Industrial site to be created in place of Urussinskaya GRES, and Potemkin villages – at Vysokaya Gora

How Tatarstan handled consequences of the elements

Bad weather once again became the main newsmaker in Russia last week. Tatarstan found itself in the epicentre of horrible hurricane. For several days the republic was tormented by squally wind mixed with heavy rain and sandstorm.

The hurricane in Kazan had such a force that it not only broke roofs of houses, but huge trees were rooted out. The wind carried away pavilions and shields, and penetrating rain was another, not pleasant addition.

Gusts of wind up to 25 metres per second, and also a column of dust and sand. Meteorologists call this phenomenon the dust pillar. Kazan Tennis Academy named after Shamil Tarpishchev could not resist the force of the elements — in the building the wind blew one of the domes. The theatre named after Tinchurin was also unlucky, performances were cancelled because of the disrupted roof. But Iskander Akhmetzyanov, a citizen of Kazan, on the contrary, can be called lucky. A tree fell a metre away from his new car.

The elements were raging not only in the capital of the region. In the village of Kuyuki in Pestrechinsky district, a roof of neighbouring house and gazebo were torn down in front of residents. Trees flattened in Zelenodolsk, cars were damaged, strong wind damaged power lines. The power went out in 339 houses in Laishevsky district. All 20 crews of electricians went on to eliminate the consequences of damages of networks in Buinsky district. Emergency recovery work was carried out in a short time.

The hurricane caused death of a woman in Muslyumovsky district. Photo: tatar-inform.ru

The powerful hurricane brought many troubles to residents of Nizhnekamsky district. Gaptynur Shaydullin, a resident of the settlement of Trudovoy, and his family was left literally without roof over their head. In a video, taken by his daughter, it is seen how the sheets of metal roofing were torn off in the wind. Besides, the hurricane took away heavy structures from the roof and cut off power lines. In Nizhnekamsk, the hurricane flatenned a lot of trees, the damage is still calculated, but it is already known that 16 cars were damaged.

Unfortunately, human casualties failed to be avoided. The tragedy occurred in Muslyumovsky district. The strong hurricane caused the death of Lilia Nurieva. It all happened in a matter of minutes. The wind blew the roof off the store where the 35-year-old woman was working. Lily was already going out on the porch, but that moment one of the metal sheets dropped on her. Rustam Minnikhanov expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased. He instructed to allocate a million rubles to the family of the deceased. All the circumstances of the tragedy are now being investigated.

The force of the hurricane was so strong that it swept away even heavy, multi-tonne structures. Light structures collapsed like houses of cards. The family of Yelchuevs from Zelenodolsky district was at the epicentre of the disaster. The construction of the house covered them. Ilnur was the first to get out. Then he hurried for help. Only after the ambulance got there it turned out that the boy had a broken leg.

Owners of private houses suffered in Arsky district and are now one of the first to eliminate the damage caused by the hurricane. The house of Ramzia Zakirova lost slate, another five villagers from the settlement of Novy Kyrlay are in the same trouble. In total, about fifty houses were damaged in Tatarstan.

Theatre named after Tinchurin was also unlucky, performances were cancelled because of disrupted roof. Photo: instagram.com

As a result of the natural disaster, 80,000 people across Tatarstan were left without electricity.

''We worked round the clock. Сolleagues from Laishevsky RES, Pestretsy, Atninsky district were involved to eliminate the hurricane consequences,'' said Ilnaz Razov, the head of the Zelenodolsk district electrical networks.

This hurricane has become a test of strength not only for individual buildings and structures, which not all of them have passed, but also for people: rescuers, repairers, electricians.

Industrial sites on paper

The next part of the programme was dedicated to business climate of Tatarstan districts. According to data in ratings of business activity and business climate, a leading position is taken by Vysogorsky district. Rich forest and water resources, beautiful nature, developed agriculture, several operating industrial sites and successful small and medium-sized businesses. Thus this area is described in the reports. The ability to represent yourself beautifully, no doubt, is a talent worth learning.

At the council meeting of regional deputies in February, the head of the region, Rustam Kalimullin, announced incredibly nice figures. There are 1,040 enterprises operating in the district. In 2017, the turnover of small and medium-sized businesses in the region increased by 13% and amounted to more than 15 billion rubles. Moreover, this small business provides 40% of the total income of local budget. Vysokogorsky district participates in the most progressive programmes of the new Russian economy. On three industrial sites – Vysokaya Gora, Razvitie and Palandia, where today, as given in the report of the head, ''11 residents successfully carry out their activities''.

7 Days correspondents investigated on the ground whether it is actually true.

No signs, not a single hint of the territory of economic development, which industrial parks are. It is possible that the security service may not be even aware of the existence of such. But even the very phrase ''industrial site'' for people who spend daily time at watch was strange to hear.

Entrepreneur Aydar Minnebaev is a former resident of the industrial site under the name of Razvitie in Vysokogorsky district. According to him, in 2015 he initiated the creation of industrial park on his own territory, where by that time 9 tenant enterprises had already been working. All these enterprises, on his instruction, together became part of the Vysogorsy industrial park and also together in 2016 withdrew from it.

It is worth noting that we are not talking about closing the business at Vysokaya Gora. The enterprises continue to operatae here. And they operate even more successfully than ever. But they have nothing to do with the joint project with the state called ''industrial park''. The document on the expire of the license is dated December 2016, that is, a year and a half have passed. During all these one and a half years, the industrial site Razvitie was registered in the reports as an operating unit.

It turned out to be even more difficult to discover the industrial park Palandia at Vysokaya Gora. The only plant operates in the fenced area. Presumably, this is the industrial site.

The industrial park Palandia and the cottage settlement with the same name share a single fence. Despite the fact that there is the fence, the dispute over the common territory continues unabated for many years.

How did the residential village and the industrial park turn out to be on the same territory? Which of them was first to reclaim these lands? According to local residents, the cottage village was established in 2008. The place was to become almost a paradise 20 kilometres away from Kazan. But each buyer had to pay not only for the expensive land, but also to reimburse the costs of the developer to create the alleged infrastructure here.

Buyers in the cottage village of Palandia had to pay for costs of the developer on infrastructure. But the developer has not carried out the improvement of the village. Photo: poselki116.ru

''Approximately 96 million rubles were collected from us,'' says Raisa Fayzullina, a resident of the village. ''The developer promised own playground, shops, entertainment centres. They promised that engineering infrastructure would be developed: own treatment facilities, water supply, sewerage,'' the woman continued.

As a result, the developer fulfilled his obligations only partially, the improvement of the village was not carried out. An intruder was invited for the ready communications. And even a land was found nearby.

Back in 2009, for the construction of a new modern complex of treatment facilities, which were so necessary for the village, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan gave permission to transfer 2 hectares of land from the category of agricultural land to the category of industrial purpose. But in 2015, the management company Petes, the owner of the land, leased out most of the territory of the important environmental facility under industrial site. A small part of 400 square metres was taken by the treatment facilities. There was already no place for a full cycle of afterpurification of ponds. The documents are all clear. In the area there is an industrial park, as well as the object of biological wastewater treatment.

''Instead of 20,000 square metres of sewage treatment plants there are only 400 square metres. As a result, all waste is discharged in nature,'' Raisa Fayzullina lamented.

''We addressed to the ministry of internal affairs that in this area there is the crane factory Gertek. The response was that on this territory, according to documents, there is a warehouse of reagents and technical structures for treatment facilities,'' other local resident, Raisa Ugarova, told.

The villagers can be understood. According to them, the industrial site, in fact, was created at their expense, it uses the infrastructure paid by them, it works on their territory and still causes so many problems for them. Everyone understands the importance of industrial parks and sites for the region and the economy of Tatarstan as a whole. Everyone is concerned about the fate of residents. After all, at least this care is a pleasant reason to present their area in a better light.

Urussu finds way out after GRES closure

Last week, Rustam Minnikhanov during his visit to Shanghai agreed with the leadership of the BRICS Development Bank on allocation of 38 million dollars to Chistopol for integrated development of the territory. The city will carry out a full range of works: restoring historic buildings, creating ten new museums, reconstructing the pier. By 2025, Chistopol can become the second Yelabuga in the republic. The money will also remain for promotion of the city in tourist market. Such successful examples already exist in Tatarstan. Muslyumovsky district attracted huge investments, thanks to integrated approach to the development of the territory. Yutazinsky district also did what no one believed until the last – they found the owner for the former GRES, which stopped operating a year ago. The camera crew of 7 Days visited both districts.

Chistopol can become the second Yelabuga in the republic by 2025

The village of Muslyumovo has been the district centre of Muslyumovsky district for already half a century. However, it got the title of district centre only three years ago.

''On the one hand, why a usual villager needs all these parks. But it is not only a place of rest, it is a place of attraction. We created spaces that would attract both local population and investors,'' said head of Muslyumovsky district Ramil Mullin.

A Moscow investor, seeing all this beauty for the first time, did not bother even to inspect the local fields, saying that he was going to recreate something just as beautiful on these fields. It is the company August, widely known in the country and abroad. One of the leaders of European market in the field of chemical plant protection. They are building a plant in Yelabuga for the production of fertilizers, and the fields in Muslyumovsky district will serve as a kind of experimental site for running new high technologies in agriculture. Any of today's self-propelled sprayer of Muslyumovsky fields can cause panic of clearly unprepared for this population, since it looks like an alien. The cutting edge sprayer for fields arrived from Brazil. There are only three such units in Tatarstan, and all of them are in Muslyumovsky district.

''On the one hand, why an ordinary villager needs all these parks. But it is not only a place of rest, it is a place of attraction. We created spaces that would attract both local population and investors,'' says head of Muslyumovsky district Ramil Mullin. Photo: park.tatar.ru

The district is happy because of the investor unspeakably. The fields could have been unsown at all this year, there is no one to do it. These days are gone when any prayer for a rich harvest ended with the word ''Vamin''. The current investor has already repaid, first of all, all the debt of the former investor, who went bankrupt both in salary and taxes. He already invested in the area the astronomical amount of investment — 1 billion 200 million rubles.

''The question 'what's next?' was asked in Urussu village of Yutazinsky district to themselves. Exactly a year ago, GRES work was terminated here. No one practically believed that it was possible to create a new production at the facilities of the former station. The more surprising was the news: the new production will be here.''

Surprisingly, the workers of the Bashkir company BASET, which produces all sorts of equipment for thermal and nuclear power plants, already a couple of months ago practically heard nothing about the neighbouring village of Urussu (it is 10 kilometres away) or the death of the GRES. Over the past year, the station was not pulled apart into pieces for scrap, absolutely everything was preserved because they knew that this former turbine shop would certainly be useful to someone. The Bashkir producers, at the same time, were thinking how to expand the production.

The company spends 150 million a year on equipment alone. Each machine with central control room costs millions of euros. But for the production of larger units there was just not enough space. GRES is a weight-lifting beam of 100 tonnes, with a width of 25 metres and a length of 230 metres. So, already this year everything will be ready to start the production. The company BASET has already invested 90 million here, another 150 million will go to equip the station, already industrial site.

'' We are very glad. In the past year I had confidence that such a great industrial site would not remain without attention,'' said the head of Yutazinsky district, Rustem Nuriyev.

In Muslyumovo today there are no places in hotels and cafes. Experts come from all over the place, and foreign speech is already heard here. Even shops feel their dividends. Urussu is going to employ about hundred people in the near future, to erect on the site of the former GRES a business incubator in the bargain as one big production inevitably gives rise to several small ones. And this means shops, cafes, hotels.

Rental housing for the price of one-room apartment

There are less than two weeks left before the start of the World Cup. Kazan is looking forward to the big sports event. Last week, the readiness of the capital of Tatarstan was personally checked by Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Vladimir Kolokoltsev. On Wednesday, the Volga Region Academy of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism presented a uniform, which volunteers will wear. According to forecasts, more than 200,000 fans and tourists will come to Kazan for this grand event. 7 Days correspondents decided to find out where it is better to accommodate for the tourists. There are variants, as they say, for every taste and budget.

The first place by affordable prices is taken by hostels. By the way, they are the most popular among the fans. The most unusual, SleepSpace, is located a few kilometres away from Kazan Arena.

The first place by affordable prices is taken by hostels. By the way, they are the most popular among the fans. Photo: Maksim Platonov

''The capsule system came to us from Japan. A one-place capsule is equipped with individual lighting, sockets and exhaust ventilation system. It is responsible for ensuring that the capsule always has fresh air and thermoregulation,'' says the director of the hostel, Leysan Tutaeva.

You can spend a night in such capsule for 600 rubles, says Leysan Tutaeva. The capsules were in great demand, they were booked in advance. In the hostel, there are two-place rooms available, but it is a little number of days in the intervals between the dates of the games. There are no beds available in the days of the matches.

According to Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan Artur Abdrashitov, hostels in Kazan are loaded at least at 90% in general. The tourism committee last week completed a review of the accommodation facilities. There are about 400 of them in the city. Artur Abdrashitov advises the fans to book accommodation in hostels and hotels. Then the guest can be 100% sure in the quality standard and service.

''There are actually not so many comments, we were preparing for more. Owners of both hotels and hostels understand the level of responsibility. First of all, we pay attention to the knowledge of the English language, entrance group, cleanliness and order,'' explains Abdrashitov.

In the hotels of the capital of the region you can still find rooms available. But, according to forecasts, they can be booked soon. The price for a room, depending on how many stars the hotel has, varies from 3,000 to 80,000 rubles.

''If we talk about peak dates, here, like in a market, everything is sold out. According to statistics, the cheapest rooms go first,'' says President of the Association of Hotels of Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan Gulnara Safina.

Gulnara Safina notes that you can come to the first game, which will be held in Kazan on June 16, without thinking. There are available rooms. Loading in hotels on this date is 60%. There are places during the 1/8 finals — 50% of all rooms in hotels in the city have been booked so far.

''The most popular games — it is ''Iran — Spain''. There is almost 100% load, the match will be held on June 20. Very good load is for the match of Poland and Colombia, it is 98% average load in the city now. And there is a very good demand for the ¼ finals match. It is not known who will play in this period yet, but, nevertheless, the load is almost 100%,'' says Safina.

The price for a room, depending on how many stars the hotel has, varies from 3,000 to 80,000 rubles. Photo: Maksim Platonov

The owners of rental housing are also waiting for the guests. Such post appeared in one of the groups in the social network. ''The city has just went crazy. All the tenants are expelled by the owners to earn during the championship! It is terrible, families with children have been evicted.'' Someone under the post is indignant, ''People will stop at nothing for the sake of pieces of paper.'' And someone shares the joy, ''I rented out an apartment for 12 days and will get 265,000 rubles.'' The film crew called a few dozen apartment owners. All of them refused to give an interview. Elizabeth asks most of all for a housing. She rents out a two-room apartment on Meridiannaya Street for 950,000 rubles a month. Another resident, Julia, rents out an apartment on Musin Street for 45,000 rubles a day. The ad attracts by its service: the apartment has a mini-bar, and it offers a hairdresser-stylist.

Many offers come from the owners of cottages. A Rustem, for example, offers to rent a house for 40,000 rubles a day in the village of Konstantinovka.

President of the Guild of Realtors Andrey Savelyev noted that it is mainly the owners of housing in Novo-Savinovsky and Vakhitovsky districts of Kazan decided to make money on the World Cup. But the prices for renting housing in Azino remained almost unchanged.

''In any case, there will be enough offers. There will be no such situation when there will be no places at all. And those who demanded these mythical 950,000 rubles, there also were offers at 400,000 a day, of course, they will remain with nothing and will be forced to rent out at real prices,'' Savelyev considers.

1,200 families in Tatarstan receive payments for firstborns

June 1 is International Children's Day. This holiday is celebrated for several decades in more than 60 countries. As you know, Vladimir Putin signed a decree declaring 2018-2027 the decade of childhood. By the way, Tatarstan also has its own programmes of social support for young and large families, mothers in rural areas.

In order to prevent the first financial difficulties from becoming an insurmountable barrier for young families, the state is ready to compensate part of the costs. Monthly payments, so-called Putin's benefits, are issued to women who gave birth to or adopted a child after January 1, 2018. A mandatory condition is the Russian citizenship of the mother and her child and permanent residence in Russia.

At the same time, the average per capita family income should not exceed one and a half times the subsistence minimum of the able-bodied population. In Tatarstan, this figure is now 13,173 rubles. For example, a family of three will be entitled to payment if its total income does not exceed 41,139 rubles a month. For registration of payment the mother should submit to bodies of social protection a package of documents: the birth certificate of the child, documents containing data on income of family members, account details opened in a bank and the passport.

There are many such programmes of social support for young families in Tatarstan. Specialists of relevant ministry specially meet young parents in maternity hospitals to tell them more about this. Photo: Oleg Tikhonov

''Already today 1,200 families are receiving payments for the first child. And since January 1, we have also implemented an additional measure to support women who live in rural areas. If a mother living in a village for at least three years gives birth to first-born child before aged 25, the one-time payment in connection with the order of the President of Tatarstan will be 50,000 rubles,'' said Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Protection Elmira Zaripova. She also added that if a woman gives birth to the third child before aged 29, the payment will be 100,000 rubles.

It is predicted that there will be more than 2,500 such young mothers living in rural areas, recipients of payments under the republican programme in Tatarstan. For example, Margarita and Ilnur Talipovs from Laishevsky district in this respect were lucky. The young mother says that no documents had to be drawn up. To receive the payment, they needed only a birth certificate of the child, citizenship of the Russian Federation and permanent residence in a rural area on the territory of Tatarstan not less than 3 years.

There are many such programmes of social support for young families in Tatarstan. Specialists of the relevant ministry specially meet young parents in maternity hospitals to tell them more about this. Moreover, they can participate in several such programmes simultaneously. These are not only various payments and benefits, but also, for example, preferential mortgage programmes or compensation when parents pay for pre-school education.