St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko requested Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to exclude the city from the list of historic settlements, Russian daily Kommersant said on Thursday citing a letter from the governor.
Since July 2010, authorities in historic settlements are required to coordinate their town-planning documentation with the government's cultural watchdog, Rosokhrankultura. The St. Petersburg government believes that such a procedure is redundant and may hamper investment and construction projects.
The city's authorities cited Moscow, Pskov and Novgorod, which are also rich with historical heritage, were not on the list.
Rosokhrankultura's head of Regulation of Urban Planning Department, Andrei Nikiforov, said that Moscow, Pskov and Novgorod have less than 55% of historic buildings within the cities, and therefore cannot be listed among historic settlements.
Local residents and public activists were outraged earlier by the plans of Russian energy giant Gazprom to build the Okhta Business Center. Downtown St. Petersburg is a UNESCO world heritage site and many believe the construction would distort the city's low skyline.
Gazprom has since scrapped its plans to build the business center.
MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti)
