The Public Chamber opposed the expansion of Moscow

Yesterday, the “Greater Moscow” project initiated by President Dmitry Medvedev was for the first time harshly criticized not just by a group of human rights activists, but by the Public Chamber, which is completely loyal to the authorities. Its members demanded that all work on the expansion of the capital be frozen, since public hearings required by law, as well as state and environmental assessments, had not been carried out. Social activists warned that in its current form, the project to expand the capital into the region does not take into account the interests of local residents and, moreover, is capable of actually destroying the environment of the Moscow region. The Moscow City Hall does not comment on the situation, and Moscow City Duma deputies say that the project cannot be reversed.

A resolution demanding the freezing of the “Greater Moscow” project, which provides for the expansion of the capital by 150 thousand hectares at the expense of the southwestern lands of the Moscow region, was adopted by members of the working group of the Public Chamber (PC) for environmental protection. As stated by its co-chairman Sergei Simak, the project caused dissatisfaction among social activists due to the fact that it did not take into account the opinions of citizens and a possible threat to the environment. “There were no public hearings, no state or environmental assessments on this project,” said another participant in the meeting, World Bank expert Sergei Vasiliev.

As Arkady Tishkov, deputy director of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said, the idea of relocating Muscovites causes him concern, since “in this case, the interests of business, not people, are taken into account first of all.” “They started building cottages on agricultural land in the Moscow region, taking advantage of loopholes in the law, as soon as it became known about the annexation. And where should they move? The region is full of anthrax burial grounds, simply unsuitable land. They want to settle people in a landfill, or what?” - Mr. Tishkov is indignant. According to Anton Khlynov, a member of the Moscow City Society for the Protection of Nature, due to the expansion of the capital, the so-called green belt of the city will also be under threat: “A lot of forests will legally become the lands of populated areas, and no one can guarantee that the forests will be preserved.” According to him, about 20% of the forests will be given over to recreational areas, which, if there are gaps in the legislation, can be built up with cottages, turning into elite settlements.

Members of the OP are going to demand the suspension of the Greater Moscow project until it is thoroughly examined at public hearings and passes an environmental assessment. “We need state expertise, sociological and transport. This should all be carried out within the framework of a single commission, otherwise it turns out that officials are silently appropriating land to Moscow, without asking anyone about anything,” said Mr. Vasiliev.

This is the first time that a structure loyal to the authorities has come out against the expansion of Moscow. Before this, Mr. Medvedev’s initiative was criticized by oppositionist Sergei Mitrokhin, and then (see Kommersant on February 24) residents of the prestigious Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway, who feared that local forests and fields would end up in the development zone, came out to the rally. They, like the participants in yesterday's meeting, demanded to hold public hearings on the project, citing Art. 131 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (“On Local Self-Government”), according to which the Moscow City Duma deputies participating in the implementation of the project do not have the right to do this without the participation of the population.

The Moscow City Duma reacted to the initiative of social activists with bewilderment. “Suspension of the project is impossible purely technically, the stage has already been passed: there was an initiative of the president, it was approved by the Federation Council, this is, in fact, a law that has entered into force, so I don’t understand what kind of public hearings there should be during the work of senators,” he said. Kommersant" head of the Moscow City Duma commission on legislation Alexander Semennikov. Yesterday, he recalled, deputies actually moved on to the implementation of a new stage of the “Greater Moscow” project, having adopted in the first reading a number of bills relating to the territorial division of the Moscow agglomeration. According to these documents, from July 1, when the borders of Greater Moscow are finally approved, 12 prefectures will operate within the expanded capital. “Now we have already moved to the stage of discussing the processes of state land management, and the next step is the implementation of the concept for the development of these territories,” said Mr. Semennikov. According to him, deputies are ready to begin a dialogue with social activists and environmentalists at the stage of development of the annexed lands. At the same time, Mr. Semennikov did not rule out that a state corporation similar to Olympstroy, which is supervising the Sochi construction project, could be created to develop the territories: “I think that after the emergence of a clear concept, this option will be considered, but you need to understand that construction in Sochi has a deadline, and in our case, according to experts, it takes about 50 years, if not more, to develop the land alone.”

Moscow Mayor's press secretary Gulnara Penkova told Kommersant that the mayor's office does not comment on the initiative of public activists. The press secretary of the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Barkovsky, did not answer Kommersant’s calls yesterday. The presidential administration also declined to comment.

Grigory Tumanov

Dimensions of suppression