Sochi residents rally demanding to stop Olympic construction

On April 26, the village of Razdolnoye in Sochi hosted an assembly of about one hundred citizens, who demanded to stop the Olympic and commercial construction in their territory.

The protesters assert that the construction works have provoked landslides in the vicinity of the village. According to their story, the works in Razdolnoye are conducted by such major Russian companies like "TO-44", State Corporation (SC) "Olimpstroy", Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "RZhD" (Russian Railroads), "RZhDStroy", LLC "InfCity-Trans", State Institution of the Krasnodar Territory (SIKT) "Krasnodaravtodor", Scientific-Production Association (SPA) "Mostovik" and LLC "Toneldorstroy".

"Earlier, our district was designed for housing more than a thousand people. Today, perhaps, our village is inhabited by ten thousand people. And they all use the supplies of water, sewerage, roads and electricity, intended for one thousand. Naturally, all the utilities break and fail from overpopulation, over-voltage and overstress, causing irritation and tension among people, "said Boris Minosyan, Chairman of the Territorial Self-Government Body "Razdolnoye".

According to his story, the process of Olympic and commercial development of rural areas in the vicinity of Razdolnoye has also damaged the lands of the Mountain Institute of Horticulture and Floriculture and the territory of the National Park.

The participants of the rally drew up a joint protocol demanding to stop the construction and expressed their commitment to hold rallies and pickets, should the authorities fail to react to their demands.