Embassy projects continue to see long periods of inaction, with the National Capital Authority seemingly reluctant to cancel leases on the prime sites despite foreign governments taking longer than agreed time frames to build.
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The Russian ambassador to Australia has assured the National Capital Authority work will start later this year on a long-stalled embassy project at a prime Yarralumla site.
It would bring to an end a series of delays that have lasted nearly a decade. Construction was first expected to begin by June 2010 when the Russian Federation signed a lease for the site in December 2008.
But work on other sites is still floundering. The site of the embassy of Kuwait, on the corner of Denison Street and Beale Crescent in Deakin, had plans approved in September 2009, with construction starting in January 2010.
Amendments have been made and the Kuwaiti government in June 2019 told the authority they were in the process of finalising the project's "last stages".
The Islamic Republic of Iran's embassy, at 127 Empire Circuit in Yarralumla, had original plans approved by the authority in November 2015. Amendments were made in June 2016.
"We continue to engage with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding this project," an authority spokeswoman said.
Evgeny Iljin, a spokesman for the Russian embassy, said a contract had been signed this year with an Australian construction company for work at the country's site in Griffith and in Yarralumla.
"The embassy has been located in its current premises in Griffith since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Australia in 1942. The obvious need for new facilities has been there for some years already," he said.
Mr Iljin said the embassy appreciated support from the National Capital Authority and looked forward to working together during construction, scheduled between 2020 and 2022.
The embassy previously said construction would start in the first half of 2019, according a timeline provided by the authority.
The authority had also earlier said the Russian government could lose its rights to the land if it did not build
The authority received an email on Wednesday, January 22 from the Russian ambassador, advising the embassy had signed a construction contact on January 16.
Work was expected to begin at the current embassy site in Griffith, which is expected to be maintained as a residential enclave, and at the new embassy site in Yarralumla.
The Griffith site is controlled by the ACT and original plans additional buildings on the site were approved in July 2014.
Aerial photographs published by the ACT government show work had started by autumn 2017, which was then partially demolished in images taken in February 2019. The Russian embassy in 2017 said the builder had gone broke.
Aerial photographs show work had started on the Russian government's Yarralumla site on Forster Crescent between 2016 and 2017, which then stalled.
National Capital Authority chief planner Andrew Smith told a parliamentary committee in December 2018 the authority could withdraw the lease if no building work progressed. "If we were of a mind to, we could further put pressure on the Russian government to complete that project," he said.
Mr Smith said at the time demand for purpose-built embassy sites had increased, with countries preferring their own premises over leasing.