Russia tycoon wants to save revolutionary 'party venue' Aurora

AFP

MOSCOW - Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov on Saturday offered to pay for the naval cruiser Aurora, whose gun signalled the start of the 1917 October Revolution, to be a museum rather than a party venue.
"I see the danger of the Aurora, which has lately been used too often to host parties and film movies, becoming exclusively an entertainment venue," he said in an open letter to Russia's navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky and to Saint-Petersburg's governor Valentina Matviyenko.

Mikhail Prokhorov

"This would deal a crushing blow to the feelings of many patriots and veterans," the tycoon pointed out, arguing that "the proud symbol of our history must not become a bone of contention between various agencies in the matter of its upkeep."
Prokhorov offered his charity fund to finance the Aurora's transfer to the city's budget and introducing it to modern museum conservation technologies to "make it as popular as international masterpieces like the USS Constitution and HMS Victory."
The businessman was listed as Russia's richest man in the latest Forbes magazine rating, with a net worth of 9.5 billion dollars.
Prokhorov heads Onexim group, a Russian investment fund specialised in new technologies after he stepped down as head of Norilsk Nickel, the world's biggest palladium and nickel producer.
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