Work on the research and educational centre, the biggest of its kind in Europe, was completed in July 2015. To date, the centre is the only one of this level to have been built outside a sea or ocean coastal area.
The centre’s 80 aquariums display sea and fresh water fauna from Kamchatka and Lake Baikal to the Galapagos Islands, Icelandic fjords and the Great Barrier Reef.
Vladimir Putin saw the exhibits and watched a water show featuring killer whales.