The Russian embassy has won a stay of execution to the order for it to get off land leased to it by the National Capital Authority.
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The two sides have now agreed to negotiate despite the NCA's abrupt termination of the embassy's lease on a plot for a new embassy back in August. It gave the Russian government 20 days to clear the site in Yarralumla.
But the embassy went to court to dispute the termination - and has now won an order from the judge that there should be negotiation and perhaps mediation.
The decision to talk more came after a dramatic hearing on November 23 when the judge showed his clear displeasure at the case being made by the NCA. "An absolute disgrace," were his words. "Embarrassing," he said.
The Russian embassy had provided a detailed document, listing meetings between the ambassador and other Russian diplomats on one side and officials from the NCA on the other. But, in the judge's view, the NCA had not given an adequate response.
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Now the two sides have told him they will talk again. The court ordered that "the parties engage in a settlement conference or mediation on or before 28 February 2023".
It's the latest step in a saga which started 14 years ago.
The NCA controls building permits in the parliamentary zone. It first gave permission to the Russian government for a new embassy on Block 26 Section 44 in 2008, with building approvals on March 31, 2011 and September 23, 2011.
When it terminated the lease four months ago, the NCA said: "Under the lease, the Russian Federation had agreed to finish construction within three years. Despite some efforts to progress an embassy, completion of the project has not occurred."
The authority said it had been negotiating with the Russian government over many years about completing the construction but "in the absence of a commitment to a completion date, the NCA decided to terminate the lease. The Russian Federation has 20 days from the day the notice of termination was served to clear the site".
When Russia was given the "termination" notice back in August, a spokesman at the embassy conceded that "the building project had indeed encountered multiple problems and delays through several years", but said "at all times, these were a matter of constructive and frank consultations between the embassy and the NCA".
Consultations will now continue despite the NCA's initial insistence that it wanted the land back.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
