Hermitage Museum Exhibition Centre to Be Created in Moscow in 2018

State Hermitage Museum and JSC "LSR Group" intend to create the Hermitage Exhibition Center in Moscow. The ceremony of signing the letter of intent was held in St. Petersburg on March 11th. The document was signed by General Director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky and Chairman of the Board of Directors of "LSR Group" Andrei Molchanov, "Interfax" reports.

"Museum Centre in Moscow is the development of our concept of the" Great Hermitage". This will be an example of a partnership between the state and a private company. This will be the Representative Office of the Hermitage in Moscow where exhibitions, lectures and other cultural events will be held", - said M. Piotrovski. According to the head of the Hermitage, the Center in Moscow will focus mainly on contemporary art.

The Centre will be located on the territory of the former automobile plant ZIL. This is just 4 kilometers from the Kremlin, very close to the center of Moscow.

It is planned to build the Centre in 2018. The architect Hani Rashid is the project's author. "The Center will be the best from technological point of view; moreover, it is a very beautiful building, which will bring the heritage of the Hermitage into in the future. The museum in Moscow will have no equal in the world" - said H. Rashid during the ceremony.

Talking about the volume of investment, A. Molchanov didn’t indicate exact amount, since the project had not yet been prepared. "But I'll be happy if we can meet the 3.5-4 billion rubles," - he added.

At the moment Hermitage Museum Centers exist in Vyborg, Kazan and Amsterdam.