"Kidburg" will open in the shopping center "Gorizont" on December 1 on an area of 2500 sq.m., which is leased for seven years, said the general director of LLC "Kidburg" Maximilian Pivovarov. "The appearance of the children's city will strengthen the status of "Gorizont" as a family shopping and entertainment complex," confirms the general director of "Gorizont" Dan Polonsky.

"Kidburg is an educational and entertainment facility where children aged 5 to 14 can learn a profession in a playful manner. Each child is given a passport and cash, which they decide how to spend. The city will house hospitals, a fire station, a cafe, a farm, an art school and a dance school, a police station and a rescue service, TV and radio stations, a newspaper office, a printing house, a race track and other establishments," Pivovarov lists.

According to him, a little more than 1 million euros have been invested in the Rostov project, these are the owners' funds, and they are planned to be recouped in one and a half to two years. Kidburg was created in St. Petersburg last summer, and opened its first and so far only facility in the Grand Canyon shopping mall. Tickets to the Rostov Kidburg will cost 500-1000 rubles, depending on the day of the week and the type of event (individual or group visit), a ticket provides unlimited stay in the city, Pivovarov adds.

"Kidburg in St. Petersburg has been visited by 250,000 people since its opening, and its popularity has given rise to the idea of opening a similar center in Rostov, which has no analogues. We expect 600-700 on weekdays and up to 1,000 visitors on holidays and weekends," he says.

According to SPARK-Interfax, 24.5% of Kidburg belongs to the former CEO of Lenta LLC (which owns the hypermarket chain of the same name) Alexey Bobrov, the same share belongs to the co-owner of the St. Petersburg Ventilator plant Vitaly Matsnev. Oksana Orlova, Ekaterina Andreyevskaya and Ekaterina Pustoshnaya own 17% each; the three of them own Skazkin Dom LLC, which opened an interactive museum for children of the same name in St. Petersburg in 2009.

Bobrov confirmed his participation in Kidburg, but was unable to comment because he was abroad. "The social significance of the project and love for children," Pivovarov explains Bobrov's participation. Bobrov worked at Lenta since 2006, and was its CEO from 2008 until he left the company in September 2009.

"Such centers are in demand in our country. In the regions, there is nothing but "empty" entertainment, "Kidburg" in St. Petersburg has proven itself to be a fairly successful establishment in the edutainment format, it will also be successful," says the CEO of the holding company "Agat Group" (developing the network of cities for children Minopolis) Alexander Ivanov. He believes that the attendance of "Kidburg" on weekends can reach 600 people, on weekdays it will be less. "2500 sq.m is a small area, it will allow to implement the concept of edutainment only at an elementary level," adds Ivanov.

Children will be given jobs