NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
In November 2015 in a solemn ceremony the presidents of Belarus and Serbia placed a time capsule at the construction site to launch one of the country's largest investment projects — the construction of the multifunctional complex Minsk Mir that will occupy the territory of the former airport Minsk One. How is construction going? Will the project stay on schedule? Are there problems with funding, which kind many real estate developers are experiencing these days? BelTA addressed these and other questions to Svetlana Shchetko, Director of Dana Astra Company, which is the general contractor, the designer, and the customer in the Minsk Mir project.
— Since construction operations are in full swing in the old Minsk airport area, it is safe to assume the Minsk Mir project has begun.
— Yes, it has. The first residential building — Diadema — is being erected! We intend to commission it next summer. It is a very large project. There are only three projects of this magnitude in Belarus. Those are the nuclear power plant, the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone, and our Minsk Mir complex.
— Are you serious?
— Minsk Mir stands for three million m2 of premises, including two million m2 of housing. Such large-scale civil engineering projects are few and far between even in Europe. Apart from residential buildings the complex will have schools, kindergartens, a park, and an international financial center that will attract foreign investors. Many other facilities will be built as well.
— Do you think you will manage to accomplish all of that?
— There is no doubt! We have a team of professionals. We believe in our ability. In line with the investment contract we were supposed to finish designing the complex by 1 January 2019. But we sent the design documents for expert evaluation as early as 5 January 2016.
— How did you pull it off?
— We just worked hard. A team of 300 people took care of designing the complex. By the way, all of them are citizens of Belarus. We invited specialists from the UK and the Arab Emirates only as consultants. We even hired university students, who took care of beautification components of the project. We arranged a contest for them and awarded prizes to the winners. The designers worked with great enthusiasm. Getting to work on such a project is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nothing like that has been built in Belarus so far. It is an incredibly beautiful and grandiose project that relies on state-of-the-art technologies. All of us just fell in love with Mir Minsk. It is not only a beautiful project, it is also a very complicated one. We had to take care of thousands of little details. For instance, a metro line will cross the complex's territory. We had to place buildings at least 50m away from the tunnel to avoid reinforcing them. If we had to reinforce them, the costs would rise considerably.
We contacted the Minsk metro system operating company for information about where other metro lines may cross the territory in the future, too, and we positioned the buildings bearing that information in mind.
— The complex was designed by Belarusians. Will Belarusians build it?
— Of course. We've decided to involve only Belarusian companies in the project. The materials will be local ones, too. It is our policy. At present about 500 people are employed at the Minsk Mir construction site while our holding company employs over 3,000. We pay salaries on time. The average salary is higher than the industry's average.
— Any financial problems?
— Investors have already financed the construction of 150,000m2 of the territory. Foreigners take a close interest in the Minsk Mir complex. So we don't see any problems in this regard. Thanks to the happy state of affairs we've been able to offer affordable prices to future residents of the complex, who will be able to use comfortable payment schemes, too. Despite the complicated economic situation in the world upon its own initiative the investor has decided to offer an installment plan that spans eight years. It is the most competitive offer on the market at present. But other aspects of the project make it difficult. While we had a green field for building the Mayak Minsk complex, the area for building the Minsk Mir complex comes with multiple encumbrances. It is a former airport. There are many aviation-related facilities that need to be relocated, including an aircraft repair factory. The factory was supposed to be relocated this year, but it won a major contract, which fulfillment may be disrupted if the factory has to relocate. We cannot even work in the already cleared space since there are multiple communications beneath the surface that power both industrial enterprises and residential buildings. The relocation of these communications has not even started but we hope that the work will be finished by the end of the year and we will be able to work the territory.
We understand perfectly well all the difficulties involved in cleaning an area for construction in the center of a city. A great deal of residential buildings and garages are being demolished! And we have to cut a deal with every owner. We enjoy complete understanding with the city administration in that regard. We are building the complex and will see the project to the end!
— The international financial center is one of the most beautiful buildings of the future complex. When will we be able to see it with our own eyes?
— Due to the previously mentioned difficulties the construction of the international financial center will begin in 2018 at the earliest. It is very important for Belarus to have such a center. Preliminary calculations indicate that the center will be able to raise billions in investments for the country and raise the country's GDP by 3-4%. It will become a bridge between the West and the East. It will make Belarus one of the world's most developed countries. Specialists from neighboring countries have been here, you know. They were astounded that such a significant project is being implemented in such a small country. Once the complex is completed, it will automatically become an economic and tourism hub of Europe. Our company will do everything to make it happen.
