Battle for Moscow

The intention of the Moscow authorities to demolish thousands of houses and relocate about a million Muscovites has become one of the most important topics of recent weeks and even acquired a political dimension. What is wrong with the renovation bill, which the Duma has already adopted in the first reading, how the residents of the capital are trying to resist Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and how the situation around five-story buildings can affect the results of the presidential election - The New Times found out

On April 26, a huge queue lined up in Uspensky Lane for an appointment with the Moscow City Duma deputy from the Communist Party Elena Shuvalova. She was the only one in the city parliament who openly and sharply opposed the "renovation program", around which a real war began these days between the Moscow mayor's office and Muscovites. Residents of the Presnensky district standing in line told an NT correspondent that they managed to get to know each other over the past week, although a month ago people living in neighboring houses and apartments simply did not communicate with each other. Moreover, Muscovites do not just wait for an appointment with Shuvalova - they also collect signatures for a variety of petitions. Someone demands to exclude their district from the renovation program, someone - to deprive the Moscow deputy of United Russia Nikolai Gonchar, who became a co-author of the demolition bill. The mayor's office managed to unite the inhabitants of the city.

RENOVATION HAS A BEGINNING

It all started with a meeting between Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and President Vladimir Putin on February 21st. “We are finishing the program of renovation of the housing stock, the demolition of Khrushchev houses. Only a few houses remained. I think that in 2017-2018 we will completely complete this program,” Sobyanin reported to Putin. Putin replied: “I know the mood and expectations of Muscovites. The expectation is that these houses will be demolished and new housing will be built in their place. It seems to me that this would be the most correct decision.”

Only four deputies voted against the bill in the first reading: Sergey Shargunov (KPRF), Galina Khovanskaya (SR), Valery Gazzaev (SR), Vadim Belousov (SR)

At first, the situation developed relatively calmly. Most Muscovites were sure that it was about the resettlement of emergency housing, which is already subject to demolition according to the old program adopted under Yuri Luzhkov. However, after a group of State Duma deputies from Moscow submitted a renovation bill to parliament, which seriously restricts the rights of owners and endangers literally every building in Moscow that an investor might like, including multi-storey buildings and elite "Stalinka", protest the mood of Muscovites began to grow.

The bill does not contain a definition of the concept of "renovation" and does not even give an idea of ​​which particular houses are subject to demolition - there is simply no list of demolished series. The concept of a “renovation zone” is introduced, its boundaries will be determined by the mayor’s office with an abstract “taking into account the opinions of residents”, and in such zones all capital construction objects, and not just dilapidated housing, will be subject to demolition.

For residents of the houses, the only option for moving is offered. If the owner refuses to move, he is evicted within 60 days by a court decision, terminating the right of ownership guaranteed by the Constitution. At the same time, the owner is offered in return not an apartment of equal value, but simply an apartment of equal size.

It is also planned to create a Renovation Assistance Fund, which will become a state developer and will buy and sell real estate in “renovation zones”.

By the way, there is no definition in the bill of exactly what kind of “dilapidated” and “obsolete” housing will be renovated. As well as there are no provisions on improving housing conditions and resettlement of communal apartments, although at the level of districts the authorities are promising this to residents now. In fact, the program provides for the improvement of living conditions only for people on the waiting list.

Only four Duma deputies voted against the bill in the first reading: Sergey Shargunov (KPRF), Galina Khovanskaya (SR), Valery Gazzaev (SR), Vadim Belousov (SR). Moreover, Khovanskaya, even before the vote, when discussing the document, sharply opposed it. In her opinion, the bill in its current form is unconstitutional and "needs serious, radical revision." Otherwise, Khovanskaya emphasized, “we will have a meeting in the Constitutional Court, and the result will be obvious.” For example, the document, the deputy explained, violates the right to judicial protection of owners. “The decision comes into force immediately, and it is not clear whether an appeal and cassation are possible. The deadline is 60 days - you can leave for treatment or on a business trip, then come, but your house is no longer there. Such judicial practice is completely unacceptable,” said Galina Khovanskaya.

LEGISLATED ILLEGALITY

On April 19, the heads of all Moscow councils held meetings with residents. In a number of councils, dummy participants were noticed - for example, in Golyanovo, most of the places were occupied by people with armbands "druzhinnik". In Northern Izmailovo, the head of the council, Dmitry Dyatlenko, immediately informed the townspeople that he had already proposed to the Moscow City Hall to demolish all the five-story buildings of the district, including the "Stalinka" and brick houses of an individual series. The councils were also confused in their testimony about how exactly the residents would vote “for” or “against” the demolition of their houses. In Presnya, they tried to reassure people with phrases that the decision was up to the meeting of homeowners, but in Cheryomushki and the Alekseevsky district they said that they would have to vote on the Internet portal of the city hall "Active Citizen". In Izmailovo, they offered to decide the fate of houses in the MFC. Political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov, analyzing video materials from these meetings, noted distrust of any forms of voting offered (and controlled) by the mayor's office as one of the key "zones of concern among residents".

“All the negativity is set on fire by the opposition, it is invented. By the end of July, the topic of renovation should be settled, only the topic of who is moving and where should remain.”

Over the next few days, the number of people in protest groups on social networks began to grow exponentially. Discontent erupted offline as well. And in the central regions, residents almost took up pitchforks, demanding the return of the Constitution in Moscow, which guarantees the right to property. Furious residents of Presnya broke into a meeting of municipal deputies in their district and literally forced them to accept an appeal to the State Duma to cancel the renovation project, which was dubbed both “crap” and “deportation” on social networks. The authorities faced horizontal grassroots protest: Muscovites began to coordinate quarterly to distribute leaflets. In a number of administrations, the first lists of houses that allegedly agreed to demolition had already been posted, and it immediately became clear that in Northern Izmailovo, for example, they really planned to demolish expensive “Stalins”, but for some reason the barracks did not fall into the renovation zone. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev, a resident of a brick five-story building, not without causticity, invited Sergei Sobyanin to dinner so that he could see what normal houses doomed to destruction look like.

On the same days, a leak appeared on the network from a closed meeting at the Moscow City Hall, which was held by Vice Mayor Anastasia Rakova with the heads of administrations and prefectures after unsuccessful meetings with residents. Behind the leak are the meeting participants, who secretly do not want any renovation. According to rumors, there are even heads of administrations among them.

According to the participants, the mayor's office believes that it is best to extinguish discontent in the course of personal communication. This year there are elections of municipal deputies in Moscow, and candidates from United Russia should go out to talk with residents right in the yards. The discussion was raised by the question of whether it is worth posting on the houses that agreed to the demolition, announcements that they are participating in the renovation program and "going for the dream" in order to encourage the "red houses" (who voted against the demolition) to change their mind.

Part of the protest against the renovation, according to the heads of administrations, will subside, as on May 10, lists of houses for demolition will be published on the City Hall portal, which will not include the most “protest” houses. Heads of governments in areas where there are such houses were advised to hang letters on the entrances that would calm the residents, "swimming against the current."

“The main thing is that when the lists of demolished houses are published on May 10, there will be no scandal. All the negative is set on fire by the opposition, it is invented. By the end of July, the topic of renovation should be settled, only the topic of who is moving and where should remain. And those who did not get into the program will bite their elbows. You always have to do something scarce, our Soviet people love scarcity, ”Rakova was alleged to have said (at this point she was allegedly applauded). She also warned that some people who agree to move will try to “abuse the right”, “demand to show all the options”, “swear, is it the right socket, is the bathroom big”, and that it is unacceptable to succumb to such pressure.

IN THE CONTEXT OF ELECTIONS

On April 26, Vladimir Putin personally had to comment on the situation. Relocation from five-story buildings should not be by force, he said. “The goal is to improve the living conditions of people who live in crumbling houses built in the middle of the last century. But of course, this must be done in such a way and with such tools and means that do not violate the rights of citizens, ”the president said at a meeting with members of the government. “I repeat once again: nothing can be imposed by force, and the rights of citizens must be fully respected,” he added and instructed the government to ensure the passage of a law that would provide for this, stressing that he would not sign another document.

At the same time, the Sobyanin administration assures that 80% of residents, according to closed polls, approve of the demolition and that the protests are local. And in the meantime, notifications for rallies against renovation are carried to the city hall building. Most notifications were submitted on May 14 - to various central sites of the city. The authors of the applications agreed among themselves that everyone would go to the place agreed by the mayor's office.

The apparent growth of protest moods in the capital (a significant number of Russian voters live here, which will only increase if the law on the abolition of absentee ballots is passed) is a bad backdrop for the presidential election campaign, political experts admit. “The mental ferment associated with property is always dangerous. In this case, we are not talking about electoral losses, but about moral ones, ”Vyacheslav Smirnov, head of the Institute of Political Sociology, notes in a conversation with NT. However, in his opinion, Putin, on the contrary, can even benefit from the current situation: “Everything depends on the actions of the president. If he behaves like a populist, then, on the contrary, he will get a lot of advantages, protecting Muscovites from the mayor’s office.”

Political scientist Abbas Gallyamov also notes that for the 2018 presidential election, the topic of demolishing five-story buildings has serious potential, both positive and negative. “It all depends on the quality of management. If the process is organized in such a way that those who want it will really be resettled, and on conditions that suit them, then the topic will work in a big plus, the expert argues. “If they demolish those houses whose residents oppose it, everything will turn into numerous conflicts, street confrontation and a surge in protest voting.” And although after Putin’s statement that he would not sign the law if the rights of people there were violated, passions subsided somewhat, “the general feeling of anxiety remained,” the NT interlocutor sums up: “People are anxiously waiting for the second reading of the law in the State Duma and the start of a survey of residents on Portal "Active Citizen".

On April 28, Sergei Sobyanin said that the criticism that was voiced against the renovation program would be taken into account, and the corresponding bill would be significantly improved. On the same day, Yabloko activist Natalya Fedorova, who also spoke out against the demolition of five-story buildings, was splashed in the face with a chemical solution. She lost her sight. Before that - and also unknown - cut the wheels of the car of Yulia Galyamina, one of the applicants for a rally against renovation. Deputy Sergei Shargunov's apartment was set on fire (also unknown), and the moderator of the Muscovites Against Demolition group Cary Guggenberger was simply beaten on the street. Also unknown, of course.

photo: Vasily Kuzmichenok/TASS, Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS