Forest to be felled for Moscow-St. Pete's highway

[December 14, 2010]  MOSCOW (AP) -- The new Moscow-St.Petersburg highway will be built through an ancient forest outside the capital as planned, a top official confirmed Tuesday, despite environmentalists' outrage over the issue.

The controversy over the Khimki oak forest is not just about irreplaceable trees. The fierce dispute has showcased Russia's gravest social ill: the abuse of power and the dangers associated with trying to expose it.

Environmentalists thought they had scored a rare victory when President Dmitry Medvedev in August ordered a halt to the highway construction after a broad protest movement that included rock stars rallying citizens in Moscow. Medvedev then called for a wide-ranging social dialogue on the issue.

But Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the original plan was back in place because the highway is critically needed to alleviate Moscow's chronic traffic congestion and the unbearable delays getting to the city's Sheremetyevo Airport.

Television reports said the last word rests with the president. There was no immediate comment by Medvedev.

"On the whole, the need to build this road is, in my opinion, supported by everybody," Ivanov said Tuesday during a televised government meeting.

"No one is contesting the fact that one way or another a road needs to be built," he added. "The concensus comes from all the horrors and nightmares that happen along current parts of the Moscow-to-St. Petersburg highway."

Yaroslav Nikitenko, an activist with the Movement in Defense of the Khimki forest, told Russian news agencies there had been no social debate as called for by Medvedev, and that the decision would be contested.

In a bid to placate green activists, officials say the chosen five-mile (eight-kilometer) route through the forest is the least damaging of several possible routes linking Russia's top two cities. Transport Minister Igor Levitin said only two houses need to be demolished under the proposed route and any alternative would require dozens to be destroyed.

Authorities also promised to make sure no gas stations, stores or other roadside infrastructures are built along the section that runs through the forest, and said noise barriers would be erected to protect surrounding wildlife. Russian news agencies cited Ivanov as saying 500 hectares of trees will be planted elsewhere to compensate for the 250 acres (100 hectares) of uprooted woodland.

The go-ahead comes despite deeper concerns ignited by the dispute.

Journalists reporting on the topic have been brutally beaten, their skulls cracked and limbs broken. Kommersant reporter Oleg Kashin was the most recent victim -- hit some 50 times by two thugs in a stomach-turning attack that was caught on a security camera and outraged the nation.

Mikhail Beketov, the founder and editor of a Khimki newspaper, was among the first to raise the alarm about the destruction of the forest and suspicions that local officials were profiting from the project. He refused to back down, even after his dog was left dead on his doorstep and his car set on fire.

In November 2008, Beketov was beaten so viciously that he was left brain damaged and unable to speak. He also lost a leg and three fingers.

Road construction is one of the most corrupt sectors of Russia's economy, with numerous opportunities for kickbacks and bribes. The Khimki highway project offers more opportunities than usual for illegal enrichment because the cleared land along the roadway also is slated for development.

[Associated Press; By DAVID NOWAK]

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