Court annuls construction permit for Moscow House in Vilnius

The Vilnius District Court on Wednesday also partially granted a request from the defendant, the Moscow Cultural and Business Center – Moscow House, to give it three years to bring the building and construction documents into line with the legal requirements. The inspectorate wanted this to be done within a year.

Wednesday’s ruling may be appealed to a higher court.

The inspectorate told the court that it had found a number of violations of building regulations in the construction project. The construction permit was issued by the capital’s local authority back in 2008.

The local authority supported the inspectorate’s request for the annulment of the construction permit. Moscow House did not contest the inspectorate’s decision, but asked for more time to bring the project into line with the requirements.

The idea to build Moscow House in Vilnius emerged in July 2004 when Yuri Luzhkov, the then mayor of Moscow, attended celebrations of the 750th anniversary of the coronation of King Mindaugas in the Lithuanian capital. It was decided at that time to carry out a similar project in Moscow.

It was said that the buildings would serve as centers of culture and business cooperation aimed at creating and developing good neighborly relations between the Russian and Lithuanian capitals.