Posted 3 сентября 2021,, 07:45

Published 3 сентября 2021,, 07:45

Modified 24 декабря 2022,, 22:38

Updated 24 декабря 2022,, 22:38

Residents of the Moscow region are in litigation with officials who do not notice the deforestation

Residents of the Moscow region are in litigation with officials who do not notice the deforestation

3 сентября 2021, 07:45
The story of the seizure of a forest in the prestigious Krasnogorsk region has developed. Residents of nearby villages and eco-activists have filed a lawsuit against the Forestry Committee of the Moscow Region.

Businessman Gogol rents recreational land from the state for the development of equestrian sports, in fact, he is building a private cottage community.

Yulia Suntsova

According to activists, the Committee, subordinate to the Government of the Moscow Region, is too loyal to one businessman: it does not see how his construction company mutilated the forest and turned a tidbit of the Moscow Region land into private land for the elite.

The law prohibits housing construction on the lands of the forest fund.

The company of businessman Nikolay Gogol, having rented 290 sq. kilometers of forest for the development of a recreational zone - an equestrian sports base, cut firewood in the truest sense of the word - cut down trees, erected capital buildings (a restaurant and cottages), concreted forest paths, ran a sewage system with possible discharges into the Sinichka and Banka rivers - tributaries of the Moscow River , dug a huge pond - for paid fishing, as residents believe.

The type of permitted use of a plot leased by a businessman is "recreational activity". This imposes an obligation on the tenant to provide free equal access to the site for all citizens of Russia, everyone who wants to walk and relax on this land. The businessman also distinguished himself on this point - he surrounded the site with a fence. There are locks on the fence.

Despite the obvious clearing of the site for large construction, the Forestry Committee of the Moscow Region does not notice any violations.

Not cottages, but "Temporary structures", not a pond for VIP fishing, but a "fire pond", not a site fencing, but an "enlightened metal fence" with free access, not concreted paths, but a "path network", not deforestation, but "collection of illiquid wood"... - on a blue eye writes in his official response to the request and about. branch of the forester of the State Treasury Institution "Mosoblles" of the Istra branch of the Forestry Committee of the Moscow Region Mira Platonova.

Realizing that the law was not written to Gogol, and there was no hope for the finally blinded officials, the activists, worried about the destruction of the natural territory, went to court. The lawyers of the National Center for Ecological and Epidemiological Security, a non-profit partnership, became allies in the struggle and helped prepare the lawsuit.

The activists told the editorial board of Novye Izvestia that the misuse of the land plot will be the subject of the court proceedings.

An initiative group of residents of the villages of Otradnoye and Svetlye Gory will try to prove in court the fact of improper use of forest lands, the fact of barbaric exploitation of the forest and hope to establish during the meetings in whose interests and for what purpose on the site with cadastral number 50: 11: 0020301: 34 felling of trees, excavation.

Earlier, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region recognized the leased area as the territory of the forest fund assigned to the Krasnogorsk district forestry of the Istra branch of the GKU MO Mosoblles.

The plot with permitted use "recreational activities" was leased to LLC Konkur club Otradnoye on March 25, 2008 under contract No. 50-0140A-04-05-0520. The holder of a 96.67% stake is businessman Nikolay Nikolayevich Gogol.

According to the Rules for the Use of Forests for Recreational Activities, approved by Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated 09.11.2020 No. 908, recreational activities should not interfere with the right of citizens to stay in forests, while forests should be used in ways that do not harm the environment and human health. In the forests, it is allowed to erect temporary buildings (gazebos, storage points for inventory, etc.) and landscaping: placing a road and path network, information stands and notices on environmental protection, benches, rain sheds, direction signs, containers for collecting and storing garbage, etc. etc. Moreover, in accordance with clause 5, when placing non-capital buildings and structures in forests, it is allowed, first of all, in areas not occupied by trees and shrubs. Also, in accordance with Art. 98 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, activities that do not correspond to their intended purpose are prohibited on recreational lands, lawyers explain.

In addition, capital structures erected in forest areas have signs of unauthorized buildings. By law, the cottages must be demolished. The very fact of their construction speaks of non-compliance with forestry regulations and the forest development project. This circumstance can and should be used by officials for early termination of the lease agreement. But, apparently, there is not enough political will, or force majeure circumstances do not allow the administration to act in the interests of citizens...

Inspectors of the All-Russian public organization "All-Russian Society for the Conservation of Nature" in the Moscow Region made the assumption that the organizers and patrons of the construction site have a firm belief that unauthorized construction will be able to legalize the fact of construction, for example, under a forest amnesty, and then somehow resolve the issue of changing destination of land. In this they, apparently, were able to convince the buyers. According to sources, the cottages are inhabited and are in operation all year round.

Continuous construction is associated with constant felling of trees. Today we already have an irreplaceable loss of a huge forest area. "This violates the constitutional rights of citizens to a favorable environment, guaranteed by the federal law "On Environmental Protection "by the Constitution of the Russian Federation", the statement of claim says.

Residents of the Krasnogorsk District are confident that the tenant, remaining unpunished, will not moderate his appetites and will continue construction on the still untouched part of the forest area.

On the site spasemotradu.ru residents organized a collection of signatures demanding to terminate the lease with Gogol's company. The plaintiffs also ask the court to oblige the Forestry Committee of the Moscow Region to check the intended use of the land plot, and to oblige the tenant to bring the forest plot into a condition suitable for further forestry and to compensate for the damage caused to nature.

The editors of Novye Izvestia will monitor the development of the situation around the barbaric deforestation in the Krasnogorsk District of the Moscow Region.

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