City Mayor of Arkhangelsk Viktor Pavlenko has written a letter to city authorities in Moscow where he confirms his city’s interest in the gigantic memorial, Regnum reports. Authorities in Moscow have lately expressed discomfort with the statue and acting city Mayor Vladimir Resin has proposed to move the installation to a new location.
“Considering the historical importance of Peter the Great and the contributions of Arkhangelsk in the three centuries of the Russian Navy, we are ready to look at the possibilities to place the memorial in Arkhangelsk […]”, Pavlenko writes in the letter.
The giant memorial depicting Peter the Great on a sail ship was erected in 1997 in connection with the 300 year anniversary of the Russian Fleet. The statue, one of the highest in the world, is made by the famous and controversial sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.
However, Arkhangelsk is not the only city interested in the monster statue. Also city authorities in Petrozavodsk have expressed interest in the installation. According to newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, chairman of the city’s legislative assembly Oleg Fokin has raised the issue among his parliament colleagues. Also he has sent a letter to acting Moscow Mayor Resin.
