300 signatures collected in Volgograd against construction of hotel in green zone

On August 8, picketers demanded from the authorities of Volgograd to stop building a hotel in Predmostnaya Square, felling the greenery and capturing parkland, and to hold public hearings initiated by residents, not officials.

The protesters were carrying posters "No to corruption and phoney decisions!", "Spotty development means destruction of historic centre!", "Bureaucrats, stop thinking about your personal interests, start thinking about people!" and others.

Tatiana Krivenko, a participant of the protest action, the Secretary of the Board of Veterans of the 13^th Guards Division, who lives close to the construction site, said that residents of Volgograd are offered, "instead of parkland, a building of glass and concrete."

The city needs hotels, but there are places where they can be built without cutting down parks, said Victoria Sopoleva, the chair of the movement "People's Stroycontrol". However, as she said, the authorities "are lobbying the developers' interests."

The action passed without incidents. According to the organizers, they collected about three hundred signatures in support of legitimate public hearings and refusal from erecting the hotel in favour of return of the green zone.