Moscow seeks investors for Disneyland park project

Moscow, April 18 (IANS) Authorities in Russia's Moscow city have plans to build a Disneyland-like park for which they are searching for investors.

"We are constantly in talks with companies that would be interested in such an ambitious project," RIA Novosti quoted Sergei Cheremin, head of the city government's foreign trade department, as saying

He said negotiations were ongoing with a number of large European and Russian financial institutions and banks because the project's implementation "will require the creation of an international consortium".

Russian investors are showing significant interest in such a project, Cheremin said.

The project should be located on a plot of at least 100 hectares near the city's outer ring road, he added.

Walt Disney, in the early 1950s, founded WED Enterprises, a corporate entity set up to plan and build an amusement park near Los Angeles.

Financing the endeavour proved difficult, but Disney was able to secure a significant portion of the funding from the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

The ABC received in return the rights to produce a weekly Disney television programme and a share of the park's profits. Construction began July 21, 1954, and was completed July 17, 1955.