Moscow authorities have started the demolition of 104 commercial buildings, according to the deputy head of the State Property Inspectorate Alexei Gorbunov. The list includes such large, well-known building as the Pyramid shopping center near the Pushkinskaya metro station, and shopping arcades located in the metro stations Kropotkinskaya, Arbat, and Ulitsa 1905 Goda. The reasons for the move range from the buildings lacking the proper permits, located on public land or in locations where there are utilities. In the past two years, over 2,000 buildings around the Russian capital have been demolished. The remaining 104 buildings required a special judicial resolution because their owners had a certificate of ownership, making it impossible for them to be summarily destroyed. However, Sergei Shogurov, head of Moscow’s property inspection department, insists that despite proof of ownership, buildings constructed without permits could not be defended. The buildings, moreover, have been deemed to be either a nuisance, ugly or even dangerous.
