ST. PETERSBURG — The Swedish firm Ruric, investing in the St. Petersburg complex Apraksin Dvor, has resorted to appealing to President Dmitry Medvedev via his blog after running into a brick wall in its attempts to develop the inner-city site.
In 2004 Ruric bought about 18,000 square meters of the historic market complex Apraksin Dvor and began reconstruction work on the site immediately. But a disagreement over relocation of a firehouse present at the site led the city's property management committee to annul their contract and select another partner, although Ruric had already invested $40 million in the project.
An open session summoned by Governor Valentina Matviyenko failed to resolve the problem, and an alternative site for the fire station has yet to be found.
(MT)
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