Spotlight Interview by the Baltic Plus about the MTEC Construction Progress

Dmitry Rzhannikov, General Director of STG-Zapad LLC, on Baltic Plus Radio, on air

This is not the first time Dmitry Rzhannikov, General Director of STG-Zapad LLC, is invited to an interview by the Baltik Plus radio in Kaliningrad. Residents of the region are very interested in the cultural and educational complex construction on Oktyabrsky Island.

As the interview started, long-time host Vladimir Kayris said that everyone could follow the progress of the cultural and educational complex construction on Oktyabrsky Island from Paradnaya Embankment now. Kaliningrad is one of the four cities in this country where cultural centres are being created based on instructions from the President. Almost in parallel, opera and ballet theatres, concert halls, museum and exhibition spaces, branches of the country’s oldest creative university (Russian State Institute of Dramatic Arts, RGISI) will open their doors in Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Vladivostok, and Sevastopol. A Branch of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Baltic Higher School of Musical and Dramatic Arts are under construction in the amber region.

The very first and most important question is about the pace of the complex construction. Answering this question, Dmitry Rzhannikov described the main phases for all the facilities under construction: “Construction is proceeding at the scheduled pace, allowing us to complete and commission facilities by the deadlines established. We are building a monolithic frame at around 22 meters at the construction site of the Bolshoi Theatre Branch. We estimate the overall completion at 70%. We proceeded with the installation of the small stage steel structures and partitions. Currently, we are getting ready for the installation of steel structures in the big hall, spectator stands. We are relocating heavy cranes to build the well-known exceptional console. We are at an active stage of fine finishing in technical and industrial premises of the Tretyakov Gallery Branch. Work is underway to fill in translucent structures and install facades. External networks and utilities are being installed. We are planning our efforts for improvement of the adjacent territory, procurement of landscaping items and small architectural forms. Installation of utilities – ventilation systems, laying of pipelines is in progress at the RGISI Branch. The pace is serious and high, and we keep it up.”

The topic of personnel shortage in the region and level of wages was touched upon during the conversation. Mr. Rzhannikov gave specific examples in his answer: “Today, roughly 1,200 persons are working at the construction site, mostly workers. I can’t say that we are experiencing a shortage of personnel because the need for different specialties varies depending on periods of construction. For example, now, our main specialties are reinforced concrete builders, reinforcers, and steel structure assemblers in the Bolshoi Theatre Branch. As for the Tretyakov Gallery Branch, there are finishers and installers of utilities, who, after completion of their work at this facility, will switch to the Bolshoi Theatre Branch building. We may experience personnel shortage, which happens sometimes, for narrowly focused specialists in view of the specifics of our region and the need for them at other construction sites. Our HR Department is continuously recruiting to mitigate these risks and eliminate the lack of narrowly focused specialists. As for wages, we are above the average level in Kaliningrad, while salaries of some specialties are at an unprecedented level. Let’s look at the example of a concrete worker – with full hours and 100% bounded supervisor score, the monthly salary is about 90 thousand. The level of wages paid to engineering and technical staff depends on qualifications, functional duties, and education. All of our vacancies are available on specialised websites, where one can see the current salary levels.”

Another interesting question was the challenges of job of a large construction company head. Dmitry Rzhannikov shared his personal experience here: “With such a large-scale construction, we have challenges that we face and they are of various kinds. There are no pronounced specifics of this issue. So to speak, our team works 24/7 all year round and we are constantly in dynamics, handling challenges. From my experience, I could say that 100% visualisation of the construction process helps identify problems at the initial stage. It allows us to determine the status of premises completion at any point in time, on any day, and see if everything is fine, and if there are challenges, take prompt measures to handle them.

To sum up the conversation, journalist Vladimir Kayiris raised the topic of celebrations and guests for the construction completion at the Tretyakov Gallery Branch, so Dmitry Rzhannikov answered: “The key task for us is to build and commission the facility on time. As for guests and celebrations, we could well discuss it at our next meeting.”