NEWS

U.S. Consulate Rent Case Nixed

By Irina Titova

Staff Writer

Sergey Grachev / The St. Petersburg Times The U.S. Consulate building on Furshtatskaya Ul., rented for $6 dollars a year.

The St. Petersburg City Arbitration Court Wednesday threw out a case lodged by an arm of the City Property Committee, or KUGI, against the U.S. Consulate in an effort to raise the U.S. Diplomatic Mission's rent of $6 per year.

The court - citing the consulate's diplomatic immunity - said the case was out of its jurisdiction and that it would have to be forwarded to Foreign Ministry and U.S. diplomatic authorities in Moscow for further talks, which are scheduled for March, consular officials said.

The $6 dollar yearly rent covers both the U.S. Consulate compound on Furshtatskaya Ul. and the residence of the American Consul General at 4 Grodnesnsky Pereulok.

The case was lodged six months ago by Inpredservice - a private wing of KUGI that provides landlord services to St. Petersburg's diplomatic missions - in an effort to raise the U.S. Consulate's current rock-bottom rent, which was negotiated in 1984 to last until 2009, said Inpredservice general director Boris Morozov in a telephone interview Wednesday.

But roller-coaster currency fluctuations since that time have rendered the rent ridiculously low and Morozov says that his organization is losing almost $35,000 a year in rent and services to the U.S. Diplomatic Mission.

"We cover all the communal and repair expenses for the two buildings, and it is all out of our own expenses," said Morozov.

Daniil Petrov, deputy legal advisor of the KUGI legal department, confirmed that the city was indeed incurring a loss and had to therefore make up the difference from the St. Petersburg city budget.

US consulate officials contacted by telephone - and who all requested anonymity - said they were not authorized to comment on the situation and would await the outcome of March discussions between the Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department.

The Canadian and the British consulates, who were also contacted for comment, would not reveal their rent figures, citing commercial secrecy.

But Morozov said that other consulates in town are not enjoying the same extreme rent breaks that the U.S. Consulate is.

On the other side of the Atlantic, in New York City, Nikolai Antonov, assistant to Russian Consul General Pavel Prokofyev, said that their consulate is owned outright by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

However, the Russian government pays $3,500 a month for two bedroom apartments for its diplomatic personnel.

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