Dutch Architect Erick van Egeraat to Be Summoned to Court in Moscow

26.06.2009 — News

UGRA.

A scandal which may tarnish the reputation of the famous Dutch architect is bound to break in the north of Russia. A private company in Khanty-Mansiysk is going to cancel a contract with the architect bureau Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects in a judicial proceeding.

In 2007 OOO VID Stroy (Khanty-Mansiysk) signed an agreement with the government of Ugra about the construction of a hotel and business complex of 62.2 thousand square metres based on a project by Erick van Egeraat. The architectural design for Ugra, worth about 3 billion roubles, was actively promoted in Russia and abroad.

According to the design, the complex was to have a five star hotel, several restaurants, a recreational complex and boutiques. Initially the construction was planned to start as early as in 2008 and finish in 2010. However, it was later decided that the project work was to be finished in the autumn of 2009. But the developer assumes that the company, which has been pronounced bankrupt in the Netherlands, won't manage to complete the project on schedule.

On 24 June 2009 OOO VID Stroy filed an application to the Moscow City Arbitration Court demanding to cancel the contract with Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects. The third party in the case is the Department of Investment, Science and Technology of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra.

The representative of the Dutch architect in Russia told RusBusinessNews that Erik van Egeraat does not know anything about the claims yet. Meanwhile, the construction of a 36 thousand square meters trade centre Vershina (Summit) is about to end in Surgut, Ugra's largest city. This trade centre was designed by Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects.