The crisis changes the scenery

Novaya's columnist Boris Vishnevsky talks about why the dictatorship doesn't know how to deal with crises

medical workers have died in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (*according to the “Memory List”)

It’s truly: trouble has come - open the gates!.. A crisis is in the yard, and then the governor’s offices in Smolny are so dilapidated that there is no way to govern the city normally. Having tightened our belts so that uninterrupted work would not stop for the benefit of the treasury of St. Petersburg and its taxpayer residents, offices No. 374, 374a, 376, 378 had to be condemned.

Almost 32 million will be spent on refurbishing the governor’s offices in Smolny

Unusable interiors

A verdict is worth more than money
Upon closer examination, it turns out that everything is not so hopeless. The mentioned objects were sentenced not to demolition or even reconstruction, like some historical building in the neighborhood, but only to major repairs - which in itself inspires optimism, and, presumably, it will cost much less.
If you believe the draft estimate, it is possible to bring 221 square meters of space in the very heart of the executive branch into divine shape for only 31 million 768 thousand 130 rubles. Of this, the actual “overhaul of offices” will cost even less - 24 million 651 thousand 210 rubles. The remaining seven million or so will be spent on design and survey work - 810,350 rubles, technical supervision - 352,520, unforeseen costs (you never know!) - 521,890, etc.
Of course, we, mere sharks of the pen, are not invited to the mayor’s citadel, but looking at the photographs... However, draw your own conclusions. We are not professionals and readily believe that the state of the offices is depressing.

Velvet dismantling
As Novaya’s source, who is directly related to this project, said, absolutely everything is going to be replaced: stucco decoration, doors, windows, trim, cabinets, wooden wall cladding, parquet, chandeliers, sconces... “All decorative elements of wall cladding and openings, ceiling rosettes, chandeliers, window and door fittings, as well as parquet must be dismantled as carefully as possible and identified for storage and further use,” says paragraph 9 of the “General Instructions” of the interior finishing sheet.
As you understand, there are a lot of versions regarding “further use”; for example: give it to an orphanage. Or to a psychoneurological boarding school (the old building of PNI No. 1 on Smolny Street is being demolished to clear the territory for the elite multifunctional complex “Smolny Quarter”, and the patients are being relocated to Zelenogorsk and Krasnoe Selo). The suggestion made by one of our colleagues using the term “official dachas” was rejected out of hand as cynical and tactless.
The only catch is that the Smolny building complex with all its premises and interiors is still a monument. Is it legal: a) to replace historical parts with a new one and b) to use them somewhere else - apparently, yes, since the experts decided so.

Brush for a damn dozen
Of particular interest is the equipment specification for the so-called domestic premises - who doesn’t dream of a French bidet! For example, a toilet seat costs 10,260 rubles; overhead shower - 31,053 rubles; hand shower - 17,622 rubles, hydromassage nozzle (6 pieces) - 52,680 rubles; sink faucet - 32,160 rubles (they say, by the way, a very reasonable price!). I was especially pleased with the little things that set the mood: holders for toilet paper - for 7,495 rubles and for a towel (ring) - for 6,749; a dispenser for liquid soap for 13,618 rubles and a brush for 12,794 rubles.
Honestly, I don't mind! After all, the crisis, to slightly paraphrase Bulgakov’s hero, begins with the toilet...
At the beginning of the text, we forgot to mention that the summary estimate of the cost of repairs was compiled based on the prices of October last year. And now the number “31,768,130” can be adjusted either upward - taking into account inflation, or downward - if, with the help of a tender, a company is found that is ready to work for such a Customer at the minimum price. And then, in conditions of a severe crisis, it will be possible to save a considerable amount of banknotes from our treasury, dear readers.

Igor NESTERENKO