The building of the former Ukraina movie theater, one of the Bukovina capital's central street's landmarks, will be restored by a local enterprise, which will afterwards take it on long-term lease.
The Renaissance company undertakes to invest a total of UAH 35 million ($6.93 million) to rehab the building's façade by October 2008, when the city will celebrate its 600th anniversary, and commission the entire facility in the fall of 2009, the Chernivtsi Investment Office and the company told the LED Monitor on Wednesday.
Before WWII, the building was an Austrian-German culture center
The former Ukraina movie theater has been idle for a decade
The restoration will accommodate a state-of-the-art movie, a restaurant, a modern conference hall, a small VIP hotel, and a few offices. It is planned that rooms on the fourth floor will be let at a special reduced rent to NGO's engaging in liaisons with EU countries.
The project is also expected to create at least 20 new jobs and generate annually UAH 100,000 or more for the city budget, according to Investment Office Head Maria Porchuk.
She reported that the Renaissance company's investment proposal won in a competition organized by the city government. "It was one of the first initiatives of the Investment Office. The building is very beautiful, but it has been just dilapidating," she said. The goal was to save the building and its architectural style, improve the appearance of the central, pedestrian, Olhy Kobylyanskoi street, and preserve the entertainment center for the city.
Presently, Renaissance negotiates an investment agreement with the City Hall and simultaneously works on the project development. The company's director, Alla Lytvynenko, said they plan to begin restoring the building in the spring.
Upon completion of the project, the investor is expected to enter into a new agreement with the city government to lease the building for 49 years. According to the Investment Office head, the city will refund ten percent of the investment's worth to the company, either in a lump sum or during a certain period as a setoff against rent.
Ms. Porchuk recited that the Investment Office initiated the contest for restoration and lease of the historical building in May 2007. The City Rada (Council) Executive Committee backed the initiative. The office developed a bidding regulation and publicized a Request for Proposal. A bidding commission was formed of eleven representatives from City Rada members and executives. Two of about ten business entities that showed interest registered their investment proposals. The bidding commission announced the winner on Dec. 26, 2007, after open review of the proposals.
Maria Porchuk was offered the position of Investment Office Head on Dec. 21, 2006, the day she was certified an FDI professional
The Investment Office was established on Dec. 29, 2006, as an independent unit within the Chernivtsi City Rada subordinated directly to the mayor and the first deputy mayor. The same month, the office head, Maria Porchuk, was graduated from the LED project-run Training Program for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Professionals.
Renaissance is a limited company established in 1992. The enterprise engages in construction, trade, and travel agency activities.
Chernivtsi is one of the LED project's partner cities. In 2006, an Expert Committee with assistance from the project drafted a Strategy for Improving Competitiveness of the City of Chernivtsi, which was passed by the City Rada in October 2006. The strategy lays special emphasis on tourism, and also focuses on investment attraction and business infrastructure.