HOMELESS IN MOSCOW

Envoys move in with Brits amid ‘risks’ at embassy

Russian Czar Nicholas II was relatively new to the throne when the building where Canadian diplomats work in Moscow was built in 1898. There was barely a whiff of the revolutionary sentiment in the air that would lead to his death by firing squad 20 years later.

Canada moved into the three-storey building in 1951, but leaving has proved to be a bureaucratic nightmare that has cost the government nearly $47 million, a number which is only expected to climb.

As a temporary solution, Canada’s diplomats will move in with their British counterparts this year, abandoning the old embassy that a government briefing memo described as “presenting significant health and safety risks” to people working there.

Britain has been in a tense diplomatic posture with Moscow since the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia Skripal in England in March 2018. The United Kingdom ordered 23 Russian diplomats out of the country not long after the incident and the Russian government has demanded roughly 50 Britons leave Moscow, freeing up some room in their embassy.

In the meantime, the Canadian government will attempt to complete work to move into what will be its new embassy, a building that sits empty despite the millions in lease payments the government makes every year.

The current embassy, at 23 Starokonyushenny Pereulok, houses about 110 staff divided between Canadians and local workers. It also handles affairs for Armenia and Uzbekistan and has the largest coverage area for a Canadian mission in the world.

John Babcock, a spokesperson for Global Affairs, said the building is simply worn down.

“Canada has occupied the embassy building in Moscow over the last 70 years.

Because of this uninterrupted occupation, the building requires significant repairs in order to meet the health and safety requirements of the government,” he said in an email to the National Post.

A redacted briefing memo sent to then-foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland in 2018, and obtained through access to information, describes the building as having “major structural” issues and electrical problems. The government has since spent approximately $11.3 million just to keep the building in a minimum level of operation.

The problems at the building have included crumbling plaster, cracks on the exterior walls and “inconsistent heating and cooling.”

The government audited the embassy in 2017 after discovering fraudulent practices among local staff at Canada’s diplomatic compound in Haiti. The government wanted to look at other difficult missions where there was a risk of fraud and identified Moscow as a place with a high risk of corruption.

The audit found the embassy had a few issues, but was generally well managed. It did highlight that with all the problems, it was a hard place to attract staff for assignments. Getting Russian approval for diplomats was also a barrier and meant the building was often shortstaffed.

Foreign embassies in Moscow lease their buildings from the Russian government and Canada signed a lease for a new building in 2008, just a short drive away at 4 Kursovoy Lane, but the building has sat empty since.

The audit said Canada pays $3.4 million per year in a lease at Kursovoy Lane. The payments are still being made, but the government hasn’t been able to complete the move because of needed upgrades. Those lease costs, plus utilities and some of the work to get the new building prepared, have added up to $46.9 million since 2008.

When Canada moves to the British embassy, that work will continue, but it is still expected to take another five or six years to complete.

“Global Affairs has begun work to move our mission in Moscow to a property located at 4 Kursovoy Lane. Improvements to the property to bring it up to Canadian building code and security standards will require approximately five to six years to complete,” said Babcock.

Britain’s embassy opened in 2000 after signing a deal for the property in 1987. It includes recreational facilities, a kindergarten, modern offices for staff and apartments.

The National Post spoke with a government employee who worked in the Canadian embassy building more than a decade ago, who said even back then the building was showing its advanced age.

“It was already starting to look worn,” said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous.

They said getting Canada’s bureaucracy aligned to replace the building with Moscow’s bureaucracy was an ongoing challenge and there were multiple sites proposed as replacements that never came to pass.

“Drivers used to joke we could go on a six- or seven-stop tour of new Canadian embassies.”

The audit said corruption is a major barrier to getting things done in Moscow.

“According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for Russia, corruption within public institutions and businesses is commonplace,” reads the audit.

The employee also said there were often quick repairs done on the aging building in anticipation that they won’t have to last for multiple years.

“The challenge is when five years turns into 10.”

During their tenure, the employee said the building was briefly evacuated because of the smell of smoke. The incident was minor and there was no lasting damage, but electricians called into look at the problem realized it was an old repair, meant to be temporary, which failed.

They said despite all those issues, for most Canadian staff the building was just part of the challenge of working in a hostile country where surveillance is not uncommon.

Canada-russia relations have been tense for years, since at least the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. In March 2018, Ottawa expelled four Russian diplomats and refused the credentials of three others. Several Canadians were banned from Moscow in retaliation and several Canadian MPS, including Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Freeland, have been banned from Russia.

Babcock said that, throughout the move, Canadians will still be able to count on services in Moscow.

“The mission in Moscow remains fully operational with full consular and diplomatic functions being carried out by our talented team of diplomats and locally engaged staff on the ground.”

Babcock did not have the cost of the new lease with Britain before press time.