Braving the rain, more than 80 people in Sofia signed a petition on April 23 against plans to build a large extension to the Moscow Culture and Business Centre near the historic Russian church in the central city.

The protest continued for more than an hour despite the bad weather.

Although Sofia chief architect Petar Dikov had withdrawn the development proposal the previous day, the protesters feared that he did so only to “improve it” and the “attack will go on afterwards”. Sofia Municipal Council earlier had been scheduled to vote on a draft construction permit on April 24.

As previously reported by The Sofia Echo, the plot next to the church is at the disposal of the municipality of Moscow under an agreement between then Sofia mayor Stefan Sofianski and his Russian counterpart Yuri Luzhkov.

The agreement contains a clause conferring on the Russian centre a right to build on the land next to the building in which the centre is currently housed.

The additional construction of two floors of a total floor space of 900 sq m was meant as restitution for buildings of the former Russian embassy, which was destroyed during World War 2.

However, official documents show that the preserved building of the former Russian embassy, for which there are "renovation" plans connected with the new business centre, is classified as a cultural monument of national importance. According to Spasenie 2000 association, which initiated the protests against the construction, this is the oldest administrative building in Sofia.

“We categorically object to a green space, beloved by Sofia citizens and visitors, being handed over to satisfy business interests, whoever they belong to,” Spasenie 2000 said in a letter to Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, Sofia municipality secretary Rossen Zhelyazkov, Sofia Municipal Council chairperson Andrey Ivanov and the city permanent commissions on territory planning and residence policy, economy policy, finance and budget, education and science, European integration and civil society connections, and ethics.

According to the letter, the newly planned construction would benefit only the Russian centre (House of Moscow) and would diminish the influence of the Russian church building.