OREANDA-NEWS  On 13 October was announced, that a SOOO Minsk-City Supervisory Board visiting session chaired by Vladimir Resin had taken place in Moscow. It was confirmed there that the construction of the Minsk-City multi-purpose complex was entering its first stage.

Sergei Kiselev, General Director of SOOO Minsk-City, reported that all preliminary work was complete. This enabled demolition of a local Precast Concrete Plant and development of about an 11 ha territory. According to the plan, the first residential district of a new town will appear there before 2011. It is a known fact that the entire Minsk-City including a business center, a trade and recreational complex, residential districts intended for 60 thousand inhabitants, and a network of social facilities shall occupy 318 ha. The construction is to last until 2020. An indicative value of the Project is USD  5 billion.

Construction of a Minsk National Airport, an Aircraft Maintenance Center and a Business Aircraft Center had been started in the region based on an investment agreement by and between the Republic of Belarus and IТЕRAVNUKOVO Ltd. The old Aircraft Repair Plant shall be relocated from the Minsk-City area.

Mikhail Balakin, Chairman of ZAO SU-155 Board of Directors, stated that SU-155, general contractor of the Minsk-City Project, would complete a production base before late this year for it to implement the entire variety of construction activities.

The session approved of a detailed construction schedule for the year to come and the construction financing program. VTB and the Bank for Foreign Economic Activity, members of the Minsk-City Project, shall finance the Program.

Valeriy Korotkov, General Director of OJSC ITERA-Invest-Stroy, pointed out that all requirements by the banks had been fulfilled to receive loans for the first construction stage to commence.

Members of the Supervisory Board revised a sketchy version of the would-be city. A prominent European architect bureau that participated in a respectable international contest for the best Minsk-City construction concept developed the presentation. The winner shall be announced this October.

After the presentation, Vladimir Resin stressed that essential precondition to the concept was an organic combination of a new town style with architectural traditions of the capital city of Byelorussia. “In implementing this Project, - he explained, - we keep in mind all pros and cons we came across in implementing the Moscow-City Project".

Vladimir Dmitriev, Chairman of the Board of the Bank for Foreign Economic Activity, Pavel Kosov, Senior Vice-President of OJSC VTB, Vitaliy Vantsev, Chairman of the Board of OJSC International Airport Vnukovo, Nicholas Stepanov, Board Member of OJSC ITERA-Invest-Story took part in the SOOO Minsk-City Supervisory Board session.