Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has announced that a prominent Dubai-based development company has been enlisted to build a university in the Chechen capital of Grozny.
"Today the final decision was made on the timeline for construction of an international university in Grozny," Kadyrov wrote last week on the social network Instagram, which he regularly uses to communicate with his 1 million followers.
The university will be built by Emaar Properties, a development group from the United Arab Emirates, Kadyrov wrote.
Emaar is known for large-scale development projects including Dubai's Burj Khalifa — the tallest skyscraper in the world — and the Dubai Mall, one of the world's largest shopping malls.
Kadyrov wrote that he and Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar had agreed that the university would be completed within two years of the site's ceremonial opening this August.
"Alabbar said that it would be a present to the Chechen nation and all of Russia from the brotherly nation of the United Arab Emirates," Kadyrov wrote. He did not specify precisely where investment for the project would come from.
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