in Saratov, a forest near the Volga is being built up for public millions – news agency “Versia-Saratov”

In the Saratov village of Ust-Kurdyum, a forest plot located near the Volga is being actively developed. Moreover, this is being done, apparently, in agreement with the regional authorities. Moreover, with funds allocated from the federal budget as a subsidy for the development of ecotourism.

The Versiya-Saratov news agency was told about the ongoing construction by local residents who were shocked by what was happening. We visited the site and made sure that right now in the thickets houses are being built, which are “planted” on screw piles. That is, permanent structures are located in the forest area.

“Construction is taking place right in the middle of the forest, trees have already been cut down here. At the same time, houses are placed on a foundation, and we, the locals who are indignant about this, are told: these are not permanent buildings! Well, of course, because non-capital objects are always placed on a foundation, communications are connected to them, and so on. It’s amazing how the authorities don’t notice this? Is it really so easy to take and build up a forest in Saratov in front of everyone?” one of the residents of Ust-Kurdyum was indignant.

As it turned out, the authorities are not only aware of what is happening, but the construction in general may be part of the officials’ strategy for the development of eco-tourism. Yes, in such an obviously perverted form. However, if you think about it, then for Saratov (with its destructive reconstructions and dubious preservation of architectural monuments) there is nothing unusual here.

Thus, the forest construction project reported by residents is… the pride of the regional government. In January 2024, officials posted news on their website that more than 100 million rubles were attracted to the region’s tourism industry last year.

“In 2023, the Saratov region took part in the selection for a subsidy from the federal budget for state support of investment projects to create modular non-capital accommodation facilities. In total, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development received more than 1.2 thousand applications from 79 subjects.

Based on the results of reviewing documents from potential investors, 5 projects implemented in the Saratov region received grant support for 2023–2024. Almost 100 million rubles have been allocated to the region…”, notes the government website.

The construction of 73 units in the region by the end of 2024 is immediately announced.”modular non-capital accommodation facilities“:

— glamping “Loch Brough” (Novoburassky district, Loch village, 7 modules);

— glamping park “Udarnik” (Saratov, 21 modules);

— glamping “Utes” (Krasnoarmeysky district, Belogorskoye village, 10 modules);

— recreation center “HOLM” (Saratov, Ust-Kurdyum village, 15 modules);

— tourist center “Robinson”, project “ECO-VILLAGE” (Engels district, 20 modules).

This is precisely the forest activity that confused the residents of Saratov in Ust-Kurdyum – this is one of the projects promoted by the authorities – the HOLM recreation center. According to officials, 15 buildings should appear in the forest. If you believe your eyes, these buildings hardly look like “modular non-permanent accommodation facilities“

It turned out that the installation of piles for future houses began here in the fall of 2023. The architect covers this entire process in detail in his Telegram channel Alexey Selivanov.

For example, on September 27, 2023, he posted the following message: “The process has been launched, the first stage of the black_box_baza project has begun, houses 40 sq. m. m. in the amount of 3 pieces! We spun the pile field, got in touch with the piles. This project won regional funding for the construction of glamping in the region!”

Selivanov provided this message with relevant photos and videos depicting the process of installing the piles. That is, the capital adhesion of the buildings to the ground was confirmed by the project implementers themselves. In this case, the authorities’ confidence that “non-permanent” buildings will be located in the Saratov forest is hardly explainable.

In addition, it was possible to find in the public domain documents for the development of design and working documentation, as well as the implementation of construction, installation and commissioning work for an overhead power line to the facility. From these documents it follows that turnkey electricity to the houses being built in the forest is provided by Oak Hill LLC.

The location of the work is indicated: Saratov forestry, Ust-Kurdyumskoye uch. forestry, block 23, division 9,10,14, cadastral number 64:32:000000:18969. Design, survey and cadastral work should have been completed here by March 28, 2024. Construction, installation and commissioning work, according to the documents, must be completed no later than June 28.

The provision of communications, as well as the installation of a pile foundation, also indicates the capital nature of the forest buildings of the HOLM project. And this, according to local residents, is a reason for the prosecutor’s office of the Saratov region to take a closer look at who, how and on what basis is using the budget millions of rubles in the forest next to the Volga.

We will continue to monitor developments.