Zurab Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, approached this monument, better known as the monument to Peter the Great, with its inherent Caucasian scale: the height of the entire structure is 98 meters (the third place among monuments in Russia), the material is bronze of the highest quality, the supporting frame is made of stainless steel. The scroll in the hand of the emperor and the crosses on St. Andrew's flags are gilded. The artificial reinforced concrete island on which the monument is located is surrounded by fountains that create the illusion of a sea wave. The total cost of the construction is about $17,000,000.

The most famous claims made by critics of Tsereteli for more than 20 years are:

1) The rostral column symbolizes victory over enemies. Thus, the emperor, standing on a rostral column decorated with St. Andrew's banners, tramples on his own Russian fleet.

2) The monument originally depicted Columbus and was intended for sale to the United States, Spaniards or at least Latin Americans for the anniversary of the discovery of America by a Spanish navigator. When the deal did not burn out, Tsereteli, walking through the hand of the master, turned Columbus into Peter and, using his connections, sold this monument to Russia.

3) The monument originally depicted Gulliver, and when the British did not appreciate the master's creation, he returned to Moscow.

The most sensational actions against this monument are:

1) Collection of signatures by the magazine “Stolitsa” against the installation of the monument. The protesters compared Tsereteli with a citizen Bender, and the statue of Peter with a poster “Sower of State Loan Bonds”. A total of 5,000 signatures were collected.

2) An attempt to blow up the monument by the Revvoensovet group. The explosion was canceled at the last moment due to the high risk of accidental casualties among passers-by As a result, the group was arrested and access to the monument was closed.

3) In 2007, a box with the inscription “Fundraising for the demolition of monuments erected everywhere by Zurab Tsereteli” was installed at the entrance to the ART4.RU Museum of Actual Art. In a few days, an amount exceeding 100,000 rubles was collected.