Ukraine threatens architects from Austria for participating in Putin's personal project
Ukraine is threatening Austria-based architecture firm Coop Himmelblau for its involvement in the Sevastopol opera house project overseen by President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Austria Alexander Shcherba stated this in his blog, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The diplomat said that he met with the head of this bureau and warned him of sanctions if the company did not abandon its plans.
“For some time now there have been rumors about the participation of the architectural bureau “Coop Himmelblau” in Putin’s flagship project in Crimea - the construction of an opera house in occupied Sevastopol. At the beginning of October, I called the director of the bureau, Wolf Prix, and tried to convince him not to ruin his reputation by participating in this indirect and at the same time unambiguous legitimization of the annexation.
Unfortunately, he did not listen to my arguments. At this stage, when the rumors are vividly confirmed by the Russian media, I have no choice but to express regret and inform Architect Prix that Ukraine is seriously studying the issue of imposing sanctions against him and his bureau. Our partners around the world will be notified that a once respectable architectural firm is now making dubious deals with Putin,” Shcherba said.
He was supported in his blog by the Ukrainian economist Andrei Klimenko, who fled from Crimea, who has now declared himself a member of the “Maidan of Foreign Affairs”: “From my own almost 7-year experience of sanctions work, there is no doubt that we will either force the Astrian architectural bureau refuse to work in Crimea, or we will simply destroy their reputation in the civilized world. They will cry and complain, but it will be too late.”
The development of Cape Khrustalny in Sevastopol has not only cultural, but also important political significance. The project was announced during Vladimir Putin's visit to the city. Large cultural objects should be operational in Sevastopol by 2023, along with other geopolitical outposts of the Russian World - Kaliningrad and Vladivostok.
The President of the Russian Federation approved the project and asked not to delay it. For Sevastopol, they even specially changed the city planning regulations, since less than half a million people officially live in the city, which means that the opera house was not built.
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