A. Makhonin / Vedomosti

The approximate cost of creating a park in Zaryadye on the site of the demolished Rossiya Hotel will be 10 billion rubles, said Moscow's chief architect Sergei Kuznetsov. "The approximate cost of creating a park in Zaryadye is estimated at 10 billion rubles, and will be financed from the city budget," Kuznetsov told journalists on Monday. According to him, six concepts have been selected for the competition from all the submitted ones, and the amount will be specified after the winner is chosen.

Acting head of the Moscow Department of Culture Sergei Kapkov noted that the park can only be compared with the Olympic Park in London. "When the park is ready and handed over to the Department of Culture, we will be able to free up Red Square and hold festivals and concerts of world stars in the park," he said.

Kuznetsov expects that work on creating Zaryadye Park on the site of the demolished Rossiya will begin this year. The authorities are not tasked with building retail space — there will be popular science, museum, and exhibition spaces there.

The fate of the land plot in Zaryadye was decided personally by Vladimir Putin in January 2012. During the election campaign, he visited the site of the demolished hotel and suggested to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin that a park be built there. “In the center of Moscow, almost all park facilities have been destroyed over the decades; there are practically none,” he explained his initiative, putting an end to the discussion of whether to build a new hotel or a parliamentary center on the site of “Rossiya.”

The park in Zaryadye on the site of the demolished "Rossiya" is valued at 10 billion rubles.