline in the city's historical center, which is listed as a World Heritage site.
The Kremlin letter, signed by presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko, was also sent to the Federal Service for Protection of Cultural Heritage, said the service’s head, Alexander Kibovsky.
He said Medvedev highlighted an appeal by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to suspend all work on the construction of the Okhta Center and consider “alternative options concerning its height.”
Fulfilling these recommendations is important "for a constructive dialogue with UNESCO and to prevent damaging Russia's reputation," the letter said.
UNESCO, which has been tracking the situation with the Okhta Center since 2006, has warned that St. Petersburg may be struck off the World Heritage list if the tower is erected.
Last year, the World Heritage Committee passed a resolution calling for the project’s implementation to be halted.
UNESCO experts visited the construction site in March, but this did not change their position, which they reiterated in a report presented to Medvedev by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Matviyenko's spokesman Alexander Korennikov confirmed that the city administration had received Medvedev's letter.
“The recommendations it contains will, of course, be carefully considered in compliance with the current legislation,” he said, Itar-Tass reported.
Kibovsky said the project might undergo changes taking into account UNESCO's position.
He said this was normal practice because “every region has its own Okhta Center.”
"There are always steps back regardless of the investor and the amount of money invested," Kibovsky said at a Kislovodsk conference on the preservation of historical sites Thursday, Interfax reported.
Cultural and Business Center Okhta, the Gazprom Neft subsidiary that is developing the tower, will comply with all legislative procedures required to obtain the construction permit for the Okhta Center, said the company’s spokeswoman, Tatyana Yuryeva.
"No construction is being carried out on the site, and the project is being negotiated within the framework of the Russian legislation. Our company will act within the legal framework," she said by telephone from St. Petersburg.
Yuryeva said the construction site was located outside St. Petersburg's historical center and UNESCO's protection zone.
The legislation limits the height of the buildings in the district selected for the Gazprom tower to 100 meters. But the St. Petersburg government passed an ordinance in September bending this rule for the Okhta Center.
Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev said Friday that the decision to build the skyscraper “might be reconsidered and annulled.”
“My position has not changed. The decision by St. Petersburg's government regarding the building’s height violates the federal legislation,” he told Itar-Tass.
The Okhta Center has been in the works since 2005, and its budget was estimated at 60 billion rubles ($1.9 billion). Gazprom planned to finish construction by 2016.
The project does not violate Russian legislation, said Okhta Center architect, Filipp Nikandrov.
The tower poses no danger to the city’s skyline because it is located more than five kilometers away from the historical center, Nikandrov said.
“This is much farther compared with most European capitals where the modern vertical dominants are located closer to the historical ones,” he said.
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee declined to comment on Friday.