Germany's Internal Affairs Ministry was forced to halt the construction of the Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg because of the economic recession. The building was originally supposed to have been finished by 2013, Kommersant says.

'The Ministry was faced with the need to economize six months ago. We avoided putting the project on the construction of the consulate on our expense-cutting list till the last minute, but, regrettably, the decision had to be made to freeze it. I personally feel very negative about it, and this is what I told our Russian partners,' the newspaper quotes Consul-General Renate Schimkoreit as saying.

The Consul did assure the reporters, however, that the construction would still be completed in four to five years.

The decision to put up a Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg was taken as early as 2005 when Germany's diplomatic mission started operating there. The building is to be located in the so-called consulate district along Bolshakov St, not far from a park and Uralets entertainment center. Besides, additional land allotments have already been provided for the Czech Republic and China's consulates there, Kommersant observes.