Komsomolskaya Pravda: "Resettlement of the village of Roza is in full swing"
The solution to the problem is running ahead of the schedule set by the prime minister.
Marina Kupriy still walks uncertainly through her sunlit flat: it is hard for her to get used to the spaciousness of her new home.
"Instead of the 65 square metres that I had in my rundown old house, in this new flat I have 75 square metres," she says with a smile. "And what views you get from the sixth floor!"
For twenty years the Kupriy family lived in a shack on Prokhodchikov Street in the mining village of Roza, now famous throughout the country. Three and half thousand of its residents risked their lives on a daily basis: the tiny village is nestled alongside the largest coal mine in Europe. If you were to put the Ostankino television tower on the bottom of the mine the top of it would disappear from view. Coal has been mined here for a very long time. For instance, during the war, every second engine was using the fuel extracted in Korkino. Over 60 years ago a village was built near the pit to house the miners and over time the pit crept ever closer to the built-up area. Then the soil beneath the village "went on the rampage". The walls of the houses cracked and electric cables split. The houses were declared uninhabitable in 1991. But any hopes of rehousing the people were just a pipe dream: the money was simply not there. A resettlement programme to move people out of the dilapidated housing in the Korkinsky District began in 2008. During 2008-2009 a total of 38 families were rehoused. In 2010-2011 this number rose to 73. But the situation with the shifting soil worsened and drastic measures were called for.
Emergency rescue measures
The fate of the Roza residents was suddenly decided overnight. On February 4 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived with a team of his deputies. He looked at the giant crater of the pit and went into one of the houses. Pensioner Lyubov Vetrova complained that she could look out onto the street through the holes in the walls. Vladimir Putin also saw the dangerously sagging ceiling and the small windows near the entrance blocked up with bits of plywood.
On that same day, February 4, Putin held a meeting in the village with federal ministers and the local authorities. He gave instructions that the residents of Roza should be rehoused as a matter of urgency and the housing problems of 3,500 people resolved. It would soon be spring, when the soil around the mine pit would start moving. The houses could collapse at any time. Minister of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief Sergei Shoigu said that the state of the soil under the village was a result of seismic events in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Then further details were provided: solving the most pressing rehousing issues would require 5 billion roubles. Two billion would come out of the federal budget, and the same amount again would be allocated out of the regional coffers. The remaining one billion would come from the Chelyabinsk Coal Company.
In all, 50,000 people live near the coal pit. Rehousing all of them will cost around 27 billion roubles. According to the experts, building new housing alone will cost 15 billion roubles, utilities will cost at least 5 billion, and then there are the kindergartens, schools, hospitals...
Governor to lead the rehousing team
By Sunday February 5 the Roza Rehousing Team had begun work. The team was led by Mikhail Yurevich, Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region. Members of the team included specialists from the local Ministry of Construction and the municipal authorities. From morning to night they are involved in all stages of the work: the resettlement timetable, filling out all the necessary paperwork, discussions with local people. A consultation centre has been set up in the village, which is being made full use of by the local residents.
The problems are being addressed head-on
The problem of the Korkinsky coal mine did not come about overnight. The regional authorities have been grappling with this issue for some time, but a lack of money has meant progress has been slow. Some time later Konstantin Strukov agreed to take over the abandoned mine, give people work, and every year the hole around the pit was reinforced. Otherwise the problem would have been a lot worse," Yurevich said. "I am glad that this problem is no longer ours alone. Vladimir Putin's visit has speeded up the solution to this problem."
A deserted hovel, to be demolished
Progress in the solution to the uninhabitable village can be monitored by the hour. The pace of the rehousing programme for Roza is following a timetable laid out by the prime minister.
The governor has taken personal charge of the great resettlement programme for the Roza residents. He visits the village almost every day.
The first people to be rehoused were those living in the most rundown houses. This included the house on Prokhodchikov Street where Lyubov Vetrova and the family of Marina Kupriy were neighbours. The dilapidated houses were disconnected from water and electricity supplies and demolished. Just to make sure that no one returned to the dangerous deserted houses, even by accident.
Kitchen fittings were an unexpected bonus for the resettlers. The regional authorities are fitting them in the homes of the first wave of families being rehoused, so that the new homes will instantly feel cosy and comfortable.
"The next stage of the resettlement programme will be carried out according to the timetable," the regional head told the Roza residents.
No worsening in people’s housing conditions
"Our neighbours and I chose a new house in a quiet area of Kopeysky, not far from the centre," Marina Kupriy says. "And on our first day there we ran from one to the other like headless chickens, oohing and ahhing over everything. Somehow it's easier to settle in together. The family of Lyubov Vetrova for example was given a two-room flat, 80 square metres. It has a bathroom with a window. Can you imagine? The old woman can hardly believe her luck, in her old age she finally gets to live in comfortable surroundings."
"Take a look," the new occupier beams, "we have laminate flooring, nice wallpaper on the walls, a decent bathroom and an electric cooker! We were ashamed to carry over our old furniture, we'll buy new stuff later. The kitchen fittings supplied by the governor are a great starting point!"
There should be no worsening in people's housing conditions, that is the position of the Chelyabinsk regional authorities. That is why more spacious homes are being built for the people of Roza. For example, the kitchen in Tatyana Malkova's flat in the same building in Kopeysk is 12 square metres.
"We thank the prime minister and the regional authorities for caring," Marina Kupriy says. "And to help with the move they provided a whole army of removal men and transport."
Putin was given an update on the progress of the resettlement programme
On Friday, February 10, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a conference to report on the results of his trip to the Chelyabinsk Region. Representing the southern Urals via a video link were Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevich, head of the Korkino District Gennady Usenko and general director of the Chelyabinsk Coal Company Konstantin Strukov.
"Let's talk about the concrete measures being taken to tackle this long-standing issue," Vladimir Putin suggested.
Governor Mikhail Yurevich reported on how the orders were being carried out. He outlined the five stages of the programme.
The first stage is to rehouse those families in the most unsafe houses at the edge of the coal pit, that is 75 flats. They have already been rehoused and the houses demolished. The second stage covers the remaining 18 uninhabitable houses. Two of these 18 houses are due to be demolished by the end of this month. The condition of the houses is being monitored in the area with the highest accumulation of damage, 400 metres from the mine shaft. So the third stage of the plan can be more accurately worked out. Then the private sector of the second area will be rehoused. "But this fourth stage will run in parallel with the remaining stages, we will resettle people from the edge of the pit in stages," the governor of the Chelyabinsk Region said. To rehouse the people two new apartment buildings will be built in Korkino and another four new buildings will go up in neighbouring Kopeysk.
"We are working with all the lists of citizens, people thank you because the decision you took is life-changing for them, you took swift and decisive action," the governor emphasised. Having listened to the report, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed the hope that the Chelyabinsk regional authorities would continue working effectively in the future.
In addition, the fate of the Korkinsky coal mine was discussed during the conference. Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko announced that additionally five-year contracts had been concluded between the Chelyabinsk Coal Company and two other companies to guarantee the extraction of a million tonnes of coal, which would provide further work for the miners.
"I can see that everyone is actively involved in the work. I request that you all continue consolidating this work with the heads of the relevant ministries and government departments to carry out all the points in the plan that you presented here today," the prime minister said in conclusion.
By Yelena Golubeva
