Land confiscated for Sochi Olympiad in Imereti Valley

At night on September 6, in Imereti Valley of Sochi, the authorities started civil works, illegal in the opinion of local residents, in the territory of a private household belonging to the Berezhkov family.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports with reference to Valery Suchkov, a member of the Public Town-Planning Council of Sochi, that a team of workers has destroyed a fence, drove machinery into the land plot, cut down trees, orchard plants, and started to fill in an embankment for railway track.

Residents of the neighbouring houses rallied together, stood as a live wall and blocked the machinery, Mr Suchkov has marked. They called Vitaly Ponomaryov, deputy head of the Department of the Krasnodar Territory for Implementing Powers at Preparation of 2014 Winter Olympics, to the place of the incident. Besides, they have addressed the Prosecutor's Office and invited journalists as eyewitnesses.

Valery Suchkov has explained that the Berezhkovs' house is one of first five private land estates, which underwent the cadastral accounting and on which, under the order of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachov No. 541-r of July 11, 2008, the withdrawal procedure was launched.

According to Mr Suchkov's, the Law "On Amending Certain Legal Acts of the Russian Federation in the Context of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in the City of Sochi", which stipulates a simplified procedure for withdrawing land in Sochi for the needs of Olympiad-2014, obliges the Governor of the Territory to finalize, before August 17, evaluation of the Berezhkovs' land plot and present the evaluation certificate on withdrawn property to the family.

After reception of such certificate, a two-month term should start allocated for elaboration and signing the agreement on the terms of withdrawing the land plot, Mr Suchkov comments. But instead of one month stipulated by the Law for property evaluation, in this case, during six weeks already the owners of withdrawn property cannot receive their evaluation certificate from territorial authorities, Valery Suchkov has added.

On August 16 this year, the member of the Town-Planning Council has reminded, residents of the Imereti Valley sent their joint application to the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory and head of the city of Sochi, which runs, in particular, as follows: "We, residents of the Imereti Bay, hereby inform you that we are categorically against the withdrawal of the land plot and forced resettling."

The application was signed by 379 residents from 95 households, Valery Suchkov has concluded. The Berezhkov family was among those who did not sign the application. They were ready to hold dialogue with the authorities and hand over their land peacefully.