Putin's Billion-Dollar Showcase

Russia is spending at least R162 billion ($1.9 billion) to turn an exhibition from 2024 into a nationwide network of state centers to showcase the country under Vladimir Putin, according to independent outlet Verstka.

Natsionalny tsentr "Rossiya" ("National Center 'Russia'") is currently operating in Moscow and three regions, with 10 more branches preparing to open. The network grew out of Vystavka-forum "Rossiya" ("Exhibition-Forum 'Russia'" ), which Verstka said the Kremlin’s domestic politics team conceived as part of Putin’s 2024 presidential re-re-re-re-election campaign.

Verstka calculated that the original exhibition cost at least R17.8 billion ($212 million). About R10 billion ($119 million) came from the federal budget, while regions, ministries, and state bodies spent more than R7 billion ($83.3 million) on displays and participation.

The exhibition presented Russia’s regions and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine via interactive installations and large screens promoting economic achievements, import substitution, and what organizers describe as the "benefits" of Western sanctions. Quotations from Putin appear repeatedly throughout the Moscow exhibition.

In July of 2024, before the presidential election was even finished, Putin announced the center's transformation into a permanent national center.

The project has benefited contractors with longstanding connections to Kremlin political networks. Polylog, one of its main contractors, previously worked with Rosatom when it was headed by Sergei Kiriyenko. There, the agency worked with Kiriyenko ally Alexander Kharichev, now a senior Kremlin political official. Russian outlets Kommersant and Gazeta.Ru previously reported close working ties between Kharichev and the agency.

Polylog later handled media and cultural work for the "Russia" exhibition and produced the center’s website, virtual tours, and videos. Those digital projects alone cost R225 million ($2.7 million), according to Verstka. The company’s annual revenue rose from around R600 million ($7 million) in 2022 to a record R1.58 billion ($18.8 million) in 2024.

But the regional projects have drawn criticism. In Ryazan, a center built in a major city forest park is expected to cost R3 billion ($35.7 million), while residents have protested further development of the green space. Verstka noted that the regional budget is running a deficit while other projects, including a school and clinic, remain unfinished. Visitors elsewhere have complained that admission requires advance registration and submission of personal data.

Other branches have opened or are planned in Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Kaliningrad, and in Sevastopol, in Russian-annexed Crimea. Verstka put the cost of the planned Kaliningrad development alone at R20 billion ($238 million).

The biggest expense is still ahead: an R80-billion ($952 million) Moscow complex with exhibition halls, a 3,500-seat concert venue, and multimedia facades and roof.

Mosinzhproekt, owned by the Moscow government, is the official developer. Verstka found that construction is being carried out by Velesstroy, a major contractor previously linked to the Black Sea residence widely known as "Putin’s palace." Investigative outlet Proekt reported that Velesstroy served as general contractor for reconstruction of the property.

Velesstroy has also been linked to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s political circle. Sobesednik reported that Kresimir Filipovic, a longtime senior figure and shareholder in the company, was the father of Moscow Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova’s eldest daughter. Rakova is a longtime Sobyanin associate. The new Moscow center is scheduled for completion in 2029, a year before Russia’s next presidential election.