Andy Potts

The fate of the Rossiya hotel site - currently lying derelict and strewn with half-demolished buildings - is little clearer following the dismissal of Shalva Chigirinsky's law suit against Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov.

Moscow's Arbitration Court gave short shrift to Chigirinsky's claim for 4 billion roubles ($132 million) he claims City Hall owes his ST Development company for work carried out on the prime riverside site.

But the ongoing legal wrangling gives little indication of the likely end result, with there now seeming to be little prospect of Sir Norman Foster's grand design for a landmark hotel and commercial complex ever being built.

Friday's hearing went ahead after a protest from ST Development's lawyers, who asked for the trial to be postponed until they had received extra papers from the authorities - in particular a memo from the Department of Road and Bridge Construction which detailed many of the costs under dispute.

In court the city claimed that it was impossible to pay 4 billion roubles when ST Development had provided no service or end product, RIA Novosti reported from the courtroom.
But ST Development's representatives countered by saying this was untrue.

"They got the cleared site, with utilities laid beneath it, and both pre-project and project development," the court heard.

The government also got 49 per cent of the site "without putting in a penny", representatives said.

Moscow's first deputy mayor Vladimir Resin said last month that the city was hoping to reopen the first part of the redeveloped complex in 2012. He added that a new design for the hotel was being worked on at the moment. 

Timeline

Dec. 8, 2004 - Shalva Chigirinsky's ST Development wins the tender to demolish the Rossiya Hotel and rebuild on the site. A rival bidder, Monab, starts a law suit claiming the contract was unfairly awarded but three judges dismiss the case.

Feb. 2006 - demolition work begins on the site.

­Jan. 2007 - Russia's Supreme Arbitration Court finds that the initial tender procedure was unfair and declares the outcome of the competition null and void.

2008 - work on the site is suspended, with the hotel almost totally demolished, due to Chigirinsky's financial problems.

Spring 2009 - Chigirinsky launches legal action against the owners of the land to retrieve his costs.

Aug. 2009 - Moscow authorities announce they will draw up a new plan for the site from scratch.

Nov. 2009 - Moscow authorities report that the land owners will repay Chigirinsky 500 million roubles, but senior officials admit that the total claim could reach 4 billion roubles.

Dec. 2009 - Chigirinsky launches a law suit against City Hall for 4 billion roubles.

Feb. 5, 2010 - Chigirinsky's suit is thrown out of court.