Sochi: negotiations between local residents and TPP builders end fruitless

On July 18, in Sochi, villagers of Kudepsta flatly refused - in the course of their meeting with the builders of the Kudepsta TPP (Thermal and Power Plant) - to compromise and allow building the facility.

Let us remind you that the confrontation between the builders and Kudepsta residents lasts for two months. In mid-May the latter set up a tent camp near the site, organized night watch shifts and would not let any construction equipment to the construction site. The attempts to persuade the villagers of the need to erect the TPP have ended in vain.

"There is misunderstanding between residents and builders"

Let us note here that the pretext for the meeting was an attempt undertaken by the builders on July 16 to penetrate to the other bank of the Kudepsta River, install a fence and begin construction, said the villagers. The activists stood up again in a live shield and did not let the machinery across the bridge. Then, the workers moved their equipment to the site, bypassing the river, which caused protest actions.

Policed was called to the venue, headed by Valery Medvedev, Chief of Police of the Adler District. Then, Temur Einatov, Deputy Head of the Administration of the Khosta District, made an attempt to settle the aggravated conflict between the developers-outsiders and the local community. He invited the conflicting parties to meet in his office and find a compromise.

The meeting of Kudepsta residents and the TPP developers, held on July 18, was attended by more than 20 people. The developers' party was represented by Dmitry Seleznyov, Director General of the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Kudepsta TPP - Gazenergostroy".

According to his story, the distance from the construction site to the nearest residential buildings is 570 meters "The Corporation 'Gazenergostroy' understands pretty well the concern of local residents. We are very sorry that some misunderstandings arose between residents and builders of the station. Those who manipulate people's concern for their own benefit are making use of the situation," said Mr Seleznyov

"Administration of Krasnodar Territory refused coordination to SC "Olimpstroy"

In his turn, Yuri Dzaganiya, the leader of the local branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), accused Dmitry Seleznyov of presenting false information.

"We have a document from the deputy governor of the territory Vadim Lukoyanov, dated June 22 this year, which reports that the administration of the Krasnodar Territory has refused to the State Corporation (SC) 'Olimpstroy' to coordinate the planning documentation, because of absence of the results of public hearings and conclusions of the ecological examination, which are needed because of an increased environmental hazard and proximity to the existing residential area," said Yuri Dzaganiya.

Dmitry Seleznyov reacted to this statement by quoting another document to the audience, which was signed by another deputy governor Alexander Saurin. The document is dated June 4 and states that the planning documentation had been coordinated with the administration of the Territory.

The Prosecutor's Office should now find out who of deputy governors had given the reliable information for the construction of the TPP, said Igor Vasiliev, an assistant of Sergey Obukhov, a State Duma Deputy from the CPRF.

"Officials and developers failed to answer specific questions"

Vladimir Kimaev, a member of the board of the organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", said at the meeting that the township of Kudepsta comprises a resort area with mineral springs; therefore any construction of a TPP in the area is impossible.

"Let us remind one of the Olympic objects - the cargo port in the Imereti Valley. It was washed off into the sea together with the billions of budget roubles spent to build it. Do you want to repeat this situation with the TPP in Kudepsta? Any construction in the resort area, in the residential zone with mineral springs and curative mud is categorically impossible," the ecologist addressed the developers.

The local residents present at the meeting refused to accept any compromise offered by builders. "We want our children and grandchildren to live in an ecologically clean area," said Pavel Limanov, a resident of Kudepsta.

Igor Vasiliev drew attention of the audience to the cadastres of the object. "None of the cadastres indicates the owner and the area of the land plots; all the cadastres state that these are the lands of residential, not industrial, areas. How then can you place industrial facilities here?" he asked.

In his opinion, none of the administration officials and developers present at the meeting could answer particular questions of the audience.

"Therefore, no consensus was reached at the meeting. If so, we leave the decision with the Prosecutor's Office, where we have turned on the fact of the legality of allocation by unknown persons of land for building an industrial facility with the aim to accommodate a commercial industrial Olympic object without consulting the population," said Igor Vasiliev.