The 5th Extraordinary March in Protection of
St.Petersburg was conducted in a form of a rally. Marches
in protection of the historical part of the city are regularly
held every autumn. The action joined together 2,000 participants.
The main slogans of the march were “We have won over the Okhta-Centre,
we will win over irresponsibility of the bureaucrats from
the city government!” and “Let us preserve the heart of St.Petersburg!”
Speeches by representatives from YABLOKO, A Just Russia party,
the communist party, public organisations and initiative groups.
Also Vice Governors of St.Petersburg Igor Metelsky and Roman
Filimonov came for the first time to the rally. “This represents
recognition of the civil coalition in protection of St.Petersburg
by the city government. The city government had to recognize
the force it can not ignore any more,” said Maxim Reznik,
leader of St.Petersburg branch of YABLOKO.
Many organisations participating in the march had stands
in the square. The Youth YABLOKO organised an exhibition “The
vices of the city government”: corruption, collapse in the
communal services, cutting of city parks and gardens, etc.
Also YABLOKO showed a stand reflecting the main stages of
fight against Gazprom’s project “Okhta-Centre” to build a
skyscraper in the historical city centre which would have
not only spoilt the view of the city but also could have lead
to expelling St.Petersburg from UNESCO’s world heritage list.
YABLOKO was the first party to protest against this joining
together all the civil organisations in this fight against
Russian gas monopolist and the city government. And this struggle
succeeded.
See also:
Protection
of Environment
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