Statement by the Bureau of the Moscow Regional Branch of Yabloko, 18.06.2026

Photo: Elektrozavod / Photo by Anzhelika Zhukova, Yandex.Panoramas

Moscow Yabloko has received with alarm reports of possible plans by the developer — Etalon Group — to demolish the historic buildings of the Elektrozavod [Moscow’s historic Electric Factory complex], constructed in the 1910s–1920s, and replace them with a modern pastiche.

Elektrozavod is one of the few surviving large-scale monuments of early twentieth-century brick industrial architecture in Moscow. Its Gothic architecture, expressive arches, and distinctive silhouette form not merely a street frontage but part of the city’s historical memory. Such buildings cannot be recreated through imitation: a modern pastiche, however fine the materials, remains a falsification — a deception both of Muscovites and of the city’s history.

It should be noted that Elektrozavod lost its status as a provisionally listed cultural heritage site in mid-2025, along with approximately 1,500 other buildings, as a result of a decision that our party has repeatedly criticised as dealing a systemic blow to the protection of Moscow’s historic built environment. The absence of protected status does not mean the absence of value: the soundness and integrity of the building’s structures are evident visually and, clearly, from the specialist surveys that the developer has already carried out.

We recall that at various stages architectural concepts were already developed for the Elektrozavod site, in particular by the Nowadays and Syntaxis studios, which envisaged the careful integration of the historic buildings into new development, transforming the factory into a fully-fledged urban district rather than replacing it with a standard residential block. Should plans for complete demolition be confirmed, this would represent a direct repudiation of the architectural and urban planning principles previously declared, substituting the promised “sensitive reconstruction” with a sham.

Moscow Yabloko considers that:

– Etalon Group must publicly disclose the current status of the Elektrozavod reconstruction project and provide residents with clear information about the fate of the historic buildings;

– The Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage must assess the historical and cultural significance of the complex regardless of its formal listed status, and commission an independent technical survey of the buildings;

– Any decisions regarding the development of the site must be taken openly, with the involvement of residents, experts, and the architectural community, and not behind closed doors.

We call on the city authorities and the developer to abandon the practices of quiet demolition and the replacement of authentic architecture with a surrogate. Moscow has already lost its historic built environment on multiple occasions under the guise of reconstruction.

Elektrozavod must not become another example of such practices.

The Bureau of the Moscow Regional Branch of Yabloko