On September 9, a rally against construction of a thermal
power plant in Kudepsta near Sochi brought together over 500
residents of Sochi. YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin asked
the developer to submit the permission documentation.
Local residents oppose the construction of environmentally
hazardous industrial facilities, the operation of which will
result in air pollution, noise and other factors posing a
serious threat to the health of tens of thousands of residents
and holiday-makers in Sochi. The Sochi administration and
the Olympstroy company plan to locate the thermal plant in
the centre of a densely populated resort area.
The rally was organised by two initiative groups headed by
YABLOKOs candidates at the regional election and activists
from the North Caucasus Environmental Watch Alexei Mandrigelya
and Vladimir Kimayev. The authorities tried to interfere so
that the rally would not take place. However, when police
arrested Alexei Mandrigelya, Vladimir Kimayev, Olga Noskovets
and Valery Suchkov managed to organize the rally.
In addition to local residents and activists from the Environmental
Watch the rally was attended by YABLOKO activists from the
Krasnodar Territory and other regions who made a protest camp
# OkkupayKuban against the construction. YABLOKO leader Sergei
Mitrokhin also came to Sochi to participate in the rally.
He opened the rally and was supported by the local residents.
Mitrokhin called the construction of thermal power plant
an environmental crime. According to him, it was a criminal
and oligarchic project, as the company GazEnergoStroy was
registered in offshore zones. 15 hectares of forest will
be cut during the construction, the plant will pollute the
air and endanger health of the people living there. And all
this is made so that the owners of the plant could take the
profit to the offshore, said Mitrokhin.
The resolution adopted by the rally demanded abolishing of
the dangerous construction project.
Photographs by Olga Noskovets
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