Russian Tycoon Pledges Support to Historic California Park
June 23, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg signed an agreement with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday to provide “substantial financial support” to maintain a park on the site of a 19th-century Russian colonial settlement, the San Francisco Chronicle says.
The deal includes a pledge to find a “long-standing solution” to financial problems at Fort Ross State Historic Park on the Sonoma coast, which the governor considered closing last year during the state budget crisis.
Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev, currently on a U.S. tour, joined Gov. Schwarzenegger and Mr. Vekselberg, president of the Renova Group of companies, at the signing ceremony in San Francisco. Russia sent its U.S. ambassador to California last year to show support for Fort Ross when the state mulled closing the park.
