Press Release, 27.11.2023

Photo: A tent camp of civil activists opposing the construction of a road across the river / Photo by the regional branch of Yabloko

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Udmurtia joined in challenging the decision of the Izhevsk Mayor’s Office on the construction of a bridge across the Orlovka River. The supervisory authority, like the leader of the Yabloko branch in Udmurtia, Iya Boronina, considers the Mayor’s resolution permitting the construction to be illegal. The Oktyabrsky District Court of the Izhevsk combined the two cases into one proceeding.

Boronina’s legal position is as follows. The construction site is located in several security zones at once: a water protection zone, a coastal protection zone, a power line, and also near a gas distribution network. When issuing the permit, the protected objects – the main gas pipeline – were not taken into account, approvals were not obtained from Gazprom Gazoraspredeleniye Izhevsk, and the approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources did not enter into legal force at the time the permit was issued.

Iya Boronina filed a motion to obtain evidence in the case. Plaintiff Boronina’s argument was confirmed by the documents the court received from the departments.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office also presented additional arguments. Thus, judging by the project design documentation, the object has signs of capital construction, and not temporary, as stated by the developer. Also it is not classified as an object included in the list of objects, the placement of which can be carried out on state or municipally owned lands without the provision of land plots and the establishment of easements approved by the relevant resolution.

According to information from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a lawsuit on the seizure of the given plot has been filed.

The next court hearing is scheduled for 6 December.

Now the leader of the Yabloko branch in Udmurtia Iya Boronina is preparing an appeal to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in order to bring to justice members of the Izhevsk Land Use and Development Commission, who issued the permission to carry out the work.