Relations with Russia have hit rock bottom since Putin launched a war of aggression against Ukraine. Now the Federal Foreign Office is putting an expensive construction project on hold.
The federal government is initially rejecting a multi-million dollar construction project in the Russian capital because of Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. Actually, the residence of the German ambassador in Moscow should be completely renovated, the federal government wanted to spend 15.6 million euros for it. But the Foreign Office of Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has put the plans on hold.
“Due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the construction work for the general renovation of the residence in Moscow has been paused until the end of July 2023,” the Foreign Office said when asked by t-online. “In due course it will be checked whether the construction work should be resumed.”
The building in the Arbat district belongs to the Russian Federation, the federal government has only rented it. And, as is often the case with embassy buildings, she has made a long-term commitment: in 2006, a contract was signed for the use of the building for 99 years, as stated in an announcement in the 2007 Federal Law Gazette. So the lease runs until 2105.
Symbol of German-Russian friendship
The “Villa Schlossberg” was built in 1910 and has been the residence of the German ambassador in Moscow since 1956. It is completely under Russian monument protection. It is furnished and decorated with symbols of the longstanding close friendship between Germany and Russia – for example with a painting of the Prussian noble Catherine II, who became Empress of Russia in 1762 and was nicknamed “The Great”.
According to the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR), as part of the general renovation, the villa is to be made barrier-free and the fire protection is to be brought up to date. In addition, the technology in the building is to be modernized, the gardens redesigned and moisture damage repaired. The contract for the basic renovation was awarded to the architects “Krekeler Generalplaner” in 2016.
A large part of the employees had to leave the embassy
Géza Andreas von Geyr has been using the villa as the German ambassador in Moscow since 2019. He is due to be replaced in the summer. According to consistent media reports, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff is to succeed him. The 56-year-old is deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group and an expert on foreign policy.
The post of ambassador in Moscow has been considered a particularly difficult position for diplomats since Russia’s attack on Ukraine. After Germany declared 40 Russian diplomats “undesirable persons” and expelled them from the country at the beginning of April, the Kremlin followed suit and also expelled 40 German diplomats. According to the German Press Agency, this corresponds to about a third of the German diplomatic corps in Russia.
