Sochi residents complain of bureaucrats breaking privacy law

Residents of Sochi assert that in 2007 ill-conceived plans of holding a Winter Olympiad in subtropics encroached on their rights to favourable environment, housing and property. Besides, they believe that the territorial authorities are breaking, under the pretext of appraising their property with the aim of illegal confiscation not for state needs, the law on privacy and individual information.

According to those Sochi residents, whose houses are allegedly in the way of the would-be Olympic objects, the information about final compensation sums, appraisals conditions, appraisers and places for resettlement is kept secret. Thus, the locals assert that by deceit the department headed by Larissa Zavedeeva extorts their property documents and only promise equivalent compensations in words. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has learnt about it from residents of the Gagarina, Tchaikovskogo, Novosyolov and Klubnichnaya Streets, Khlebozabodskoy Lane and others.

"This instability is negatively telling on the health of the people, who experience stress because of country's and city's turmoil, and absence of social guarantees," Sochi residents Valery Rogachov and Dezdemona Dzhamburiya. Their houses at No. 21 in the Pervomaiskaya Street were burnt down in 2007 by unidentified persons. And the three hundredths of a hectare, where their houses had been located, were sold by Gennady Glazyrin, the then head of the administration of the Tsentralny District and now - a deputy of the city assembly of the 4th convocation, to Vera Voznyuk at the price 50 times below the market value of this land plot, as specified in Purchase Contract No. 128 of August 30, 2007. This is a story of the persons who suffered from a non-Olympic object.

Now, in the place of burnt-down houses in the Pervomaiskaya Street a huge skyscraper can be seen, built on a dangerous landslide slope. Its apartments are sold out by the contractor at market prices. The families of the fire victims Rogachov and Dzhamburiya with their small children are without any housing for the third year, and have no prospects of ever getting such.

Cases when Sochi residents are deprived, under the pretext of Olympic construction, of their only housing and land without any compensation are not rare. As reported by the website of the Department of the Krasnodar Territory for Enforcing Powers at Preparation of 2014 Winter Olympic Games in its section "Measures to Provide Land Plots for Building Olympic Objects and Compensation of Withdrawn Ones," "the works are fulfilled according to concluded contracts to the total sum of 99.1 million roubles."

The lawyers assert that it follows from this information that the illegal collection of data about Sochi proprietors for unclear purpose, organized by the department, cost 99.1 million roubles from the state budget. This sum is based on Order No. 263rp of December 30, 2009, "On Setting Up Working Groups", signed by Larissa Zavedeeva, who heads the Department of the Krasnodar Territory for Enforcing Powers.

According to residents of the Tsentralny, Adler and Khosta Districts, nobody ever signed the agreements as specified in the Order with them. When officials were touring houses, they just gathered documents from proprietors of houses and land without providing any requests for information or issuing any receipts.

According to lawyers, this way of gathering information is obviously illegal and breaks the Federal Law FZ-152 "On Personal Data". Article 9 of this law assumes a written request of information and a written consent of a citizen to provide such.

As citizens report, nothing of the kind was done by the working groups, when they visited houses and gathered personal information. Groups of young people demanded ownership documents from people, and those who refused received threats of eviction by the court under the Olympic Law No. 310.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was personally present at a meeting of such "working group" with residents of the Khlebozabodskoy Lane. The group members refused to name themselves and their posts to the correspondent. She managed just to write down the number plate and to make a photo of the car that the group was using.

Thus, having no concrete agreements and compensation offers, worried residents of different districts report that in March civil works were launched and are now on in the Donskaya, Gagarina and Zemlyanichnaya Streets, the Cheltynkhem Alley and other places. In the dormitories, they cut trees, dig pits and hammer in piles allegedly for main highways, which will pass right above the heads and dwelling districts of Sochi residents at the height of up to 40 meters. However, it is known that these construction objects have undergone no examination but cover historical places of the city and specially protected areas of the resort.

There is no control over these sites. Thus, for example, Alla Ivanovna Fyodorova, a resident and oldest worker from Matsesta, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in the vicinity of Matsesta some underground works are on for more than a month already; they endanger local residents and threaten a hydrogen sulphide outbreak, which can kill people. "The woods are barbarously destroyed. The historical resort Matsesta is exterminated," said the woman. "Nobody to complain to; the prosecutor's office and militia stay idling."

Telephone calls to the militia (02) or city prosecutor's office (62-45-45) are a failure - nobody would answer or phones are busy. Citizens' written applications about destruction of Sochi environment are disregarded by civil servants. Such important structures like "Rosprirodnadzor", "Rospotrebnadzor" and "Rostechnadzor" (Russian Federal Agencies for supervising the environment, consumer products and industry, respectively) also stay idle in the territory of Sochi.

The situation is no better with information for citizens at public reception offices of the Department and in the Department for Enforcing Powers, located in the Tsentralny District at No. 2 Morskoy Lane, and in the Adler District at No. 14 Uritskogo Street and No. 3 Kotovskogo Street. They answer there that they are not authorized to answer to questions on compensation and resettlement and are engaged only in gathering information on citizens and their property.

The answers to the questions on how much real estate is withdrawn, for what purposes, how many houses have already built for resettlement, whether these houses will be ready in time, whether the land plots are enough for providing to residents instead of withdrawn ones, what the cost of a hundredth of a hectare is, what the appraisal criteria are and who the appraisers are, and whether the compensations can be regarded equivalent, - could not be received even at the organizing committee in Moscow (495-984-2014). Having listened to the questions, the lady just hung up without even naming herself.

A call to the hotline - 8-800-100-2014 - was also fruitless. The girl-informant said that she had no answers to these questions, but promised that the correspondent would get a call back within three hours. But it was never done. These promises were given three times, and three times nothing followed.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent also received a categorical refusal to answer the questions on property appraisal from Elena Zhernovaya, deputy head of the division for land and property relations and appraisals of the Department of the Krasnodar Territory on Enforcing Powers of Preparing for 2014 Winter Olympic Games, who answered to telephone 96-03-46.

She said that she had been ordered not to communicate with mass media. When asked about who had given the order, Ms Zhernovaya answered: "Don't provoke me," and hung up. The above issues are regarded classified by all other divisions of the Department headed by Larissa Zavedeeva.