Moscow City Hall is set to unleash a new wave of demolition on Monday night, as authorities target a second group of “illegal” street kiosks throughout the city.
Some 107 businesses are earmarked for demolition in this phase. It follows on from a similar operation in February 2016, when 100 pavilions, kiosks and small shopping centers disappeared overnight.
City officials also expect to release a third list
of kiosks destined for removal
in less than six months, RIA Novosti reported Friday.
The demolition drive forms part of an ongoing strategy by Moscow city authorities to transform the city. Extensive work on reforming Moscow's boulevard and garden ring roads has disrupted business in the capital for much of the summer. More projects are in the pipeline, most notably a plan to reshape the late Soviet-era, skyscraper lined New Arbat street.
A number of kiosk owners have sued the authorities following their business' destruction, claiming that they have all necessary paperwork for their properties.
City authorities have since offered compensation for those who voluntarily dismantle their businesses before bulldozing began.
