The business undertook to destroy the reserve of the Polevshchinsky forestry, which is near the shore of the Istra reservoir, which is used, among other things, for Moscow’s water supply.
Any construction is prohibited there, however, for some reason, an exception was made for Vector Investments LLC, the beneficiary of which is Alexander Klyachin, the billionaire developer, owner of the Azimut Hotels chain and the Metropol hotel.
As a result, in these hot July days, in the interests of Vector Investments, whose roots go back to the Cypriot company Agroholdings Ltd, cutting down the green massif on the territory of the Moscow Region reserve is being carried out around the clock, clearing the place for the future highway to the future cottage settlements in New Riga. The territories proposed for development are adjacent to the Istra reservoir, which means significant risks of pollution of the reservoir, which remains one of the sources for Moscow’s water supply.
The developer found a loophole in the reserve thanks to the decrees of the government of the Moscow region No. 494/21 dated 06/28/2016 and No. 1464/44 dated 12/28/2021. I had to go around the sensitive facility Istra hydroelectric complex, but it was possible to directly drive into the village from the A-108 Moscow Big Ring highway.
But in the process of planning, the authorities of the Moscow Region significantly expanded the interpretation of their decrees and decided to build a route and communications through the reserved forests, presumably to future cottage settlements in the interests of Alexander Klyachin’s Vector Investments company.
It is known that LLC “Vector Investments” plans to mass-produce nearly three dozen villages on different banks of the Istra reservoir. Only for construction in the area of the village of Novorakovo, where the road is being laid, the company bought in advance over one and a half hundred hectares of Istra land (13 times more than Red Square in Moscow). But, it seems, anticipating a scandal with cutting down reserved forests, she transferred the plots to several structures clearly affiliated with her.
With this approach, the reserve “Spruce and mixed forests of the Polevshchinsky forestry” is expected to furrow numerous roads and communications. Of course, the development of one village of Novorakovo, where only 34 residents are registered, will not be enough.
In addition, according to the project documentation, permission was given to cut down just a few dozen trees in the reserve, but in fact, the forest is felled in thousands of cubic meters. Teams of lumberjacks with heavy equipment go deeper into the forest, violating both norms and laws. Local eco-activists and nature lovers are doing their best to resist such an onslaught on the forest near Moscow, but the environmental prosecutor’s office, which is still collecting thoughts and facts, must have its say.