Natalia Virtuozova and Dmitry Demeshin discuss construction of the future National Centre RUSSIA on Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island
The team of the National Centre RUSSIA, headed by Director General Natalia Virtuozova, visited the Khabarovsk Territory on a working trip. Together with Governor Dmitry Demeshin, they travelled to Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, where a branch of the National Centre RUSSIA is planned to be built. The uniqueness of the project presented in the region lies in its cross-border location: the space is intended to become a point of attraction not only for residents of the region and the entire country, but also for guests from China. The building is planned to be located on a territory of great geopolitical and symbolic importance. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027.
"I am glad that you decided to visit the Khabarovsk Territory in person and assess the site for the branch of the National Centre RUSSIA. Thank you for your invaluable support in developing the concept of the branch on Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island <...> Our task is to unite the peoples of the Far East, both those living beyond the border and those here with us. We will show our shared history and centuries-long good-neighbourly relations — this is very important. We will do everything possible and impossible to ensure that the branch of the National Centre RUSSIA in the Khabarovsk Territory becomes a new symbol of the Russian Federation on its eastern frontiers," said Governor of the Khabarovsk Territory Dmitry Demeshin.
The creation of the branch is part of the roadmap for the island’s development, approved by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev, in fulfilment of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. The National Centre RUSSIA in the Khabarovsk Territory is intended to become a driver for the development of the entire surrounding area, while the project’s implementation will make it possible to attract up to an additional 500 thousand Chinese tourists annually.
"The Khabarovsk Territory is the first region our team has visited after the Organising Committee of the National Centre RUSSIA approved the concepts of 8 new branches, and this will be the first space to open on the island. Bolshoy Ussuriysky is a place where Russia and China share a border. Our countries are linked by long-standing friendly relations and common cultural values, with family at their centre. I am confident that the branch will become a point of attraction for both Russian and Chinese tourists. I would like to sincerely thank Governor Dmitry Viktorovich Demeshin and his team for their support and active work," noted Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA Natalia Virtuozova.
At the island’s construction site, Dmitry Demeshin and Natalia Virtuozova held a meeting to discuss the concept and content of the future branch. The facility is one of the key projects in the development of the cross-border territory. The future space will be located just 1.5 km from the border crossing. The branch building will have 2 floors, with a total area of more than 9 thousand square metres. The interior space will be divided into exposition and congress zones. It will house the "Journey Across Russia" exposition, the Department Store, a children’s area, the "Cuisines of Russia" gastro rows, as well as a conference hall and other premises.
The concept of the new space is based on combining advanced technologies with the cultural legacy of the region. Visually, the building refers to the Territory’s most important landmarks: the Amur Pillars and the Sikachi-Alyan petroglyphs. The presentation of the branch project plan for the Khabarovsk Territory was held at the National Centre RUSSIA in Moscow on 19 March 2026. In addition, 7 more concepts for regional spaces in Russian regions have been approved with different implementation stages and timelines: the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Yaroslavl Region, the Kaliningrad Region, the Kirov Region, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the Republic of Karelia.
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