He said how he cut it

Yuri Luzhkov confirmed the decision to demolish the “extra” floors of the “House on Mosfilmovskaya”

The scandalous story of the elite skyscraper on Pyryeva Street, better known as the “House on Mosfilmovskaya”, is reaching a new level. The city authorities are demonstrating their firm intention to force a large developer to remove unplanned floors. Yesterday, the position of the mayor’s office was voiced by mayor Yuri Luzhkov himself. In the “Week in the City” program on the Rossiya 1 TV channel, he stated that the illegally erected floors must be “cut off” and there will be no other decisions by the Moscow authorities. True, so far the harsh verdict of officials exists only in the form of loud statements - the Don-Stroy company assures that it has not yet received any written orders from the capital government.

The behavior of the developer, however, was called outrageous by the mayor of Moscow. Mr. Luzhkov noted that the maximum height of the building was initially agreed upon with the chief architect of the city, Alexander Kuzmin, but then the builders exceeded the size of the house. “According to what is agreed upon, cut it off, everything else - how many floors there will be - 10, 20 - cut it off. You won’t get any other options for what you ultimately build and what will require appropriate city decisions,” the mayor threatened the managers of the development company. He added that the Moscow government commission discussed the situation with the construction of this skyscraper with representatives of the developer. But company spokeswoman Ekaterina Kukanova told Vremya Novostei that “as of Friday” no orders had been received from the authorities to demolish floors at Don-Stroy.

The hype around the unfinished skyscraper began in the middle of last week. Officials suddenly noticed that in the almost finished building, where most of the apartments had already been sold, the number of floors was too high. About seven or eight floors turned out to be superfluous, according to the mayor's office. The indignant author of the “Houses on Mosfilmovskaya” project, architect Sergei Skuratov, says that the authorities are demanding the demolition of 50 meters of his house, which he himself considers an example of the use of innovations in design and construction. The project, which participated in international competitions, could be ruined by the lack of coordination between officials and the developer, the architect claims.

In another clash in the field of urban planning, Moscow authorities and business seem to have finally come to an agreement. Yuri Luzhkov said in a television interview yesterday that the construction of the Rossiya Hotel has moved forward. “Our disputes with the contractor (ST Development company Shalva Chigirinsky - Ed. ) lasted for about five years. Today the disputes are over and we are starting work there,” he said. As the mayor assured, the new hotel project, which should appear on the site of the destroyed building, will suit the majority of Muscovites. The new building will no longer be a “monster” perceived “very negatively” by townspeople, the mayor assured. “These will be Moscow houses, Moscow architecture and, most importantly, the Rossiya concert hall in a new design,” noted Yuri Luzhkov.

Speaking about the struggle of the authorities for the triumph of law and order in the construction sector, the mayor did not fail to speak out in defense of the general plan. Mr. Luzhkov complained that criticism of the document , which came into force two weeks ago, comes from incompetent individuals who have not bothered to properly study it. The mayor is personally convinced that “the general plan is a normal document.” “I signed it with a calm hand. If there were no master plan, then the arbitrariness, and I would say, self-will, in decision-making would be much wider. The General Plan protects Moscow and Muscovites from exorbitant, incorrect decisions on the formation of the general urban planning appearance of the city,” said the mayor of the capital.

Daria LUGANSKAYA