MOSCOW

A construction drive to repave Moscow sidewalks with bricks has got residents all churned up, inconveniencing pedestrians and drivers alike.

It is also prompting awkward questions about who got the 2.8 billion ruble ($100 million) contract, whether European-style pavements will survive Russian winters – and where the bricks come from.

City Hall ordered a total of 1.34 million square meters in the Central Administrative District to be repaved by October 25.

Media have speculated that there may be a link between the paving work and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s wife, Irina, who was involved in a brick and curbing business in Tyumen while Sobyanin was governor there several years ago.

But while those claims may be somewhat fanciful, a lack of transparency over the contract is raising eyebrows.

The project was announced in April by Sobyanin, who said that the old-style asphalt sidewalks are not economically reliable anymore and should be replaced by longer-lasting brick. But residents and independent groups are concerned about whether the disruptive construction is needed at all.

Another brick in the wall?

“I live nearby and my windows overlook the road, where they’re swapping asphalt for brick on the sidewalk,” a resident in the Yakimanka district told The Moscow News.

“They even shut down the traffic lights, so it’s impossible to cross Leninsky Prospekt and hundreds of people are wasting time waiting at the intersection.”

Massive traffic jams were also reported on affected roads due to the ongoing repaving.

Experts say that brick is better than asphalt and concrete, however.

“From an economic point of view, the brick is a better choice for the sidewalks. The underground utilities are accessible for maintenance, because brick can be easily removed and has a longer lifespan,” Mikhail Ledovsky, an expert at the Institute of Urban Economics, told The Moscow News.

Some experts wondered how the bricks would fare in Moscow’s brutal climate, however.

“Repaving is a good idea, as brick looks better than asphalt. But everything depends on how they will be tiling it – the technical process is very important,” Natalya Chernyayeva, managing secretary for preservation NGO ArkhNazdor, told The Moscow News.

“Two things can damage the brick – harsh weather conditions and the low-paid labor force that is used. [Given these factors] I’m sure they will have to repave very often.”

City Hall tenders

© RIA Novosti. / Kirill Kallinikov

Low-paid labor might affect the quality of the repaving

City Hall announced 18 separate contracts for the repaving work at state tenders website zakupki.gov.ru. On June 8, it was announced that 12 small and medium-sized companies from Moscow and the Moscow region has been awarded the contracts.

A repair and construction firm called RSK is doing the repaving at Zubovsky Bulvar, Zubovskaya Ploshchad, Ulitsa Krymsky Val, Novinsky Bulvar and Leninsky Prospekt, a company engineer who did not give his name told The Moscow News.

When asked about who supplied the bricks, he mentioned a factory in Odintsovo but said he could not immediately confirm the information. Later, other employees refused to comment.

The management at other companies involved in construction could not immediately comment.

According to an official statement from City Hall’s Housing and Communal Services department, the brick is produced in Russia and is well-suited to its climate.

“It doesn’t melt like asphalt in summer and is suitable for rollerskates and prams,” the statement read.

At a briefing for journalists organized by the department on Novinsky Bulvar on Thursday, Yury Vasiliev, an assistant professor at the Moscow State Automobile and Road Technical University, said that the brick factories involved should not be named, citing anti-monopoly rules.

“I only know brick used at this location comes from a factory in Odintsovo in the Moscow region,” Vasiliev told The Moscow News.

A representative of the Housing and Communal Services department said that he could not disclose where the bricks had come from.

Anti-monopoly complaint

But there is some evidence the tenders and their results are already being contested.

Construction firm Delta-Stroi reportedly filed a complaint to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service soon after the tenders were announced, according to a report in Marker.ru. The firm complained that there were too many requirements for each lot, limiting the number of road construction companies who could apply.

A source in Moscow’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said it could not immediately find official results for the tender, and could not comment on Delta-Stroi’s complaint.

When contacted, Delta-Stroi would not confirm or deny that it had issued a complaint against City Hall.