An "Italian" fate threatens Ekaterinburg’s consulate district

11.10.2010 — Analysis

Currently the metropolis has two diplomatic locations. The Consulates General of the Czech Republic, Hungary, the US, and Great Britain, as well as the Bulgarian Consulate, are all found at 15 Gogolya street. The Vietnamese and French diplomatic missions and the Danish trade mission are registered at a building at 22 Karla Libknekhta. Diplomats from other countries are scattered throughout the city.

Aleksandr Misharin, the governor of the Central Urals, claimed that the regional government is committed to finding comfortable and secure accommodations for the diplomatic missions in Ekaterinburg. According to him, most of these delegations are working out of commercially-owned buildings. But that is only a temporary solution. Work has begun to allocate land to the diplomatic missions so they can build their own buildings. It has been suggested, that a "consulate" district might develop in downtown Ekaterinburg, along Bolshakova street, near the Zelenaya Roshcha park and the Uralets sports complex. However, the regional authorities have not yet considered a number of details that could derail the project, ranging from financial to architectural issues.

As Sergei Ivanov, the first secretary at the Russian Foreign Ministry office in Ekaterinburg, has told RusBusinessNews, there is no pressing need to build this district right now, since all the diplomatic missions in the capital of the Urals are already in place. No new influx of diplomats from other countries is expected in the near future. "They're still just discussing opening a Consulate General for Cyprus, and other countries have only made political declarations about setting up missions. We're not assessing those statements and have no comment on them. The Foreign Ministry is only involved when a country's leadership makes an official appeal in the manner established by the norms of international law," he explained.

Sergei Ivanov thinks that the area along Bolshakova street would prove inadequate as a "consulate district," as it has been enthusiastically titled. The land has already been divided into three sections and it is just not possible to break it up any further. So it would be very difficult to call the buildings that will be constructed there a district.

One of the properties in the potential district has already been assigned to the German Consulate General, the second has been reserved by the Czechs, and the third by the People's Republic of China. "The Germans are the most prepared of the group. They've already developed a design for the future building. They submitted it to the local court this past summer. After the facility is approved, it will be built within two years," said Sergei Ivanov.

Right now the German Consulate is housed in the Atrium Palace Hotel, but the diplomats are unhappy with the high rent. In the consulate itself, the agencies explained to this correspondent, that it would be premature to comment on their potential participation in the project to build a "district." Nor did the Czechs allow themselves to make any observations.

Experts suggest that everyone has tightened their belts after the economic crisis, and thus no new construction initiatives are on the horizon. For example, the Vietnamese general consul in Ekaterinburg, Le Quy Quynh, claimed that Aleksandr Misharin's idea to build a consulate district was a good one, but the Vietnamese government was not presently willing to allocate funds to construct a building. The Vietnamese diplomatic mission continues to lease 171 sq. meters of space at 22 Karla Libknekhta.

Only the Chinese are expressing any particular interest in the project. As Mr. Lee, the chief of staff at the Chinese Consulate in Ekaterinburg, claimed, the government of the Middle Kingdom is very happy with the property in the Bolshakova area, but there is still the question of the amount of space.

"We were originally promised 2,000 sq. meters, then 3,500, but that's still not very much. We would like to have 1.5 hectares, but we understand that that's just not available in the middle of the city. So, we'll probably have to settle for this proposal. Of course we'll pay for our own construction expenses, but I can't give you an exact figure. We haven't yet received an official response from the Russian Foreign Ministry," said Mr. Lee.

The Chinese interest is understandable. "Today there are about 200,000 Chinese citizens living in Ekaterinburg, either legally or illegally. In fact, the Chinese make up one-tenth of the city's population. Right now the consulate is in a small building and there's always a huge line of Chinese outside. So it's completely natural that China is thinking about getting a larger building of its own," thinks Konstantin Selyanin, an analyst in the Central Urals.

So, if the Europeans refuse to take part in this project, the consulate district might become a Chinese district. And the government of the Middle Kingdom would probably not mind getting part of the Czech property, as well.

A diplomatic district or a green zone?

One stumbling block in the construction of this district could be the objections of the city's residents. Earlier, Ekaterinburg's leading architect, Mikhail Vyatkin, stated that the buildings would not disturb the Zelenaya Roshcha park. However, there are those who feel that many of the trees along the pedestrian zone on Bolshakova will have to be destroyed in order to build the new consulate district. Considering that recently the residents of the capital of the Urals have held public hearings and meetings to express their active interest in the city's architectural character, a real storm might be brewing.

"The public is very upset about the idea of losing part of the park. Building a consulate district where people like to take walks is going to provoke a public backlash," believes Aleksei Maltsev, the general director of the R.management firm.

He suggests that this area not be allocated for this type of construction. Consular facilities should not be located in recreational or residential areas, especially bedroom communities. "They should be in their own, secluded area, with all the infrastructure they need so the consular staff can live and work there. I think that this district should be located in the city's historic center," notes Aleksei Maltsev.

But other experts believe that this new diplomatic district could bring prestige to the area around Bolshakova. Gennady Chernykh, the general director of the management firm Pred-Grupp, is certain that this section of Bolshakova street is nothing but a run-down park with old buildings. He thinks that the consulate district would have a civilizing influence on the area. "There are several dorms there for the Ural State Mining University, and you find all kinds of people there, in all kinds of conditions. It's not just mothers pushing strollers. I'm certain everything that will be built will be very high quality. These will be expensive, European buildings, nothing flashy. But at the same time, a new construction shouldn't clash with its surroundings - it should form an organic whole. I hope that this district will enhance the region," Gennady Chernykh emphasizes.

By the way, the issue of the buildings' appearance has not yet been resolved. A group of German diplomats and architects presented a project to the city's municipal court, but Arkady Chernetsky, Ekaterinburg's mayor, sent it back for revision. The draft of the building by the architectural firm Bez + Kock, GmbH, had won a special competition in Germany, but seemed too austere to him.

Arkady Chernetsky thinks that the practically blank façade of the German building that would face Bolshakova would not beautify the street. The minimalism, simple geometric forms, and flat roof might be wrong for a parklike setting. Commenting on the draft plan, the mayor proposed that the developers try to liven up the building's façade.

Experts are suggesting that developing the Bolshakova site might drag on for years, like the construction of Ekaterinburg's Italian district. The first stone of its foundation was laid more than five years ago. Several shopping and recreational centers, stores, banks, restaurants, residential buildings, and homes were planned for about a 200-hectare area north of Lake Shartash. But the process of coordinating the work with the Italian investors has dragged on for so long that the project seemed to have frozen solid.

Mariya Truskova