The Gazprom skyscraper is not yet standing, but it already holds the world record

St. Petersburg - Builders constructing the giant skyscraper of the gas giant Gazprom in St. Petersburg have achieved a world record for the longest continuous concrete pouring. Under the supervision of representatives from the Guinness World Records, they poured 19,264 cubic meters of concrete into the foundations of the building over 49 hours. On average, a truck with a load of concrete mix arrived at the construction site every minute, the company boasted.
    "Record volumes, the best technology, and unconventional solutions are the usual reality of any Gazprom construction," declared the head of the corporation, Alexey Miller, assuring that the construction will be completed in 2018. The skyscraper, which is to rise nearly half a kilometer above the Gulf of Finland, will be the tallest building in Russia.
    The skyscraper was originally planned to be located on the right bank of the Neva River. However, the corporation's plans met resistance from Russian heritage conservationists, the public, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Critics were concerned that the tower made of concrete, glass, and steel would irreparably distort the historic center of the former capital of Tsarist Russia. Local authorities and Gazprom eventually decided to place the high-rise building further from the city center and also changed its name from Okhta to Lakhta.
    However, economic experts have been questioning from the beginning why the state and the semi-state corporation are investing tens of billions of rubles into an "economically nonsensical project" during a recession. Previously announced demands for new office space by Gazprom could reportedly be satisfied by just an eight-story building at the site area.