Officials approved the construction of skyscrapers in the glide path of Vnukovo

For the second year, residents of Odintsovo near Moscow have been trying to stop the construction of 22-32-storey buildings of the Chestnut Grove residential complex on arable land - all in vain. But the tragedy in Yeysk looks like

Julia Suntsova

In recent years, many developers have tried to deploy construction sites on arable land near the village of Izmalkovo. In 2019, the structures of Alisher Usmanov ( Specialized Developer Izmalkovo Real Estate LLC) even managed to coordinate planning and survey projects in the Ministry of Construction of the Moscow Region. They were going to string a new man-hill with 7,500 residents on the Minsk highway, and this would be the third multi-storey microdistrict on this highway - the main western transport artery of the Moscow region.

But then the Federal Air Transport Agency intervened in the developers' plans in time, finding grounds to kill the project.

Three years later, at the beginning of the special operation, stirrings began again on the promising land. This time, a building permit in the Moscow Region government was received by SZ Izmalkovo Real Estate LLC, which is associated with the MIC Group.

"The catastrophe in Yeysk proved on blood - it is impossible to build up the glide slopes of airports, period. And it's not about formal compliance with security requirements, but about real, nowhere more real, threats to people's lives. Now in the Odintsovo urban district, 7 kilometers from Moscow, the developer is hastily preparing for the construction of the Chestnut Grove residential complex. Buildings with a height of up to 32 floors. The allotted land plot is located on the route of aircraft landing at the airport, which here can descend up to 300-400 meters above the ground. After Yeisk and Irkutsk, does anyone have any doubts that the risk of aircraft colliding with residential buildings, for example, in the event of equipment failure, poor visibility, engine failure, is not an empty phrase?", - comments the leader of the public movement "Odintsovo Initiative" Georgy Gorodetsky.

According to activists, after a military plane crashed on a residential building in the Krasnodar Territory, they turned to the head of the Investigative Committee with a warning about such risks in the vicinity of Vnukovo.

Soon, a release appeared on the official website of the Sledkom: “In social networks, residents of the Odintsovo urban district of the Moscow region turned to the Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee A.I. Bastrykin. In their appeal, they ask to take measures to prevent high-rise buildings near the Vnukovo airfield. The construction of such houses, in their opinion, can lead to a number of negative consequences. The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia instructed the head of the GSU of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Moscow Region Starikov A.Yu. carefully study the arguments of the inhabitants of the Odintsovo district and report on the circumstances voiced in their appeal.

A couple of days later, the Odintsovo Initiative activists were invited to an appointment at the Odintsovo investigation department.

"The first meeting with the investigator took place today, as it seemed to me, in a constructive way. Employees are determined, we see the fuse and the fact that the initiative comes from the very top. We were asked for the available answers from the authorities and some other information, but we still did a lot of work - we can say that we conducted our own investigation. Investigators were interested in how agricultural lands became private property, who is to blame. The pre-investigation check is in full swing, senior lieutenant of justice Krasnoryadtsev is in charge of it. We hope our efforts will turn into a criminal case, and the construction will be stopped", - says Georgy Gorodetsky.

Bypassing or formally following safety standards by developers is, in general, nothing new. For construction giants and developers, proximity to the airport is just an inconvenient detail: you need to think about how to turn it into advertising for clients. “The ecology of the location is wonderful. LCD "Chestnut Grove" is being built in the immediate vicinity of the forest park with the Samarinsky pond. There are no hazardous industrial facilities and large highways in the district. The only negative is the audible noise of the Vnukovo airport”, - they are not lost in the MIC.

In the case of the “Chestnut Grove”, questions arise, first of all, of course, to the regiment of officials who did not doubt anything and waved the permits, because the matter was definitely not limited to one “random” signature.

Until 2014, the site allocated for development was registered as agricultural land. But when the businessmen needed it, the municipal administration and the deputies had no trouble repainting the arable land in the red zone “Zh” in the general plan.

In the same year, the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of the Moscow Region, headed by Vladislav Gordienko, also changed the type of permitted use of land to “multi-storey residential buildings (high-rise buildings)”, since then the site has been considered suitable for dense construction.

Further, for the developer, everything went like clockwork. On August 30, 2019, the Ministry of Housing Policy of the Moscow Region approves the project for planning and surveying the territory at the Moscow Region, Odintsovo urban district, near the village of Izmalkovo No. P20 / 0057-19 almost in full unison with the needs of the developer’s future project.

On June 2, 2021, the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of the Moscow Region prepares and approves the construction plan for the land plot, which also surprisingly coincides with the goals of the developer.

On June 29, 2022, the project documentation of the developer LLC "Specialized Developer Izmalkovo Real Estate" passes the state examination and receives a positive conclusion. An order is also issued to approve the positive conclusion of the state environmental review.

Finally, on July 12, 2022, the company receives a coveted permit from the Ministry of Housing Policy of the Moscow Region for the construction of capital and linear facilities on the site.

Actually, these are standard stages for the approval of any residential development in the country. But in the case of the Chestnut Grove, the Federal Air Transport Agency also had to say its weighty word. And she said - in fact, taking the position of an outside observer.

In his response dated October 3, 2022, Deputy Head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Dmitry Yadrov states:

"The participation of the Federal Air Transport Agency and the airport operator in obtaining a construction permit is not provided for by the regulations".

Yadrov switches arrows to Mosgosstroynadzor, which should "take into account the restrictions provided for by the aerodrome area and check the sanitary and epidemiological conclusion." And at the Federal State Unitary Enterprise GosNII GA, which did not reveal any bad influence of the Chestnut Grove residential complex on the operation of radio technical support for flights. Also, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency refers on the operator of the Vnukovo airfield, according to which "the construction of the Kashtanovaya Grove Residential Complex does not affect the safety of aircraft flights".

Did not find any violations in the "Chestnut Grove" and the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office. In his response dated October 12, 2022, Kirill Nishchimenko, Deputy Moscow Prosecutor for Supervision of Law Enforcement in Air and Water Transport, explains that during the audit, the head of the navigation and air navigation support service of Vnukovo International Airport Novikov V.N. explained to the prosecutors: “Any restrictions on take-off and landing operations at the airfield during the construction and completion of the Kashtanovaya Grove residential complex will not be applied, the indicated residential complex will not affect the take-off (landing) course”.

In a word, all state-authorized supervisors and inspectors unanimously agreed on the unconditional safety of the construction site.

But the activists from the Odintsovo Initiative do not find the officials' answers convincing.

"The Vnukovo airfield is used by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Rossiya SLO is based here (board No. 1). The blocking of the airfield by high-rise buildings may adversely affect the safety of flights of the top officials of Russia. It seems very strange that the fields of the village of Izmalkovo, which have not been built up for almost 70 years due to their location under the glide path, have begun to be built up at an accelerated pace right now - during the SMO", - says Odintsovo resident and activist Mikhail Belozub.

In addition, serious questions arise regarding the observance of fire safety in the planned residential buildings. According to activists, the residents of future skyscrapers simply do not leave a chance for salvation in the event of a fire spreading.

"The Odintsovo fire and rescue garrison of the EMERCOM of Russia does not have the technical means to rise above 50 meters, that is, seventeen floors, it is impossible to extinguish, localize fires and save people at these heights with the available resources. The project announced by the MIC is buildings with up to 32 floors, almost twice as high. Accordingly, if a fire breaks out in this microdistrict, we immediately sign a sentence for many people. The victims simply won't have a chance to save their lives", - resident and activist Dmitry Smirnov worries.

The permit for the construction of initial buildings is valid until November 12, 2024, so, presumably, the first skyscrapers are expected to be brought under the roof in two years.

MITs development, however, gave a start to sales in new buildings already at the stage of excavation.

In the residential complex "Chestnut Grove" today one-, two- and three-room apartments and studios are sold in the price range from 4,432,295 to 9,354,000 rubles.

The company claims that the first equity participation agreements have already passed state registration.

The MITs company did not respond to a request from the editors of Novye Izvestia about the issues for construction on the part of the Investigative Committee.

To find out the opinion of the developer about the pre-investigation check, we called the MIC under the guise of buyers. Sales manager Ruslan, often turning to laughter from the questions of the “potential buyer”, assured: there are no claims from the Federal Air Transport Agency and other regulatory authorities to the Chestnut Grove. As for the checks, any of them is just a way to once again confirm the “purity of transactions”. At the same time, Ruslan did not deny the fact that a pre-investigation check was carried out at the request of residents of neighboring villages.

"Now we are at the construction stage - the twisting of metal fittings and the acceptance of the first floor. We plan to hand over the keys no later than March 2025. All norms and regulations are observed, the planes fly, their wings do not touch anyone. They check [the construction site] - this is good, which means that all shortcomings will be minimized. What is the story with this check by the Investigative Committee? Near the construction there are villages. Dissatisfied tenants gathered - a common thing. It is clear that they do not want construction under their windows. But I will remove your doubts: they were preparing for the construction for a long time, more than one year. The project has received all necessary permits. And if the first equity participation agreement is being registered in the unified state register, then the green light has been given. The process is irreversible", - manager Ruslan is sure.

The MITs company, it seems, is also confident in the successful end of the check initiated by the first person of the Investigative Committee. However, activists from the Odintsovo Initiative also have no doubts about the seriousness of the investigators' intentions.