Forget the usual promotional freebies - visitors to this year's Expo Real trade fair are being offered the chance to go home with a patch of land in Moscow. At a live auction to be held at the real estate exposition on Tuesday investors are being invited to bid for 26,000 m[sup]2[/sup] of land in the Russian capital. The starting price is EUR 600,000, and the successful bidder must pay an initial deposit of EUR 2,000.
Forget the usual promotional freebies - visitors to this year's Expo Real trade fair are being offered the chance to go home with a patch of land in Moscow. At a live auction to be held at the real estate exposition on Tuesday investors are being invited to bid for 26,000 m2 of land in the Russian capital. The starting price is EUR 600,000, and the successful bidder must pay an initial deposit of EUR 2,000.
'Moscow is an upcoming location,' said Yurj Luzhkov, Lord Mayor of Moscow. 'The city is booming and there is growing demand for housing, offices, and hotels. So far some 17 million m2 of developments are planned.' Such rapid growth, however, has caused its fair share of problems for the authorities.
'The biggest issue we faced was traffic,' said Luzhkov. 'Private car ownership mushroomed and we just didn't have the roads to cope. So we're now focusing on building car parks and enhancing the public transport network.'
A further problem has been the provision of energy sources - four new power plants are now under construction in an attempt to ease the situation. 'Yes, investors have always had a psychological barrier when it comes to Russia,' said Luzhkov. 'But we are getting there and the recent increase in the number of Western investors is proof of this.' The auction of the land, which is designated for retail developments, takes place at 3 pm at the Moscow stand in Hall C3 at Expo Real.
