18 April 2021

Puteyskaya Financial District Given Green Light

Project set to cost И‎₽7 billion approx.

A render of what the planned Puteyskaya Financial District will look like.

It has been announced today that the Puteyskaya Financial District Project will go ahead. It follows years of conflict between the Government and some local Vyborg residents. Originally the largely baron peninsula a stonesthrow away from Vyborg city centre was penned to be developed into a public park until being put on hold by the Vyborg City Council. A few months later, it was leaked that the council were discussing with the government about planning an ambitious construction project on the site.

Today the project was officially unveilled at government buildings by Prime Minister Daria Shchegolyayeva and Minister of Transport & Infrastructure Igor Medinsky. Representatives from ZDF Construction showed off the official plans for the project which includes modern office buildings, residential accomadation, a small shopping centre, a cinema, a museum and a five-level underground car park.

The landmark building however will be the "Rayskaya Bashnya" or "Paradise Tower" in English. This will be a 130m high skyscraper with 36 stories and will include luxury residential apartments (costing $1-1.5 million each), office spaces, a public viewing gallery, hotel, a number of retail outlets on the ground floor, affordable residential apartments at the rear of the building and a private underground car park for residents only. The estimated cost of the tower alone estimated at И‎₽2 billion (~$150 million) and will take three years to complete.

A render of the Rayskaya Bashnya showing the design from the rear of the skyscraper.

The total cost of the project is set to be around И‎₽7 billion (~$500 million), which will be spread out over a number of years. The project is being managed by a new company called Puteyskaya Strategic Development Zone (PSDZ). Some 15% of PSDZ shares are owned by the Princely Family of Romanovskaya Foundation, while private Romanovan investment firm CRC Capital Partners will hold 10%. 75% will be owned by the Romanovan State with 50% of its shares being offered for sale to international investors, with shares capped at 10% per business/person. Shares will be initially offered at $6 million per 1% share. This may increase depending on uptake.

CEO of PSDZ Sergey Shishinin spoke to the Romanovskaya Gazette about the project. He said "this development is an ambitious step for Romanovskaya to assert itself as a financial hub in Europe. Romanovskaya has already been a leader in financial services globally, and establishing this financial district will be key to attracting even more outside investment to our Principality."

We also approached PM Daria Shchegolyayeva for her feelings about the project. "It is incredibly exciting. Once this project is completed, we will have a very modern and contemporary place to conduct business, for both native firms and foreign investors. Oour diverse trade deals which would give any company setting up in Romanovskaya access to a tariff-free market of over 1.5 billion people, as well as our extremely corporate tax system here should be major attractors to outside investors. Given we are also a stable democracy with robust banking privacy laws investors can be assured their investments will be very safe."

Prime Minister Daria Shchegolyayeva with Transport & Infrastructure Minister Igor Medinsky
viewing plans for the new financial district with local businessmen.

The project is set to give an instant boost to the economy, particularly to the construction sector which in recent years had been stagnating. Into the future it is believed the project will pay for itself just a few years following completion. While the majority of Vyborg residents are in favour, some are against the project believing it will detract from the quaint historical city look Vyborg is known for. Planners however have denied this, saying the financial district will far enough away to not detract from the cities aesthetic while still being central enough to justify the size of the project.

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