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Kiev Preservationists Rally

KIEV — Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, was forced to scrap plans to build a business center at a historic tourist site in Kiev after public outcry.

Several hundred protesters, alerted through Facebook, turned out to rally last week against plans by the billionaire's System Capital Management company to build a multistory business center on Andriyivsky Spusk, a picturesque cobbled street and a well-known tourist spot.

The protests came too late to stop bulldozers from destroying at least one 19th century building and wrecking another built 40 years ago in mock 19th-century style, cultural officials said.

(Reuters)

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