Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and other top bureaucrats moved into the Russian White House Tuesday, three months after the former parliament building was pounded by tanks and blackened by fire.
Five thousand workers, including 2,000 Turkish craftsmen, have worked round-the-clock on the $80 million cleaning and renovation of the marble tower along the Moscow River.The White House is now white again - and fully loaded with all the extras, including a new air conditioning system and tinted windows. It was rechristened Tuesday with a sprinkling of holy water by a Russian Orthodox archbishop.
The new parliament - which convenes Jan. 11 - has been allotted two less prominent buildings in Moscow, despite pleas by some lawmakers for their old landmark.