The Conservation with Adaptation competition provides a unique opportunity to participate in the transformation of historic buildings in St. Petersburg.

On February 25, 2026, the Nevsky Town Hall hosted a joint meeting of two working groups - "Improving investment activity" and "Improving the effectiveness of business and government cooperation in the field of property relations in St. Petersburg" of the Headquarters for Improving Business Conditions. The event brought together representatives of government authorities, businesses, business associations, and resource supply organizations.
The topic of the meeting was the implementation of projects for the preservation and adaptation of cultural heritage sites in St. Petersburg for modern use.
"The timeliness of addressing this topic is beyond doubt. Last week, on February 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, proposed approving a detailed plan for restoring cultural heritage sites and involving them in investment. An assessment of the work of the regions and state support for the restoration of cultural heritage sites will be included in the methodology of the National Investment Climate Rating. In St. Petersburg, a comfortable environment has been created for investors to work with historical buildings: the regional Ruble per Meter program is being implemented, there are benefits, including federal ones, and support measures," said Ivan Skladchikov, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Investment Committee.
He also recalled that earlier this year, a Model Standard for the involvement of Cultural Heritage sites in the Economy, developed by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, was adopted.
Irina Shchukina, Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg Property Relations Committee, noted the relevance among investors of the Ruble per Meter program for involving cultural heritage sites in investment turnover: in 2025, five contracts were signed under the program. A total of 15 windows were leased to investors from 2019 to 2025. At the same time, as the speaker emphasized, investors are interested not only in restoring the most unique facility, but also in putting the adjacent territory in order, which is important for a large-scale transformation of the urban environment.
According to Pavlina Yudina, head of the Department of Restoration Programs at the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, there are currently 9003 cultural heritage sites in St. Petersburg, 134 of which are in poor condition, of which 44.0% are federally owned, 29.1% are regionally owned and 23.1% are privately owned.. Investors' funds account for the main share in financing window conservation measures. In this regard, the importance of working together with the professional community and using a variety of tools to attract potential investors was emphasized, including a competition to identify the best proposals for adapting windows in poor condition for modern use. According to Pavlina Yudina, such contests make it possible to involve in the investment turnover those objects that were previously on the periphery and seemed uninteresting.
During the meeting, the opening of a new season of the Conservation with Adaptation 2026 contest was announced. Alexandra Komissarova, Deputy Director for General Affairs of the Union of Restorers of St. Petersburg, spoke about the conditions of the competition. In particular, the first stage of the competition, by correspondence, will last from February 25 to November 30, 2026, the second, full-time stage will be held in December. Students and graduates of specialties aimed at preserving windows are invited to participate in the competition. The jury consists of representatives of universities, professional organizations, relevant committees of the Administration of St. Petersburg, representatives of the business community and architectural bureaus. When evaluating the work, a comprehensive and high-quality study of the project, historical and economic components will be taken into account, including criteria for historical authenticity, energy efficiency, analysis of the territory, budget and payback, preservation of authentic elements. A distinctive feature of this year's competition is the expansion of its geography – not only regional, but also federal facilities are offered for the competition. Special nominations have also been introduced: the categories of the best investment, restoration and design projects have been highlighted, which encourages various areas of work of the participants and contributes to the integrated development of the topic.
About the implementation of investment projects under the DOM program.Sergey Vyatkin, Director of the Northwest Regional Center of Bank DOM.RF JSC, told the Russian Federation. Since 2024, the HOUSE.The Russian Federation is the operator of the presidential program for the restoration and preservation of windows in poor condition. To attract investors to the preservation of cultural heritage, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture, the digital platform "Heritage.dom.RF", where today more than 50 St. Petersburg windows are represented at various stages of implementation. On the platform, potential investors can explore the facilities and conditions of participation in the preferential lending program, which allows them to obtain financing at a rate of 9% per annum for the restoration of historical buildings, as well as apply for bidding. According to the speaker, the bank has already supported projects for the restoration of windows in the amount of more than 3.6 billion rubles in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Dmitry Panov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, Chairman of the St. Petersburg regional branch of the All-Russian Public Organization Delovaya Rossiya, noted the importance of achieving transparency of all phases of the investment and construction cycle for investors in terms of calculating all possible risks.
Alexander Demin, a member of the working group, General Director of Landevelopment LLC, member of ICOMOS, head of the Branch of the Association of Investors in Historical Real Estate in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, shared his expert experience in working with WINDOWS. In particular, the Association participated in the restoration of such windows as the Apartment Building of R.G. Vega on the embankment. The Kryukov Canal, the Cottages of M.D. Shikhin in Komarovo, the House of D.I. Hansen on Nevsky Prospekt, Shopping malls on Liteyny Prospekt, as well as the windows in Vyborg.
The meeting participants agreed on the expediency of inviting professional investors to the "Conservation with Adaptation 2026" contest and determining a special nomination for such contestants.