The start of the scandalous story of deforestation in New Moscow for the sake of building a school was given by the head of Troitsk Vladimir Dudochkin, human rights activists say.
A plan signed by him in 2017 started a process to develop federal lands, which the local official did not have the authority to control. According to activists, Dudochkin kept information about the ownership of the land secret, leading to protests from residents of Troitsk and causing financial losses. Read more about how businessmen illegally moved nearly 2 billion rubles from Moscow's treasury and caused significant damage to the federal government, as well as the leniency of law enforcement officers, in the PASMI article.
Thank you from the police
On March 23, the issue of deforestation in Novomoskovsk Troitsk was discussed in the Moscow City Duma, where Oleg Baranov, head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moscow, reported on the work of the metropolitan police. Since January, local residents have been opposing plans to build a school for 2100 students and a kindergarten for 300 children in the forest. Despite the mass detentions, the townspeople blocked access roads, but over 5 hectares of forest were still cut down.
The deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Zubrilin, raised the issue of the controversial construction site at a city parliament meeting and questioned the chief metropolitan policeman. He pointed out the lack of response from law enforcement to attacks on forest defenders by private security company employees hired by the developer, and asked why big business seems to control state bodies, including the police, for their own interests.
In response, Oleg Baranov defended the legality of the construction, stating that TiNAO residents themselves asked Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to address the shortage of school and preschool places. The building site was chosen with public participation, and it was claimed that only a few dozen trees and small shrubs were cut down, causing no significant damage to the Troitsky Forest.
Photo: Sergey Ivashinenko
Regarding the protests, the head of the central office claimed that they were not organized by locals, but by a resident from the Odintsovo district. He mentioned that this resident may be very concerned about the trees, for which he should be thanked.
He was likely referring to Anton Mogilnikov, a representative of the regional public association “Right? Yes!”, who lives in Odintsovo and provides legal assistance to Trojans opposing the forest destruction.
someone else’s property
In an earlier interview with PASMI, an activist spoke about the law violations by local and regional officials related to the Trinity Forest situation, emphasizing that the Troitsk authorities did not have the right to control the land where construction is being attempted. Anton Mogilnikov explained that these lands were part of the former forest fund and are federal property protected by Russian legislation. The fact that the land was included in the settlement boundaries, or declared part of Moscow's green fund after the territories near Moscow were annexed to the capital, does not change the ownership rights. declared Anton Mogilnikov shared his arguments not only with the PASMI editors but also sent requests to various Moscow authorities and federal departments. He believes that some officials have committed corruption-related crimes that violated property rights and citizens' interests, including forgery, abuse of power, negligence, and ecocide. However, law enforcement and supervisory authorities have not responded to the message about the potential crime yet.
municipal secrets
Despite this, Anton Mogilnikov attempted to reach out to the Moscow prosecutor’s office and regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the TFR again. Now he is seeking to hold Vladimir Dudochkin, the head of the city district of Troitsk, directly accountable for potential criminal actions under several articles of the Russian Federation's Criminal Code.
In an interview with a PASMI journalist, the activist explained that this mainly concerns the municipal program for the development of a school and an access road in the V microdistrict of the Troitsk city district in Moscow, which Dudochkin approved in September 2017.
Mogilnikov firmly believes that this program initiated the illegal use of federal lands, to which the Troitsk administration had no rights, and it was funded by the municipal budget – Dudochkin allocated about 9.5 million rubles for the program.
Of that amount, 7.5 million was spent on the development of the territory planning project and land survey project for the school and access road. This was carried out through a contract that the Troitsk administration made with the “Institute of the General Plan of Moscow” in December 2017.
Following the approval of the land survey project by Vladimir Dudochkin, three land plots were registered: two for a school and a kindergarten, and another for “street and road network” use.
At the same time, false information was deliberately entered into the state cadastre about the lack of rights to these land plots, which are formed within the boundaries of forest lands, meaning they belong to the federal property. Anton Mogilnikov believes that this violation of the law was likely committed at the behest of the Troitsk administration, which withheld this information from the Department of City Property of Moscow.
Subsequently, on the basis of the land survey project approved by Vladimir Dudochkin, three land plots were put on cadastral registration: two – for a school and a kindergarten, and one more – with the type of permitted use “street and road network”.
At the same time, deliberately false information was entered into the state cadastre about the lack of rights to these land plots, which are formed within the boundaries of forest lands, that is, federal property. According to Anton Mogilnikov, the violation of the law, apparently, was committed precisely at the suggestion of the Troitsk administration, which hid this data from the Department of City Property of Moscow.
The next step was the conclusion of an agreement for the gratuitous use of building plots between the Office for Registration of Property Relations of the above department and Academproekt LLC. At the same time, this company is not a construction contractor, and therefore, there is a violation of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, which can be qualified as abuse of power, Anton Mogilnikov noted. By the way, the head of administration Dudochkin issued a building permit not to the developer, but to the same Academproekt.
LLC GK SMU-555 is the construction contractor 87 million rubles). According to Anton Mogilnikov, the developer has already received 1.8 billion rubles from the Moscow budget as an advance and has begun to develop them.
Hectares of lawlessness
Thus, according to the activist, as a result of the actions of the head of the city district of Troitsk, about 2 billion rubles were illegally transferred from the municipal and regional budgets. This amount does not include irreparable environmental damage to forest lands, as well as material damage directly inflicted on the Russian Federation in connection with the destruction of more than 5 hectares of ancient forest. It will be possible to evaluate this damage in monetary terms only after the examination.
In his statement to the capital’s law enforcement officers, the human rights activist demands to suspend work on forest plots, withdraw them from illegal use, recultivate and bring to justice the head of Troitsk, Vladimir Dudochkin, and other guilty persons.
In the meantime, as follows from the letter from Mosgosstroynadzor, the capital’s officials have already received notice of the start of construction in the Trinity Forest. Anton Mogilnikov also announced the intensification of work on the federal forest lands – according to him, the construction site is being cleared there, the soil is already being removed.
Continued attempts by citizens to resist violations of the law. Opponents of the construction are on duty at the gate, preventing the removal of the cut down forest. By the way, according to the public figure, this wood, the cost of which can be estimated at 10-15 million rubles, is not accounted for in accordance with the requirements of federal law.
