Press Release, 12.07.2024

Photo from social media

The Karelian Interdistrict Environmental Public Prosecutor’s Office established that a plot of pine forest on the shore of Lake Onega with an area of over 6 hectares was transferred into private hands illegally. Forest lands, which include centuries-old pine forests, can be exclusively federal property. The public prosecutor sent a statement of claim to the court to declare all transactions, the subject of which are the disputed territories, null and void. As an interim measure, a ban was introduced on the owners of plots and third parties to carry out any economic activity on the forest territory, including its felling. The inspection was carried out by the Interdistrict Environmental Public Prosecutor’s office after numerous appeals to the public prosecutor’s office and to officials from Yabloko deputies, as well as a great public outcry caused by the news of felling the forest.

A favorite place for recreation and holidays, the pine forest in Sheltozero was useful to local residents not only as a source of berries and mushrooms: the forest has been protecting human settlements from the cold winds of Lake Onega for centuries. Many local residents have spent their entire lives near the forest.

Twelve years ago the plot was sold to a private person. In July 2023, there emerged information about the destruction of the forest and the construction of a tourist centre in its place. The project was implemented by the peasant farm of Vladimir Gorbachev. However, village residents expressed strong disagreement with the entrepreneur’s plans, despite promises of new jobs and an improvement in the economic situation in the village. Among those who actively defended the forest was the mother of many children, Yekaterina Rayevskaya. Businessman Gorbachev filed a lawsuit against her to protect his honour and dignity, but lost the suit to the environmental activist, who was defended in court by Olga Tuzhikova, a Yabloko deputy in the Petrozavodsk City Council.

“A handful of people have no right to question multimillion-dollar investments,” Vyacheslav Gorbachev said in the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Karelia when a claim against Yekaterina Rayevskaya was examined. However, the court and the Interdistrict Environmental Public Prosecutor’s Office of Karelia decided otherwise.

“The residents of Sheltozero have convincingly made it clear that they will not allow disrespect towards them! I am glad we were able to help them with this!” This is how Emilia Slabunova, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia from Yabloko, commented on the situation. It should be noted that the Yabloko party considers it possible to make decisions on the construction of such facilities only on the basis of decisions of a local referendum.

EMILIA SLABUNOVA

is member of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party, Chair of Yabloko in 2015-2019.

Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia.

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Honoured Teacher of Russia