Residents of Pyatigorsk and ecologists ask Khloponin to protect the Mashuk mountain

The authorities of Pyatigorsk ignore destruction of a unique natural memorial, the Mashuk mountain. This was a statement of the activists of regional youth environmental movement "Sunny Patrol". They sent a round robin to Alexander Khloponin, Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in South-Caucasian Federal Okrug (SCFO), asking him to pay attention to construction on this mountain.

Activists of the organization collected over four thousand signatures of residents of Pyatigorsk, STRC "Stacrololye" reports.

Representative of the "Sunny Patrol" Evgeny Lazarenko informed that yet in 1961 the Mashuk mountain was acknowledged a natural memorial and in 2004 the Ministry of Culture of Stavropol region granted it a status of historic and cultural state reserve. However, in 2005 the Western forest slope of the mountain with the area of 37,3 hectares was moved into the category of non-forest lands. According to Lazarenko, Administration of Pytigorsk sold it to "Kavminecocenter" limited company for only 346.890 rubles.

For almost six years, until the middle of 2011, the land sold to "Kavminecocenter" limited company remained untouched. However, in September construction of a complex of holiday hotels of cottage type (by the authorities' version") started in an area of 5,29 hectares which suddenly turned out to have of a new owner, "Kavzhilstroy" limited company from Kabardino-Balkaria, Evgeny Lazarenko reported.

Now an advertisement of selling six hectares land in the Western slope of the Mashuk mountain is placed on the web-site of realty agency "The Capital's Asset".

Last year the "Sunny Patrol" mailed out formal complaints about a great number of bodies of power. By the New Year answers were received which, according to Lazarenko, were just typical bureaucratic runarounds.

"Otkrytaya" newspaper published these answers. Deputy regional nature conservation Public prosecutor Kasiutin writes that "Kavzhilstroy" is going to cut down 162 trees and 83 shrubberies on Mashuk for which it is ready to pay as much as 351 thousand rubles to the state budget and with this money "Gorzelenstroy" will plant new saplings in other districts of the city already this spring. Kasiutin also writes that "Kavzhilstroy" has not got an official permission from the municipal "Green Committee", therefore Director General of the organization Khazratali Makhotlov received a proposal to eliminate violations of nature conservation legislation.

Deputy Head of regional department of "Rosprirodnadzor" Sergey Shuisky writes in his letter that a "case of administrative infraction against an unestablished person" was initiated on the facts mentioned in the appeal.

Deputy Mikhail Kuzmin heading Environmental Committee in the regional Duma redirected the "Sunny Patrol's" complaint about the actions of the developer and Mayor's office of Pyatigorsk back to Mayor's office. A reply signed by Deputy Head of the city Oleg Bondarenko was received which runs: "Concerning the construction works in process, we inform you that "Kavzhilstroy" limited corporation is not building a holiday hotel in this district".