U.S. billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, has broken ground on a controversial sports arena half-funded by Russia's second richest man Mikhail Prokhorov.

Onexim Group president Prokhorov, whose wealth was estimated recently by Forbes at $13.4 billion, holds a 45% stake in the $1-billion project to build the arena, which is intended to be the home of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, who are expect to change their name to the Brooklyn Nets after they make the move to New York.

The Russian recently purchased an 80% stake in the New Jersey Nets, but did not attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

The Barclays Center - the British bank has bought the naming rights - is part of Brooklyn's larger $3.5 billion Atlantic Yards development, the largest privately funded project in the New York borough's history. The center is designed to host more than 200 events annually, including Nets basketball and other professional and collegiate sports, concerts, family shows.

The historic groundbreaking ceremony, which took place on Thursday in the presence of top local businessmen and officials, including Governor David Paterson and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, was marred by a nearby protest by local public activists.

The protesters chanted "Shame!" and carried giant masks of Prokhorov and the other major players in the project, which they complain was not coordinated with local civic leaders and nongovernment organizations despite being partly funded by the local budget.

"I don't understand what this Russian magnate has to do with it [the Brooklyn Center]. But any of the world's billionaires should take into consideration the opinion of local residents," a woman told RIA Novosti over the din of the protesters' hissing and angry outcries.

Just meters away from the indignant crowd high-ranking participants of the groundbreaking ceremony smiled for the cameras as they were carrying out symbolic first digs into the previously loosened ground.

Supporters of the project say the arena, due to be built in two years, and the surrounding retail and residential complexes will bring some $5 billion in taxes into the borough and the state budget over the next 30 years. The construction will provide some 17,000 jobs, and some 8,000 permanent positions will be created once Brooklyn Center is ready.

Darryl Dawkins, a retired professional basketball player most noted for his days with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, said it was "very good" that Russian Prokhorov took control of the NBA franchise.

The 44-year-old Russian billionaire, who is 204 cm (6'8") tall, is the NBA's first non-North American owner.

NEW YORK, March 12 (RIA Novosti)