Residents of Minsk agricultural village: If they do not obey the law, we will fight

Residents of agricultural village are not going to give up their homes.

37 years after the first promises to demolish the district, developers came here. Some residents of the village have already been settled in the city, the rest of local dwellers are getting ready to protect their land. Radio Svaboda journalists visited the district before another meeting between its residents and the authorities.

The agricultural village is land of a few tens of hectares of private area within Biady, Niakrasava, Khalturyna, and Aleshev streets. Part of it is already built up with apartment buildings. But a real village hides behind them: narrow streets with almost no sidewalks, old wooden houses and new brick ones, yards are covered with apple and cherry trees.

Residents of the agricultural village have not been disturbed for long. But in early 2000s the left side of the Turgenev Street was taken away for construction of two 14-storey buildings. Residents say that after it they have enough experience to confront developers.

"They'd better not to demolish my house, Uladzimir says. - I can guarantee them 5 years of legal battles".

He says that he will agree to conditions, if they comply with the law. But he considers the construction illegal.

"They say it is a general plan, state needs, Uladzimir says. - What kind of state needs are they, if it is a private sector? Let them do whatever they like on a state land. Our property makes no sense here".

The future developer is the Gorizontproektstroi company. They have already announced the building up plan in this area on their site. They want to name it "Komarovsky Circle" (there is the district with the same name in Minsk). The company even promised to begin construction in the second quarter of the year 2015, but it did not happen.

A garage is $800, parking space $20 thousand.

While conversation, the neighbour of Uladzimir joined us. He lives in the house that his grandfather built after the war. Ivan does not want to change his house for an apartment.

"Forest and bog was here. After work my grandfather came to the construction site. My grandmother was kneading the solution with her feet", he tells.

According to Ivan, compensation issue is the most urgent one. They frightened him they would give back money he paid for privatization in 1990s.

"I built my house when McDonald's was built on Bangalor. Let them try to evict McDonald's on such conditions," he says.

According to the locals, compensation does not comply with current prices. According to them, their houses cost $500 per metre, a garage -$800, trees - Br600 thousands.

"Our gardens can be compared to any park and they are estimated at kopecks, - Ivan says. - Gorky park is the city, but we are not the part of it".

Uladzimir agrees to move only if he is given the same land plot with the house.

"I am ready to live even in Pinsk swamps, if there are water, gas, telephone, and a good road, he says. - If only I could lie back on a hammock and watch a TV set. But they say that here is money, built a house in the other place".

Ivan makes calculations. His six acres he scatters on a number of flats that can be built on this site.

"I have 600 square meters of land. How big are apartments now? Well, let's take 100 metres, for example. Let there be 3-4 apartments here. But it may be 14 or even 24-storey building. How much could they earn only on my land? he asks.

I don't want to live near the Ring Road.

The district looks like a village not because it is inhabited by poor people, but because since 1978 it has been restricted to build here. It is only allowed to "upgrade to satisfying quality"- to build a toilet and furnace room.

"What is sense in investments, if the future is in the say?" 33-year old Yury says. Journalists met him next to the garage.

He was born here, like most residents of the agricultural village. Several houses of his friends were demolished while construction of apartment buildings in Biada street. But since then, he very rarely meets with them: they have apartments in Serabranka.

"I would like to live here. I don't want to live near the Ring Road. It cannot be compared with life in here", Yury said.

He has failed to record document on the garage, because the house is waiting for the demolition. Now the garage is considered a forbidden construction, and from time to time the owner pays fines. "There is no other variant", he says.

Here is a real avenue at 6 pm.

The most surprising thing is that those who have apartments in Turgeneva Street are not interested in it either. Because of densification, those apartment buildings have neither green area, nor playgrounds.

"There is no place to walk around with children, young mother Volha, living in apartments, say. - We go to the Friendship of Peoples park on Bangalor or to the the Biada park".

Residents of both apartment buildings and private houses mention transport problems.

"It will be a total failure! Uladzimir says. - Now it is hard to drive here and even harder to find a parking place".

Transit traffic and parking is the most frequent topic of disputes between residents of a private sector and apartment buildings. Here are two entrances: through Bahdanovich or Korsh-Sablin streets.

"Here is a real avenue at 6 pm. The traffic is so busy that we do not let our children out, Yury said.

An underground parking is provided for new houses. But an underground parking space costs $20 thousands, and vehicle owners leave their cars in the private sector. House owners put wires through the streets to protect their yards. Some of them even install cameras.

Some people came to us even with tyre levers.

On January 16, 2015 some dwellers of the village were handed over decision on the forthcoming seizure of land plots. The majority are not going to give up.

"Only those agree for demolition, who want to do nothing, Uladzimir says. - We do want, but are not allowed".

The locals do not expect the authorities will play the game but they have already had experience, therefore they plan to defend their homes.

"We had military actions here. And they will happen again", Uladzimir says.

He tells about drives with tyre levers here. The fact is that when construction all vehicles were supposed to drive only from Bahdanovich Street. But many drove through the private sector. To prevent it, residents parked their cars staggered.

Every interviewee says he would like to stay here and have the right for construction or repairing work.

"They call us collective farmers, Ivan says. - But the authorities did not give us a chance to build something, and now they say these are ramshackle buildings".