Since 1933, it has been the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, and since 1991, to the Russian Federation.[1] The building belonged to the USSR and later Russia and, under the 1985 Leasecontract, the U.S. was supposed to pay 72,500 Soviet roubles per year, which by 2001 was the equivalent of about $3, which the U.S. had failed to pay in 1993.[2] In 2004, the two sides concluded a new 49-year lease that was said to be based on a joint assessment of the property's value; the rent rate was not disclosed.[3][4]