Moskovsky Komsomolets: VVP Settles in Riviera
Natalya Galimova
Putin moves in next door to dragon
Vladimir Putin has settled in the Riviera, a prime-ministerial residence next to a park of the same name, in Sochi. Journalists from the Government pool were first admitted to it a few days ago.
According to MK, President Dmitry Medvedev said several months ago that Mr Putin need not leave the presidential residence, Bocharov Ruchei. However, the Prime Minister rejected the offer to stay in Bocharov Ruchei, though the Riviera residence is much smaller, initially only a two-storey house. A three-storey guesthouse has now been added to it, with fancy green cut-glass chandeliers shaped like bunches of grapes. There is a fountain near the whitewashed houses, and benches to relax on.
The Riviera had two major drawbacks. One has been eliminated-the residence now has Internet access. The other is noise from the neighbouring park-music and screaming children. A merry-go-round in the form of a dragon is close to the residence, though the Prime Minister's house is at a safe distance. Bocharov Ruchei is also a noisy place, for that matter, close to a seashore railway.
Putin has not brought Connie, his Labrador, to Sochi this time. The pet will soon receive a consolation prize of a GLONASS locator collar to compensate for the missed trip.
The Prime Minister chaired a presidium meeting of the Presidential Council for Sports and Preparation of the 22nd Winter Olympics yesterday. The meeting opened with a dramatic encounter between Russian Olympic Committee President Leonid Tyagachev and Sport Minister Vyacheslav Fetisov. With journalists all around, the enemies had to exchange greetings, though it was clear they hated doing so. Fetisov gloomily stepped aside after the show of politeness.
Mr Putin played the part of an optimist - in the presence of the press, at any rate. "Olympic preparations have made good progress during the last three months. Environmental problems have been settled for the most part, 19 projects are under construction, and much has been done to appraise land," he said. He strongly warned against delaying construction: "The sooner we build the projects, the sooner Olympic athletes will be able to train there." The Prime Minister advised to emulate Chinese achievements in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.
This correspondent talked to Vladimir Afanasenkov, the mayor of Sochi, shortly before the meeting. He told about land redemption for Olympic projects. 94% has been redeemed for now, though there is a problem with resettling people from the Imereti Valley, the tentative site of the Olympic Park and the Ice Palace. "Nine private houses have to be pulled down to clear the site for the palace. Evaluating the plots will finish in two or three weeks, and the nine families will be resettled even before the year's end," the mayor told MK. As for the 150 houses on the future park site, there is no need to hurry with pulling them down. A forty-flat municipal house is ready for the residents, and there is a choice of accommodations in the secondary property market. People who prefer a private house to a flat will be appointed land plots next to the Olympic Park, the mayor reassured. He said the residents were content.
I objected by mentioning public protest in the Imereti Valley, with residents blocking the way to estate appraisers-how could they agree to move out so soon? "There were only six rioters. The problem was settled after I met with them. It is not residents but rather mini-hotel proprietors who whip up the unrest. They hire lawyers and bribe the press. We offered them stock in Olympic hotels that are to be built in the Imereti Bay, with a total 13,000 rooms," the mayor explained.
The people have no choice after a law was passed to place Olympic projects in the valley. Will things turn out as brightly as they are painted?
