26 April 2004 09:32
MOSCOW WANTS U.S. EMBASSY TO PAY $9 MILLION IN RENT DEBT
MOSCOW. April 26 (Interfax) - Russia is insisting that the U.S. pay its $9 million debt for renting the Spaso-House
ambassadorial residence in Moscow.
He said the latest rent agreement with the U.S. Embassy was valid
from July 1, 1985 through July 1, 2005. The annual rent was set at 25
"It is possible to settle the Spaso-House problem only through America's unconditional payment of the debt,
which currently exceeds $9 million," head of the Foreign Ministry's Main Department for Servicing the
Diplomatic Corps Ivan Sergeyev told Interfax on Monday.
The sides agreed to revise the rent at least once every five years,
but the U.S. embassy is still making payments based on the old
rubles, or $42 per square meter, when the exchange rate was set at $1 to 0.6 rubles. This rent is "simply
ridiculous" following the ruble's denomination in 1997, Sergeyev said.
agreement, and only pays 72 rubles and 50 kopecks (about $2.50) for the whole building a year. Russia always returns
the transfers, Sergeyev said.
He said they were ready to start negotiations and discuss a new
rent agreement. Vershbow said they were aware that the new rent
This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the Spaso-House dispute. The department sent an official note to the
American Embassy on April 29, 1994, and asked them to adjust the rental rate.
Russia has repeatedly offered new terms that would meet modern requirements, but it has not received an official
reply explaining the American position, Sergeyev said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow told Interfax that they were ready for negotiations to bring the
Spaso-House rent into compliance with the actual prices on the Russian real estate market.
agreement would mirror the current situation on the real estate market.
The Spaso-House, which was built in a neo-classical villa style in
1914, is a historical and architectural monument. In the 1920s, it
The United States has been waiting for Russia to present an independent estimate of the true cost of the residence
and the adjoining area, Vershbow said. He said the estimate was necessary for starting negotiations and reaching a
mutually acceptable agreement on the rent.
Vershbow said that the Russian Foreign Ministry had been very cooperative and they hoped that the department would be
equally willing to resolve the problem.
Russia again raised the issue of the Spaso-House during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to Moscow
in January 2004 and during subsequent meetings between Russian Foreign Ministry and U.S. Department of State officials,
he said. "We have received promises that a U.S. Department of State delegation will visit [Russia] in the near
future. However, no further steps have been made yet," the head of the department said.
housed the House of Receptions of the Soviet government. Writer Mikhail Bulgakov, who was amazed by the beauty of the
mansion's interior, mentioned it in his famous novel The Master and Margarita. ###
[Interfax] |
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