Alexey Miller acquainted the delegation with the main charity projects implemented by Gazprom in St. Petersburg. Particular attention was paid to the restoration of the historical appearance of the Catherine Palace at the Tsarskoe Selo Museum, the conservation of the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum, the full-scale recreation of the Poltava ship of the line, and the urban improvement program for the historical center of St. Petersburg.
The event participants took a tour of the interiors of the Catherine Palace, incl. the newly-conserved Palace Chapel of the Resurrection and the restored Lyons Hall. The delegation also visited the Zubov Wing, which has been under restoration since 2019. Owing to Gazprom’s support, these projects help reinstate the unique interiors lost during the Great Patriotic War into the palace’s exhibition spaces.
In addition, the delegation had a chance to see a master class for young conservation experts organized under Gazprom’s educational program entitled Friends of St. Petersburg. Talking to the participants in the master class, Chernyshenko stressed the importance of preserving and supporting St. Petersburg’s conservation traditions, which encompass expertise, knowledge and technology that should be shared, as well as the need to scale this program up to the federal level in order to give young architects and conservation professionals from across the country an opportunity to get valuable training together.
Dmitry Chernyshenko highly praised the contribution made by the company to preserving the historical and cultural legacy of St. Petersburg, as well as fostering its further development.
“Today, we saw the unique interiors of the Catherine Palace – a crown jewel of Russian and world architecture – being rebuilt virtually from the ruins... The tradition of philanthropy, which is maintained by Gazprom, is reflected here in the preservation of unique treasures of our country. The company has been investing in St. Petersburg for many years, providing extensive assistance to the comprehensive development of the city, and this serves as an example of taking a responsible attitude to an area of operation,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.
“Gazprom has been implementing projects for restoring and preserving cultural and historical legacy for many years now. The work we are doing with the Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof Museums can be considered undoubtedly unique from a conservation point of view. Also notable is our most ambitious program, which has been underway since 2007, namely the reconstruction and urban improvement efforts in the historical center of St. Petersburg. As of today, the program has covered more than 70 streets, small parks, squares, embankments, and historical architectural ensembles,” said Alexey Miller.
To read the article in Russian.
