Translated material
Found a dollar worth of braid
The Kaliningrad region risked competing for the status of a special tourist zone
The government of the westernmost Russian region collected its thoughts for a long time, but finally took the plunge and sent an application to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation to obtain the status of a special tourist and recreational zone.The discussion about whether the Kaliningrad region needs this zone or not has been going on for several months. It all started with the fact that the government said that the status of a tourist zone is unprofitable from an economic point of view, and therefore the administration will not fight for it. This point of view was voiced by the Minister of Industry and Tourism Development Nikolai Vlasenko. It would seem that the issue has been resolved: it is unprofitable - well, okay. But the minister’s words caused a stir in the regional Duma, in particular, the first vice speaker, United Russia member Konstantin Polyakov, expressed the exact opposite point of view. In the local press he harshly criticized the government.
As a result, it recently became known that the regional government hastily reconsidered its position regarding the tourist zone. The region not only sent the corresponding application, but, moreover, Governor Georgy Boos discussed this issue personally with the Federal Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref. “Our application has already been accepted. We have passed the preliminary selection and are now among the top ten applicants, of which in the end no more than five will remain,” Nikolai Vlasenko explained to Vremya Novostey.
According to him, it suddenly turned out that the status of a tourist zone is a profitable thing. “This status will not be assigned to the entire region, but only to a certain territory. We proposed using the Curonian Spit for such purposes. It is located on federal land, and we do not have the right to conduct any activities on it. But within the tourist zone everything will be different,” says the minister. He explained that if everything works out as planned, the region could receive from 2 to 5 billion rubles. for the development of infrastructure on the Curonian Spit. We are talking about laying a new highway, a bicycle path (with inclusion in a single European network), building hotels, SPA centers and even an aquarium.
At the same time, Minister Vlasenko is not embarrassed by the fact that the Curonian Spit is a national park (due to its unique natural beauty included in the UNESCO World Heritage List), economic activity on the territory of which is limited for obvious reasons. “We are not going to build factories there, but to develop tourism. After all, where to relax if not in the park? Let’s take as a basis how our Lithuanian neighbors developed their part of the spit,” added Mr. Vlasenko. According to him, by the end of October it should already be known whether Moscow will satisfy the request of the Kaliningrad region to create a tourist zone or not.
Let us add that the regional Duma received information about the change in government plans with joy. “I told you, don’t just give up on the tourist zone. If everything works out, the Curonian Spit can become a real pearl of a health holiday. In two years, Poles and Lithuanians will enter the Schengen visa area, and improving their health will not be so easy. And then we will arrive in time - hotels, boarding houses, the sea,” Konstantin Polyakov makes a rosy forecast. According to him, a round table will be held in the regional Duma in the near future, at which it is planned to discuss the prospects for creating a special tourist zone on the territory of the Curonian Spit. The corresponding instruction was given to the Duma Committee on Infrastructure Development, Industry, Construction and Tourism.
Note that in addition to the Kaliningrad region, 27 more Russian regions submitted their applications to the Federal Ministry of Economic Development. And according to the plans of the federal government, there should be no more than four or five zones. So the “entry competition” is great - five regions per place.