Yekaterina Kuzmina / SPT

St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko

President Dmitry Medvedev has appointed longtime politician Georgy Poltavchenko as governor of St. Petersburg, and the replacement of Valentina Matviyenko, who had governed Europe's fourth-largest city since 2003, has already brought significant changes to the real estate scene. More changes could be in store.

Much like Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin did with construction projects initiated by predecessor Yury Luzhkov, Poltavchenko has been re-evaluating — and, in some cases, canceling — projects started under Matviyenko. The new administration will finish an audit of all large Matviyenko-era projects by this spring, Kommersant reported.

At the end of September, or just a month after his appointment, Poltavchenko froze three infrastructure projects with a combined cost of more than 70 billion rubles ($2.3 billion). Those were the Orlovsky tunnel and the Novoadmiralteisky bridge, both in the early stages of construction, and a planned high-speed underground tram line running to Polkovo Airport, Vedomosti reported.

Previously, 3.5 billion rubles ($113 million) of city funds had been allocated for the tunnel, which was to run under the Neva River, connecting the Smolnaya Naberezhnaya and Sverdlovskaya Naberezhnaya. The bridge was to run over the river and connect Vasilievsky and Novo-Admiralteisky islands and had 1.5 billion rubles earmarked for its construction.

After canceling the Orlovsky tunnel in early October, Poltavchenko revisited the topic, saying "the city needs the Orlovsky tunnel" and noting that a final decision had not yet been made, Interfax reported. Nonetheless, funds for the construction of the tunnel have already been removed from the city's 2012 budget.

In addition, St. Petersburg's city hall canceled a long-awaited bridge that would have connected the Island of the Decembrists with the Petrograd Side through Serny Island mid-river, which was set to take 1 billion rubles from the city budget.

Vice-Governor Sergei Vyazalov has called into question two projects — the 33 billion ruble construction of a new arena for local football club Zenit and the planned demolition and reconstruction of 22 blocks of Soviet-era apartment housing — but they have supported by the otherwise tight-lipped Poltavchenko via his Twitter feed.

The arena, which has been delayed until November 2012, is now set to cost the city 33 billion rubles, after the initial cost of 23.7 billion rubles was expanded in January. Meanwhile, the renovation project has angered local residents with its plans to renovate two blocks of historic buildings.

 In addition to reviewing projects of the previous administration, the new governor also intends to develop his own initiatives. Poltavchenko wants to propose a federal targeted program for the preservation of the city's historical heritage, as well as a program to strengthen building foundations in the historical center, he said in a speech after his confirmation in September. Housing and historical preservation are two areas of particular concern for residents, and Matviyenko was limited by available finances in her attempts to tackle them, Vedemosti reported.

Another issue high on the agenda for the city is falling icicles, which have injured hundreds of citizens and claimed lives. The poor operation of public utilities in the wintertime has also drawn criticism. Even Medvedev has taken an interest in solving these problems, discussing St. Petersburg's readiness for winter with Poltavchenko in early November. Poltavchenko said that besides purchasing new snow-removal equipment, the city has conducted renovations of attics and roofs to reduce the number of icicles.

"I hope there will be fewer icicles," RIA-Novosti quoted Poltavchenko as saying. "We will battle with them mercilessly."