Sochi residents complain to ICRF about development of Maly Akhun

Residents of the neighbourhood Maly Akhun have complained to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) about the construction within specially protected area of recreational purpose.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 1, 2015, Sochi builders fenced off a part of park area, which belonged to the former Institute of Balneology and Physiotherapy. The earlier citizens' and tourists' favourite lounge area of the resort city became inaccessible, said Sochi residents.

Within seven months since, residents of Maly Akhun have held over 20 meetings, where they adopted resolutions demanding from city administration to provide information, who and on what basis had allocated public land for development, but received no response, said Galina Kochkina, the chair of the public organization "Old residents of Sochi".

Vladimir Kimaev, a resident of Maly Akhun and a member of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", said that the developer had refused to provide documents; he just said in words that the building permit had been received.

Builders had blocked for guests and residents of Sochi a free access to the protected area of the national park; and they started working by ignoring the opinion of local residents and without holding any public hearings, said Mikhail Pylenok, the chairman of Self-Government Body (know as TOS) "Maly Akhun".

On March 11, activists appealed to the ICRF with a statement, which pointed to the violation of the General Plan and Rules of the Sochi Resort Complex in connection with the construction deployed in the neighbourhood. The statement was signed by 65 persons.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.