Mayor of Moscow laying the cornerstone of an SOS Children's Village

On 4 October 2004, Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and SOS-Kinderdorf International President Helmut Kutin, in a symbolic act, laid the cornerstone for the new SOS Children's Village in Moscow's Butovo district. There has already been an SOS Children's Village in Moscow's Tomilino district since 1996; the new village will be the fifth SOS Children's Village in Russia.

February this year saw a cheque being handed over for the benefit of the new SOS Children's Village in Moscow in the context of an official state visit by former Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil. Donation proceeds by the company Swarovski were handed over to Ms Margot Klestil-Löffler; talks with Russia's first lady Ludmilla Putina and SOS-Kinderdorf International President Helmut Kutin resulted in plans for implementing the new project. Main funding for the SOS Children's Village was provided by the promoting association Swiss Friends of SOS Children's Villages whose representatives also participated in the corner-stone laying ceremony.

As early as 1988, negotiations started on building SOS Children's Villages in Russia. Tomilino ended up being the first project to be implemented. The second project was SOS Children's Village Orjol, where the first families moved in in 1998. Two years later, SOS Children's Village St. Petersburg opened its gates. In 1998, SOS Children's Villages Norway co-operated with the Norwegian Red Cross in an emergency relief programme to benefit 2,600 children who had been placed in orphanages and with adoption families. SOS Children's Village Kandalaksha was officially inaugurated by the Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise in August 2004 and is considered the follow-up project of the emergency relief programme.