An unheard-of law suit has started in Petersburg: for the first time in Russia archeologists are sued for having found valuable cultural sites and refusal to approve their destruction.
The finds in question are the Swedish fortresses Nyenschantz and Landskrone and an Old Russian fortress dating back to the Neva Battle on Okhta Cape (13th century). The remains of these fortresses are among the major obstacles for building of the Gazprom skyscraper.
It was considered that the fortresses had been destroyed during the reign of Peter I, but the head of archeological expedition Peter Sorokin found out that they had remained surprisingly well intact. So he refused to sign the certificates for building construction. Now the former building owner accuses archeologists of defaulting on the contract.
Vasily Nefedov, an employee of the Archaeology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences denounced this unprecedented move in an interview for Gazeta.Ru: “It is an unheard-of barbarity to destroy such a great monument. There is nothing of the kind in this entire region. Let them construct their ‘gas-scraper’ in some other place! It is clear that they want in their own way to join this history that counts hundreds of years, and place a symbol of their grandeur in this strategically important place. If the community complies with it, so be it.”
Source: Russia-IC [December 06, 2010]