“Don’t you want to sell the Kremlin?” – in Sevastopol against the privatization of Massandra
The Massandra winery is as important for Crimea as the Kremlin is for Russia - to sell it means to sell history.
Former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy and Sevastopol politician Vadim Kolesnichenko announced this on the air of the First Sevastopol TV channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to Kolesnichenko, the Kremlin could just as easily be sold to make it a commercial enterprise.
“What is Massandra for the wine industry of the world and Russia? This is equivalent to what the Kremlin is to the Russian Federation. Why don't we privatize the Kremlin so that it makes a profit? There are some things in the history of our state; by the way, we have already voted in the Constitution that we preserve history. This is the thing that, first of all, is the alma-mother of Russian winemaking. We didn’t have our own wine in Russia,” Kolesnichenko said.
In his opinion, the ultimate goal of the sale of Massandra may be the sale of valuable southern coastal lands that are currently occupied by the company’s vineyards. This has already been observed in previous years in the lands of the former state farms “Gurzuf” and “Livadia”.
“There is one goal. Crimea is very small, there is very little land near the sea. The main lands are located in very advantageous places. Therefore, I do not see an economic need for the privatization of Massandra, other than a matter of gaining access to this land. To be honest, I’m not surprised by the stories that the land will not be developed. Today laws are being considered and obstacles are being removed.
Even in the conditions of the Ukrainian state, where farmland was prohibited from development under pain of criminal liability - look at Yalta, the southern coast of Crimea. The lands of the Gurzuf state farm and the lands of the Livadia state farm, they are actually half built up,” added Kolesnichenko.
PolitNavigator previously reported that the Crimean winery "Massandra" could be privatized. Before the auction, an appraisal will be conducted and a starting price will be set.
English version :: Read in English : "Don't you want to sell the Kremlin?" – Sevastopol protests the privatization of Massandra