Russian leaders back opposition to RMJM’s Gazprom tower

In a letter to St Petersburg officials, Medvedev told the city’s leaders to take heed of Unesco’s warnings to halt the building of the proposed 403m-tall tower or see the city excluded from the list of World Heritage sites.

The RMJM-designed tower, thought to have a budget of $3 billion, was put forward as the new headquarters of energy giant Gazprom, of which Medvedev was formerly a board member.

The president wrote to the city officials to express his concern over the project’s potential to damage Russia’s reputation and its relationship with Unesco.
“President Medvedev and the Ministry of Culture are supporting the World Heritage Committee request that alternative plans for the tower be envisaged,” said a Unesco spokesman.

In a further blow, Russia’s
minister for culture, Alexander Avdeyev, has also called for the project to be stopped.
In 2008, Unesco asked Russia to halt the plans and develop alternative designs “respecting the value and spirit” of the historic city.

The Unesco committee is due to meet in Brazil next month when it will again look at St Petersburg’s position as a World Heritage site in relation to the Gazprom proposal. If the plans remain unchanged, it is expected to place the city on the World Heritage in danger list.

Russian newspaper Kommersant said extracts of Medvedev’s letter had been read out at a meeting with Alexander Kibovsky, head of Rosokhrankultura, the agency for the protection of cultural sites.

“The president gave us strict orders to ensure the unwavering observance of Russia’s international commitments under the Unesco convention,” said Kibovsky.
The developments place Medvedev and the ministry of culture at loggerheads with the St Petersburg administration, which has backed the project despite widespread public protest.

RMJM was unavailable to comment.