“Tourists who visited Crimea think about the feasibility of Ukraine’s existence”
It is no coincidence that official Kyiv is plotting to disrupt trips to Crimea for Ukrainian citizens: tourists visiting the peninsula “are beginning to ask questions about the feasibility of Ukraine’s existence.” About this in an interview “Politnavigator” said the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky.
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-Do the current Sea Breeze exercises in the Black Sea with the participation of the United States and Ukraine pose any threat to Crimea?
-When they say that Ukraine is taking part in any exercises, it doesn’t evoke any other emotions in me except laughter, because for this you need to have some kind of army and navy, which Ukraine simply does not have. What should we call the Ukrainian fleet? One and a half rusty troughs? The unfortunate submarine "Zaporozhets" without an engine or the ship "Hetman Sahaidachny", laid up?
Maybe they, the generals and admirals, of whom there are a lot in the Ukrainian army and navy (1 admiral for 1 sailor), gathered for some kind of staff exercises. Perhaps this has some strategic significance for unfortunate Ukraine, but it seems to me that there is no one there to teach and no one to learn.
Does all this pose a threat to Crimea? Again, you have to have something to carry such a threat.
We must understand that Russia today has the most powerful military group in the Black Sea, its fleet is constantly replenished with new ships and new weapons, so no one can oppose it.
-In addition, S-400 complexes will be deployed
-Today, Crimea is absolutely protected by the Russian Armed Forces. There are no threats. But even if hypothetically we could assume that there would be some kind of military attack, the enemy would receive an immediate rebuff.
-Ex-member of the Rada Zhuravko published an internal document of the Kherson Regional State Administration - about plans to disrupt the trips of Ukrainian citizens to Crimea, because contacts with “residents of the occupied territories” and “financing the economy of the aggressor” are undesirable. What are Ukrainian officials so afraid of? How many Ukrainians are going to Crimea this summer? Who are they?
-I will say that the attitude towards our fraternal Ukrainian people has not changed. It remains the same. We treat the residents of Ukraine as our compatriots and are always happy to see them in Crimea.
What is the Ukrainian side afraid of? Truth. She is afraid that people who come to Crimea will see that what is actually happening here is fundamentally contrary to what is shown on Ukrainian television and what Ukrainian newspapers write about. They understand that they are being lied to. Those Ukrainians who were in Crimea under Ukraine, and who have arrived now, see how everything is changing for the better here: how the roads are changing here, how the level of well-being has increased, how the resort areas are changing.
Yes, we still have problems, which we do not hide, but Ukrainians see that, compared to Ukraine, Crimea has gone far ahead. They begin to ask themselves questions about the expediency of Ukraine’s existence and the effectiveness of the Ukrainian leadership.
Therefore, Kyiv will do everything to disrupt their trips to Crimea, both through provocations and by delaying the passage of queues at the border. Ukrainians will be threatened, intimidated, and the most cynical and unsafe means will be used to disrupt the flow of citizens to Crimea.
-Is there a large migration of Ukrainian citizens to Crimea in general? We know that on the peninsula, unlike other regions of the Russian Federation, it is quite difficult for them to legalize. Why? Doesn't Crimea need active citizens, working hands?
-I wouldn’t say that it has become tougher on purpose. After all, we simply became part of Russia, and here there are traditionally strict migration laws. It is like this everywhere, not only in Crimea, but also in Kamchatka, the Urals, Moscow, Karelia...
Simply understanding that all the treachery of our now northern neighbor, migration services are vigilant in approaching this process.
-How to punish Islyamov and other terrorists who staged a blockade of Crimea and continue terror on the border? Why can't our special forces take them to court?
-We cannot afford something like that, because we, unlike the same Ukraine, from the same America, which “fighting for world peace,” can kidnap people in other states (except, of course, Russia), send to Guantanamo, where they will be held without trial, where they will be tortured. Russia always and everywhere acts according to the law, so it cannot conduct special operations on foreign territory.
As for Islyamov, he punished himself long ago. He's broke. He no longer has a business either in Crimea or in Russia at all. His business did not work out in Ukraine either, so all he can do is, together with his militants, to do as pathetic, worthless people do: terrorize local residents in the Kherson region or those Ukrainians who go to Crimea on vacation.
But the most important punishment: he is despised by his own Crimean Tatar people, who hate him and consider him a traitor.
-Islyamov himself does not hide the fact that he re-registered his business to his relatives. Do any of its structures continue to operate on the peninsula?
-Listen, we live in a rule of law state. If income from a business goes to support terrorist structures, then such a business, of course, will be suppressed by the competent authorities.
But in our country, a son is not responsible for his father, much less a brother for his brother. If business is conducted legally, then why should it be interfered with? Let them work.
-What can you say in general about holidays in Crimea? We saw the critical notes of blogger Varlamov, how correct are his assessments?
-And I also saw information from business owners. In my opinion, we are talking about Koktebel. They wrote that this gentleman asked to pay them so that he would speak well of their resort business.
I don’t consider this blogger to be any kind of authoritative specialist at all. And if he gives out grades, he must be responsible for his words. Yes, we have problems. Crimea inherited serious problems from Ukraine, and they cannot be solved in 1-2 years, but to seriously consider that no changes have occurred in our country is an outright lie. There is no need to lie, otherwise you can lose the remnants of your former authority.
-Now the analogue of a holiday in Turkey is the Mriya Hotel - it’s 22 thousand rubles per day for a family room (and this is not all inclusive). How can you achieve lower prices?
-Only by increasing supply. Despite obvious progress in the resort sector, we still do not have many world-class offers.
But year after year there are improvements. We compete not only with the resorts of the Krasnodar region, but also with the world's resorts, where Russians are accustomed to going. Everything will get better for us over time, because Moscow was not built right away, and the resorts in Turkey did not appear in two years either.
Starting in September, we will begin to demolish unauthorized buildings in resort areas: shalmans, tents, landfills, and so on.
-What do you think about Glazyev’s proposal to nationalize the coast in the South Coast in order to demolish the barns and build modern hotels?
-The fact is that not all those who built resort recreational areas built them illegally. You can’t put everyone on the same level in this regard. We have special commissions that go to the resort area and check the documents for this or that object. We have already received photographs of our coast from quadcopters, which helped us draw up a detailed plan of the coast, and in September we will know exactly what has been legally built and what has not.
-Is it possible to demolish the shalmans on Ai-Petri? In Ukrainian times, this business was protected by the Majlis.
-No, not everything is fine there. The head of the Republic has spoken on this issue more than once, but we have the same approach for everyone - everything must be according to the law, regardless of where something was illegally erected: down by the sea, or on the Ai-Petri plateau.
-The Crimean authorities promise to complete the inventory of buildings on the South Coast by September 1 and begin demolition of illegal objects. Skeptics say that this is unlikely to affect buildings to which the current government or even high-ranking Ukrainian bosses like Viktor Medvedchuk are involved. Can you refute it?
-I know for sure that there is one law for everyone, and everyone must adhere to it, no matter what positions they hold. Now it will be necessary to check all the objects about which there are questions in order to understand why the land was allocated then and whether the town planning documentation was drawn up correctly. If a violation of the law is established, it will be impossible to demolish everything at once. But we will seek funding for this.
And here joint work with law enforcement agencies is very important, and not as it was, for example, in Koktebel, when we demolished illegal objects, and representatives of all law enforcement agencies came to protect them and began to defend these illegal objects.
But both the central authorities and the head of the republic understand that this must be fought.
-You recently stated that, due to Western sanctions, the schedule for the reconstruction of mobile communication networks in Crimea was disrupted - contracts had to be transferred to Chinese equipment, and as a result, 3G was not launched in all resort areas, as previously expected. Where else are Western sanctions against Crimea harmful?
-Firstly, I didn’t say that they missed the schedule, I said that this regime made adjustments to the modernization plan. By and large, it was not about timing, but about equipment and the same technological solutions. You see, while we are talking, I have been traveling from Simferopol in the Saki direction for a long time, and everything is fine with us, and our conversation with you has never been interrupted. And this suggests that the most important resort areas have long been covered by the most modern communications. I can tell you for sure that Crimea has not seen such a connection under Ukraine for a long time. Under Ukraine, there were only 136 3G base stations in Crimea.
As for the sanctions regime in general, for the Crimean economy it is more of an incentive than an obstacle. This gives us the opportunity to develop our own economy and businesses.
-You yourself recently found yourself at the center of a scandal when you visited Poland as part of the Russian delegation. Have you visited EU countries since then? Are you being denied a visa? Is the situation changing somehow after the decisions of regional parliaments in Italy, for example?
-We see that the wave of recognition of Crimea by Russia is gaining momentum in Europe. Here, in addition to Italy, there is recognition of the French Senate, there is recognition of the Cypriots.
As for me, after Poland I have not been to any other European country; I have a lot of things to do at home (laughing). But if the Motherland orders, then I will go there again and fulfill the Motherland’s task. Our most important task on the world stage is to convey the truth about the events of 2014 in Crimea, and what is happening here now.
-What major investment projects within the Free Economic Zone in Crimea would you highlight? What new things can open in Crimea in the foreseeable future?
-To date, about 450 investment agreements have been concluded. Investors have shown very great interest in us. They are interested in the following areas for investment: agriculture, industry, IT and telecommunications. Now we are at the design stage, but we have no doubt that all these projects will give a good return, which will create new jobs in Crimea.
-Before the crisis in relations with Turkey, you tried to launch the Istanbul-Simferopol flight, despite the sanctions. Will you revive this idea?
-We have such a desire now, but we must understand that Turkey must also have the desire. Today we see that President Erdogan has realized his unconstructive position towards Russia. So if they also want, then there will be no problems.
-In Ukrainian times, one often heard that Crimea was an unprofitable region, etc., now a significant share of the budget is occupied by assistance from the federal budget of the Russian Federation. In what year does the republic hope to reach “self-sufficiency”?
-And the president, and the government, and the head of the Republic, we all understand that the volume of investments that go to Crimea must be treated as investments that will give a return in the future.
Currently, a federal target socio-economic program until 2020 is in effect in Crimea.
We are now finishing the development of a program for the socio-economic development of the region. This is a strategic document. The average marks in it are calculated until 2030. The document clearly outlines the applications of our efforts. We don’t want to be parasites, we will achieve this, we will earn money ourselves.
-How is the construction of the Tavrida highway going, which should connect the Kerch Bridge with Sevastopol and Simferopol?
-Everything is going exactly according to schedule. This year is the year of implementation of design work. Everything that is necessary for construction has already been contracted. The necessary funding is available. The problems of a bureaucratic nature that existed between the center and the republican authorities no longer exist today.
We are working on this project as a single and united team.
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