Construction of gas pipeline "South Stream" begins at the 'Russkaya' compressor station site near Anapa. The 900 kilometer long and maximum 2 kilometer deep "South Stream" will carry Russian gas to southern Europe through the Black Sea. South Stream begins from Russia's Anapa on the Black Sea shore, crosses the sea and comes to Bulgaria. Further transportation will be made via territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia to northern Italy. From the territory of Serbia, there will be gas transporting lines to Croatia and to the Republic of Srpska. The new pipeline will be able to carry 63 billion cubic meters gas. The first gas is expected to be pumped through the pipeline in 2015, and export some 63 billion cubic meters to southern Europe. After beginning of construction, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz told reporters, that Turkey is not planning to take part in the South Stream gas pipeline project, being more interested in Nabucco-West and the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline projects. However, Turkey is interested to increase Russian gas imports to satisfy its growing domestic demand, he said and added that it had not yet been decided which route to use for that, either the Blue Stream pipeline or a pipeline traversing Bulgaria.

Mercury City, the tower Russian retail billionaire Igor Kesaev is building in Moscow's new financial district, overtook the Shard in London as Europe's tallest skyscraper, reported Bloomberg. The tower, which construction began in 2006, reached its full height of 339 meters, 29 meters more than the Shard, Kesaev's Mercury Development announced, citing Hamburg-based researcher Emporis. The 75-story skyscraper, designed by U.S. architect Frank Williams, who died in 2010, and Russia's Mikhail Posokhin, is due to be completed in the first quarter next year. Investment in the project totaled US$1 billion. The tower has about 90 thousand square meters of office space and 20 thousand square meters of apartments, according to the developer's website. The starting price for apartments in Mercury City is US $11.1 thousand for a square meter. The rental price should be at a market level of about US$800 - US$900 per square meter a year, but on this stage of construction tenants expect it to be about US$700. The title of "Europe's tallest building" belonged to London for all of a few months as the Russian capital moves onwards and upwards. But "Mercury city" will not carry the title of "the Europe's tallest building" for a long time, as the under-construction Federation Tower is in the process of being built right next to Mercury City and, upon its completion next year, will stand at a staggering 506 meter.

Russian billionaire, the chairman of Board of Directors of Capital Group, Vladislav Doronin, has built a futuristic mansion for his girlfriend Naomi Campbell in Moscow's suburban area known as Barvikha. The house for the supermodel looks like a spaceship. The unusual house was designed by famous British architect Zaha Hadid. The Russian entrepreneur plans to present the house to the famous British model when they become husband and wife. The house of 8687 square meters is called "Capital Hill Residence". The building consists of two 20-meter-high towers and is designed in Eco-style - a mixture of modern technologies and natural forms. The white mansion stands aloof amidst pine trees. The planning of the house is impressive. The basement will house a Finnish sauna, a hamam (Turkish bath) and a Russian bath. A huge gym is next door. The basement also houses a guest room. On the upper level, there is a reception hall, an indoor swimming pool, a dining room and a kitchen. The house has two children's rooms. The interior of the house is designed in Eco-style. The designer was inspired by the work of legendary Barcelona architect Antonio Gaudi, who did not accept straight lines and liked to use wood and glass in interior decoration. As for real estate, which Vladislav Doronin gives to his girlfriend, Naomi Campbell already has a penthouse in Brazil, not far from Sao Paulo. Doronin bought it for $18.5 million. In 2011, Doronin financed the construction of the Eye of Horus villa in Turkey for Naomi. The building was built in the form of the right eye of the Egyptian deity. The building, designed by young architect from Spain, Luis de Garrido, became a birthday present for Naomi.

The Crocus Group Holding has launched a project to build 14 skyscrapers at the 66-kilometer mark of the Moscow Ring Road, next to the multifunctional Crocus City complex. The new project is to boast a total area of 1 million square meters of realty, RBC daily reported, citing Emin Agalarov, Crocus Group Holding's deputy president. The first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed till 2016, is to include three high-rise buildings - a 51-story office skyscraper (137 thousand square meters), a residential complex of 500 apartments 50 thousand square meters) and Europe's largest Holiday Inn Hotel at 1,000 rooms (81 thousand square meters). The property is to also feature a restaurant, fitness center, spa and parking for 900 cars. All three are to be joined by a three-story-high walkway. The concept for the development was created by the holding's own architectural firm together with American architects Kling Stubbins. Investment in the initial phase is to be approximately US$ 3 billion. Crocus Group initially called the project "Crocus City Manhattan" when announcing it three years ago, but the company suspended the project, focusing its resources on the construction of facilities for the recent APEC summit. The project is now simply called the multifunctional complex, but, according to Agalarov, it will also be "reminiscent of New York." Recall that Emin Agalarov is married to Leyla Aliyeva, the elder daughter of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

According to real estate market study prepared by Savills, Moscow was in second place among world's 10 largest cities with the house price growth during the first semester of 2012. This year undisputed leader in the growth of house prices is Hong Kong with 7.4 percent growth. Mainstream residential prices are at record levels due to strong local demand. Despite this the easing of mortgage availability also has helped to underpin the market. On the second and third places were Moscow and Sydney with 5.5 and 3.7 percent growth respectively. As analysts stated, this three cities were ahead of a modest average index for all 10 cities, which is only 1.2 percent. The cities that have seen residential markets have been beyond by domestic demand (Hong Kong, Moscow and Sydney) rather than international; buyers and investors. Meanwhile, international capital appears to be retreating to the "core" of established world cities due to their long-term investment credentials - namely London and New York (house price growth was 2.8 and 1.1 percent respectively). Some "new world" cities that had begun to see price falls following specific government intervention, or the impact of a slowing global economy, rebounded in H1 2012 (Hong Kong 7.4 percent). The weight of Chinese money continues to push into this city, but most of this growth can be attributed to a strengthening local market, aided by increased bank lending. At the other end of spectrum, some "old world cities" that had previously appealed, because of their safe haven credentials saw prices falls at the beginning of 2012, notably Paris (-3.4 percent). Here the Eurozone crisis, coupled with president Hollande's proposed taxes on the wealthy, weighed on the upper tiers of the Parisian residential market. In London, some prime market activity and price growth slowed in the wake of uncertainty regarding new stamp duty rules that were announces in the March budget. This year Shanghai saw price falls in the wake of an allowing domestic economy and ongoing cooling measures (-2.6 percent). The first price falls have also been recorded in the previously red-hot Mumbai market (-1.7 percent).