Delays in pumping fuel oil from sunken tankers threaten the season in Anapa.

Work to pump fuel oil from the sunken parts of the ships will not begin until after the storm season. Prolonged fuel oil pumping could lead to the collapse of Anapa as a resort, Telegram users stated.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, the environmental consequences of the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait have not been eliminated even a year after the tankers sank, as acknowledged by scientists and Kuban authorities. A representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that all three cofferdams have been installed, and 29.6 kilometers of protective embankments have been constructed along the coast to protect beaches. However, the protective embankments did not withstand the winter storms; volunteers reported fuel oil spills and partial destruction of the protective embankments in January.

Anapa City Council Deputy Oleg Yantsen reported that fuel oil pumping from sunken tankers is not carried out during the winter months due to severe storms. "Active work on pumping out fuel oil, at least, will only begin when the storm season passes - in late March - early April," Yantsen said in a video published today on the "Anapa Civil" Telegram channel.

According to him, the most optimistic forecast is that the fuel oil pumping will be completed by around June, while a more realistic one is by the end of summer. If the work does not go according to plan, then the end cannot be expected until autumn. "The state of emergency will not be lifted until then. <...> "Overall, the forecast ranges from a very bad season to a moderately bad one," he stated.

"By spring, vacationers will book vacations at other resorts; vacations and vacation plans are being considered in advance <...> "How easy it turns out to be to destroy a resort that once attracted 5 million Russians," blogger Max Anapsky was indignant on his Telegram page.

He said it's necessary to send appeals to the authorities to speed up work on the strait; they don't want to open Anapa until the work is completed, and they won't.

"Opening the season is a political issue and has nothing to do with ecology. If the governor can push through, the emergency situation will be lifted. If not, then another couple of years of waiting for a miracle," Vladimir wrote in the comments.

"Small hoteliers will have a hard time. "They'll squeeze them and buy them at a bargain price," believes Evgeny Ivanov.

Some users said they intend to come to Anapa this year.

"I hope they don't chase people off the beaches and threaten them with fines," wrote Tatyana Kuznetsova.

"I've never seen official water test results for petroleum products on our favorite beaches," noted Elena.