A project to expand the borders of the Russian capital proposed by the country's president last month may be completed within a five-year term, Russia's Izvestia daily said on Thursday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested earlier this year to expand Moscow at the expense of Moscow Region's territories to create a capital federal district and to transfer a significant part of government bodies beyond the existing boundaries of the city.
"According to regulations of Moscow's authorities, the transitional period of annexing definite municipal territories must be no less than three years and no more than five years," the daily quoted a document pending consideration with Moscow officials.
Under the project, the territory of the Russian capital may be enlarged by 720 hectares (1,779 acres) mostly expanding in the southwest into the current Moscow Region, annexing new territories between the Kievskoe and Varshavskoe highways.
More than half of Muscovites support the idea of creating a new federal district and moving government agencies outside downtown Moscow, a survey by the All-Russia Public Opinion Center said.
