A giant Soviet-era statue will be reopened on December 3 in northeast Moscow after a long-delayed restoration, a city official said on Monday.

The Worker and the Collective Farm Woman by Vera Mukhina, one of the most prominent statues to shape Moscow's landscape, was dismantled for restoration in 2003 and was initially expected to be returned in 2005. Authorities cited lack of financing for repeated delays.

"The opening of the restored statue near the VVTs [all-Russia exhibition center] will be held on December 3," the official said, adding that work to assemble the restored fragments of the monument was currently winding down.

Earlier reports said the statue would be put back on its pedestal on December 5.

First Deputy Moscow Mayor Vladimir Resin said earlier the statue would last several centuries after restoration.

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov had pledged the statue's platform would be increased to a height of 37 meters to house an exhibition hall capable of accommodating 5,000 people and a cafe. Its total area will be over 8,000 sq m.

The 24-meter high steel statue was first showcased at an exhibition in Paris in 1937. It features two figures which seem to be moving briskly, holding aloft a hammer and sickle, the symbols of the Soviet Union. Although the statue was created to glorify communism, the enduring strength and grandeur of the image is cherished by many Muscovites.

MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)