Ecologists urge Putin to introduce regime of specially protected territory for the Grushevoy Ridge near Sochi

On September 25, the Office of the Government of Russia registered the appeal lodged by the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. It urges Mr Putin to save the Grushevoy Ridge from Sochi's commercial non-Olympic build-up by including the Ridge into the territory specially protected by the law.

The appeal was signed by Andrei Rudomakha, head of the organization and one of the three representatives of the ecological community who took part in the session on July 3, where Vladimir Putin made a decision to move two Olympic objects - the sledge-bobsleigh track and Mountain Olympic village - away from the Grushevoy Ridge.

The coordinator of the Ecological Watch informs Vladimir Putin that they are still planning to place the biathlon complex and the accompanying infrastructure on the Grushevoy Ridge. Also, the plans to build a highway going deep into the Ridge - towards the former location of the sledge-bobsleigh track in the valley of Pslushenok Stream in the border of the Caucasian Reserve has not been cancelled.

Besides, the letter runs that a new wide-scale project for development of this natural territory has appeared, according to which they plan to build the leisure base named "Yuriev Khutor" on the Grushevoy Ridge.