As part of a discussion over the use of Palace Square, on 26 September 2005 Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky addressed a letter to St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, Vice Governor S.B. Tarasov and Chairman of the Committee on Culture N.V. Burov. In addition to running the Hermitage, Dr. Piotrovsky is a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Council on Culture (Russian Federation), President of the Union of Russian Museums and Professor of St Petersburg State University. He has a doctorate in historical sciences.

"The Hermitage has been unpleasantly surprised by the tone and style of the polemic regarding the construction of pavilions for a cinema festival on Palace Square. Terminology such as ’luxury class festivals’ clearly does not suit the spirit of our city. How we fill the public space of Petersburg is very important for the destiny of the city. Any mistakes we make may cause the city to lose its attractiveness both for guests and for residents.

"Therefore the fate of Palace Square merits a special public discussion. One good platform for this can be a joint press conference bringing together representatives of the municipal authorities, the cultural community and those responsible for initiating the festival project.

"We suggest holding such a press conference in the Hermitage, just next to the topic under discussion. This will also allow me to get to know M.G. Rudinshtein."

27 September 2005