Our Lipa

Have you noticed that bearded Soviet jokes are becoming relevant again in our time? Now the turn has come to the wave generated by the 1980 Olympics in Moscow - or rather, the hectic Potemkin era that preceded it: “Not only Muscovites, but all Soviet people perceive the Olympics as a dear friend. “Our Linden” - people affectionately call it.” We laughed at this joke, believing that we knew what a “linden” was...

On March 21, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation rejected the claim of Greenpeace Russia to recognize the federal target program “Development of Sochi as a mountain-climatic resort in 2006 – 2014” as illegal. – a document that actually represents a master plan for preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The plaintiffs sought cancellation of the program on the grounds that it had not passed the environmental review required by law. Representatives of federal departments who spoke at the trial gave a fitting rebuff to this slanderous attack: the responsible employee of the Ministry of Economic Development said that the examination was carried out and gave a positive conclusion, and the employee of Rosprirodnadzor said that the examination was not carried out and even documents were not submitted for it, since this was not necessary. In general, everything is according to the text of the well-known story about a cracked pot, which the neighbor, firstly, did not see, secondly, took it already broken, and thirdly, returned it intact.

Such a thoughtful and echeloned argumentation completely convinced the trial judge Nikolai Romanenkov - despite the fact that at the beginning of the trial he did not hide his ironic attitude towards the defendant’s legal style. The problem, however, is that the decision on the fate of the Sochi application will not be made by Basmanny lawyers, but by people who still do not know that national interests take precedence over laws. At a press conference following the visit to Sochi of the IOC Evaluation Commission, its chairman Chiharu Igaya named two problems with the Sochi application: the extremely short time frame within which the facilities necessary for the Olympics must be built, and environmental problems associated with its holding.

We will have a reason to talk about the first problem later, but for now let’s talk about the second. Commenting on this statement, Anton Oreh said that “the Sochi committee should not be particularly afraid of objections regarding the environment” - they say the IOC, “as a rule, turns a blind eye to the protests of environmentalists, because there has not been a single Olympics in recent times that did not have problems with "green". Everything is true, but problems are different. It is clear that no matter in which corner of the world large-scale construction of anything takes place, there will definitely be someone whom this construction will deprive of their favorite place for walking or fishing. But it’s one thing to have a couple dozen local activists and visiting professionals of public protest ready to prove the ecological uniqueness of even an abandoned industrial zone. And quite another thing is a direct threat to the territory included in the UNESCO World Heritage Register, i.e., on the list of modern wonders of the world.

A number of territories where construction is planned (and some are already underway) are included in the Sochi National Park. The national park, of course, is not a nature reserve - limited economic activity is allowed in it, including the construction of buildings for receiving and serving visitors. World experience shows: if a park does not set aside a certain area for places to rest, eat, spend the night and play outdoor games, it will lose much more from fire pits, cuttings and similar activities of visitors. But there are strict restrictions on construction in national parks, and until now no one has thought of building Olympic-level sports facilities in them. Moreover, no one imagined that almost a quarter of the park’s territory could be used for economic development, including the most valuable areas from an environmental point of view (which, specifically for this purpose, several months ago, with the stroke of a pen, were transferred from a protected area to recreational and visitor service areas).

Sochi National Park as a whole is not part of the World Heritage Site, but it does include some areas of the park bordering the Caucasus Biosphere Reserve and having the status of its protection zone. Some of them are also intended for development, and this is a direct violation of the country’s international obligations. It is almost impossible to hush up and put the brakes on such a scandal (especially since no one is really trying). Back in October last year, the Congress of European Green Parties adopted a special resolution in which it directly called on the IOC to reject Sochi’s application. The most famous environmental organizations in the world, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace, are strongly protesting against plans to develop undisturbed natural areas, with which international officials (including sports officials) prefer not to quarrel.

Meanwhile, all somewhat objective observers, including ardent supporters of holding the Olympics in Sochi, admit that the chances of the Russian bid are already slim. A loud scandal surrounding environmental problems will inevitably drown it completely. Even if we assume that the Russian decision-makers, when launching the assault on the national park, did not foresee such consequences, now they know about them with complete certainty. It would seem that it is necessary to extinguish the conflict at all costs, to avoid harsh statements from the “greens” - at least for the short time remaining before the IOC makes its final choice. Then you can brush aside any obligations - no matter what, but no one will postpone the Olympics. But instead, all authorities - federal, regional and city - seem to be deliberately doing everything to ensure that the scandal does not subside.

There is only one way to explain this behavior: all responsible persons involved in the process are absolutely sure that there will be no Olympics in Sochi. Under no circumstances.

In light of this, the Olympic bid (called a “carefully planned adventure” in a statement by the Social-Ecological Union) turns into simply a pretext for the division and “economic development” of the most delicious lands in the vicinity of the “summer capital of Russia” - which has so far been prevented by their status as a national park . And this is not speculation. Some time after Mikhail Fradkov signed government decree No. 81-r dated January 26, 2007, which determined the areas of the Sochi NP “on which the construction and operation of social infrastructure facilities are allowed,” Greenpeace Russia managed to find out what exactly will be built in the areas listed in this order. There was not a single Olympic facility on the list: “snowboard park”, “spa”, “golf club”... Well, of course, what would the White Olympics be without a spa and a golf tournament! And where to play golf if not on the slopes of the Caucasus?

The protests of the “greens” and the international scandal they caused not only do not interfere with these plans, but, on the contrary, automatically solve one – perhaps not the most important, but quite sensitive – problem. When the Sochi application receives a final refusal, the question will inevitably arise: who is to blame for the failure of the highest order? (Especially since the head of state, they say, still takes the Olympic prospects of Sochi seriously.) The sharp protests of the “greens” give officials an ideal chance to get through this unpleasant stage without losses: yes, here they are, the culprits! These are these traitors, Austrian-Korean mercenaries, openly celebrating another humiliation of Russia! And we have nothing to do with it - we would have succeeded, but an international conspiracy was again drawn up against us... Well, what can you do - okay, now don’t waste the good, don’t return the protected status to the lands. Let's build something else there. Thai massage parlor, for example...

And one last thing. The value of the natural areas adjacent to Sochi does not mean that any large-scale activity in these places will inevitably contradict the interests of nature conservation. The choice that the Sochi region will have to make is not between integrity and economic development, but between civilized development and wild development. Long-term development plans, large projects with thoughtful environmental and social aspects could be a way to preserve the nature of the region. This explains, for example, the cautious support provided by the same WWF to the project of the Rosa Khutor ski resort, implemented by the Interros holding in the same places, including on the territory of the national park. Not all environmental NGOs like such cooperation, but Greenpeace and a number of other organizations have already stated that they do not consider holding the Olympics in Sochi absolutely unacceptable - they only oppose the division and uncontrolled exploitation of unique natural areas.

The trouble is that this is exactly what their opponents want.