Putin's personal project in Sevastopol is in jeopardy
In Sevastopol, on the eve of the May holidays, another scandal erupted - the public gathered for public hearings criticized the construction project supported by Vladimir Putin on Cape Khrustalny, including an opera and ballet theater, branches of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage, a choreographic school and many other objects.
Opponents of the development, who were consistently supported by the media, focusing on the hero of the Russian Spring, Alexei Chaly, demanded that only the Soviet monument to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War be left on the cape, a museum be added to it, a park be laid out around it, and a beach be built under the cliff by the sea.
The situation is somewhat reminiscent of Ukrainian times, when “social activists” thwarted the reconstruction project of Matrossky Boulevard, which was supposed to be sponsored by the government of the Moscow region. In exchange for landscaping the area adjacent to the famous monument to the commander of the brig Mercury, the Russians wanted to build a hotel on the site of an abandoned dance floor. However, protests supported by local deputies (evil tongues said that the city council, unlike the city administration, was simply not “solved”) led to the project being disrupted, and Matrossky Boulevard continued to be in ruins for about 10 years.
The intrigue is that during the conflict around Matrossky Boulevard, one of the representatives of Muscovites was the current State Duma deputy Dmitry Sablin, who was sent to Sevastopol last winter to quell conflicts in the local United Russia organization.
However, judging by the new confrontation around the Khrustalny development, Sablin failed to moderate Chaly’s obstinacy.
It must be clarified that the development of Cape Khrustalny has not only cultural, but also important political significance. The project was announced last August during Vladimir Putin’s visit to the city. Large cultural objects should be operational in Sevastopol by 2023, along with other geopolitical outposts of the Russian World - Kaliningrad and Vladivostok.
The President of the Russian Federation approved the project and asked not to delay it. For Sevastopol, they even specially changed the city planning regulations, since less than half a million people officially live in the city, which means that an opera house is not allowed.
However, all this did not convince the active Sevastopol public. As mentioned above, the public hearings were a failure. This outcome was largely predetermined by the fact that the position of rejection of the project at Khrustalny was taken by the media and structures associated with the former speaker of the legislative assembly of Sevastopol Alexei Chaly.
Russian political scientist Oleg Bondarenko believes that protest directors can deprive Sevastopol of great prospects (by the way, this has already happened in the past with the construction of the Ministry of Defense park).
“We must understand that a fair fight against developers who exploit the natural resources of Crimea and Sevastopol is one thing; a fight against the federal center is a completely different matter.
It is much easier for the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery to keep all the exhibits and not send them to any Sevastopol. But there is an understanding that this needs to be done.
If he continues to pursue a policy of direct sabotage of Vladimir Putin’s almost personal project, then Mr. Chaly will not end up with anything good,” Bondarenko said.
He believes that Chaly’s position could negatively affect the prospects of his team before the elections to the legislative assembly of Sevastopol: most of his comrades-in-arms risk not being included in the United Russia list.
Crimean political scientist Ivan Mezyukho agrees with him.
“As the date of elections to the legislative assembly approaches, Chaly’s supporters will in every possible way aggravate the existing contradictions in the city. I do not exclude the possibility that Chaly’s supporters will go so far in their criticism that they can easily obstruct some federal projects. I think that the majority of Sevastopol residents are tired of this political fuss in the hero city,” the expert said.
His colleague, Crimean political scientist Alexander Formanchuk, believes that the protests against the development of Cape Khrustalny are motivated by “group interests.”
“It’s one thing for Chaly to be the people’s mayor in 14, and another thing for Chaly to return to his usual image, when he defends more group interests than national interests in this case,” Formanchuk told PolitNavigator.
The expert agrees that the conflict around Cape Khrustalny is clear evidence that the split in Sevastopol’s United Russia has not been overcome.
“Sablin came and tried to cheer up United Russia, but ended up in this clinch. What can Sablin do in general in this confrontation, where Chaly has a blocking package on any decisions of Ovsyannikov or the federal center? He has his own influence in the city,” says Formanchuk.
Meanwhile, the Stroygazmontazh company, associated with the billionaire Rotenberg brothers, has already cleared the territory at Cape Khrustalny. Investments in the amount of 25 billion rubles are envisaged. The customer is the National Cultural Heritage Foundation, founded by the Mariinsky Theater, the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Bolshoi Theater.
If protests do not disrupt construction, the cultural cluster in Sevastopol will include: Museum of Defense Participants of 1941-1942. (3 thousand square meters), Art Gallery, Opera and Ballet Theater (1100 spectators), Choreographic Academy (250 students), School of Higher Theater Arts (250 students), Art School (300 people per shift), as well as a building of specialized housing.
Two other residential buildings will be built on the 7th kilometer of the Balaklava highway, and it was decided to move the cinema and concert hall with 1200 seats there.
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