The conflict over the development of Foros Park continues in Crimea
Investors from Tatarstan, who, despite the protests of local residents, are building buildings for a new children's camp on the territory of a pre-revolutionary park in Foros, carried out a PR campaign for compensatory planting of green spaces. “We planted 80 representatives of coniferous species - pyramidal cypress and Leyland's cupressociparis. All seedlings are Italian,” the organizers reported.
"I expected landscape design specialists from our Botanical Garden to be invited. They'd buy truly unique, rare tree species. They'd dig large, capacious holes, fully filling them with fertile soil, and prepare huge containers for watering the new plants as they were planted. But in just a day, they've whipped up a circus to make everyone shut up after seeing the cheap picture. Ak-Bars representative, what trees were cut down, their value, their age, and what did you plant in their place? Cheap seedlings for show?" fumed Svetlana Markova, moderator of the "Yalta – My Love" Facebook group.
Meanwhile, the developers have published a construction plan. According to the published data, even after the protests, the investors have not abandoned the construction of the eight-story building, which will alter the park's appearance and may also impact shade and air flow. The eight-story building will be "designed to accommodate students and athletes during their training, rehabilitation, and recovery periods, as well as accompanying persons."
“The complex also needs service personnel, who will also live in the 8th building,” the developers report, from which we can conclude that not all jobs here will go to local residents.
Alexander Zheleznyak, former editor-in-chief of the Russian version of National Geographic Traveler, considers the situation with the development of the Foros Park to be outrageous.
“The parks of the South Coast were planted not by empty-headed officials through stupid government orders, but by the best specialists of park management in the world more than a hundred years ago. There are countless parks like this in the world; they are pearls and are preserved as cultural heritage sites. But not in Crimea,” he states.
“Foros Park, in general, is not the first on the list for destruction. The Primorsky Park in Yalta was actually destroyed and turned into a residential area, Massandrovsky is on the way to this, the Karasan Park-monument was transferred to a private company and not a single tourist can get there. The list goes on; South Coast parks are being turned into gated communities. This process began under Ukraine, and under Russia it continued with renewed vigor, but with old faces,” the expert recalls.
“It’s becoming not very clear why cool federal projects are being built: the Tavrida highway, the super airport - at this rate, fences will surround all the beautiful places in the world, turning them into their own “Lazurka.” And millions of ordinary people will travel to Turkey, where, by the way, there are many wild and green regions near the warm sea,” Zheleznyak shares his fears.
However, some Crimeans believe that opponents of the construction are, at a minimum, unnecessarily whipping up panic. For example, this is the view of Vadim Mordashov, a former member of the Supreme Council of Crimea (1994-1998) and former deputy chairman for legal support (2003-2008) of the republican Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Crimea . Interestingly, Mordashov is known as a harsh critic of the republic's head, Sergei Aksyonov. However, in the case of Foros, their assessments are the same: there are no legal claims against investors from Tatarstan, and the construction does not violate the law.
– Under the USSR, the Foros sanatorium and park complex and the Teseli dacha were part of the department of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health, which served senior Soviet party officials until 1991. After the collapse of the USSR, it was accepted into the balance sheet by the Supreme Council of Crimea. I know this facility well, because, while still a deputy of the Crimean Armed Forces and deputy chairman of the Credentials Commission, I was involved in its inspection. I vacationed there in the mid-90s, and in 2010, when Kolomoisky took over this complex for himself. The state of the Foros complex in the hands of Kolomoisky has become depressing, but this is a separate topic.
“P.N.”: How and why did the object become “Tatarstan”?
Being in the ownership of Pan Kolosmoisy, the sanatorium and park complex was completely destroyed, “Benya” simply ruined it. “Benya” squeezed money out of “Foros” beyond what was allowed (according to the principle “after me there’s a flood”), but did not invest anything there. Under Ben, when I was on vacation there in 2010, 200 meters of the embankment slid into the sea along with the beach and shore protection structures. Behind them, the park and the multi-story main building began to slide into the sea. The park was simply dying, some of the relics (sequoias, etc.) dried up irrevocably, not to mention the buildings...
To save the complex from destruction, it was necessary to URGENTLY (!) invest huge amounts of money, but there is no money in the budget for this - in post-Ukrainian Crimea there are so many pressing problems (I will not list them, everyone knows them), that, as the saying goes, "there is no time for fat."
Then, to prevent the complex from dying, a reasonable decision was made - to put Foros up for auction on the condition that the new owner undertakes not to change the profile of the object, and at his own expense to restore the dying object and its infrastructure.
At the auction, in strict accordance with the Law, the Foros complex was purchased by the Trade Unions of Tatarstan for an amount (I don’t remember exactly) about 2 billion. Over the course of several years, the new, zealous owners poured billions into this facility (!), restored everything, and saved the dying facility!
For which we thank them!
P.N.: Activists say that “Tatarstan” will destroy the park.
It’s not even funny: the new owners are too zealous to destroy or devalue their own property. “Foros” is valuable precisely for its park, and the owners are not idiots, because if this park is destroyed by “filling it with concrete,” then vacation in “Foros” will become worthless.
P.N.: Does an investor have the right to build there without asking the public’s consent?
The answer to this question lies in a purely legal, juridical sense. The complex doesn't belong to a government agency financed by the budget, but to a commercial organization , a group of private individuals. They don't have public, or "people's," money, but their own. Private investors will build whatever they want, and the "public" has absolutely nothing to do with it. What right does the "public" have to dictate to the owner of the property what exactly to build there and where to invest THEIR money?
But some people continue to evaluate legal relationships with emotions. It even looks a little funny, especially when people with Ph.D. degrees say this (though not in jurisprudence, but in history).
To understand the issue, I will give “LIKBEZ” as the following illustrative example.
If, say, you own a plot of land in a village, you won’t ask the opinion of the “public” (residents of the village) what exactly should you build on YOUR plot – a terrace, a swimming pool, a shelter for children or a pigsty? Likewise, the owner of the property invests HIS money in what HE needs, and not what the “public” wants. Therefore, the investor simply has no reason to “deceive” anyone; what will be there - a children’s camp or a “hotel for the rich” - whatever he wants will happen, this is the investor’s personal private business.
P.N.: What about nature conservation, is there a park-monument there?
I have already noted that the owner acquired the Foros complex in strict accordance with the Law. Naturally, he was notified of all the nuances of the purchase, incl. that on the territory of “Foros” there are historical buildings (Kuznetsov’s estate-palace - a mansion in the classical style, built in 1862 by tea magnate Alexander Kuznetsov) and a park-monument of landscape gardening art. Therefore, any work there must be coordinated with state authorities for the protection of cultural heritage and nature conservation; violation of the law entails even criminal liability.
P.N.: Are the Crimean authorities aware of what is happening in Foros?
The powers of the authorities on private territory are only to ensure that legislation is observed regarding the protection of nature, monuments, sanitation, etc., and what exactly the owner decided to build is beyond the powers of the authorities.
As far as I know, the project has passed all the approvals required by the Law, and the head of Crimea confirmed that the construction is legal.
This is also confirmed by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Crimea Gennady Naraev:
“In Crimea, as a rule, in all parks and monuments of landscape gardening art there are sanatoriums that have been operating for several decades. Naturally, they must develop somehow: they must undergo reconstruction, major repairs, and we cannot prohibit them from doing this, it would be wrong, so we can remain in the last century. We need new modern accommodation facilities and recreational facilities. Well, you and I, residents who would like to relax in a sanatorium, demand some conditions. And at the same time we say “no, we must leave everything in its original form.” This is illogical. Therefore, of course, there will be major repairs and reconstruction of these facilities. And I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
The conflict over the development of Foros Park in Crimea continues.