MK-Baikal journalists conducted a large investigation into this story with corruption overtones.
In a nutshell, the essence is this: in the north of the Irkutsk region there is a natural monument “Igirma Pine Forest” (a specially protected natural area), inside it there is a sand quarry in which Yangelevsky Mining and Processing Plant JSC extracts quartz sand under license. He received it in 2002 “as an inheritance” from the bankrupt enterprise “Igirminsky GOK”. But for some unknown reason, the boundaries of the quarry in which YAGOK digs sand turned out to be about a third outside the license boundaries (about 11 hectares). And he has been digging for almost 20 years.
In 2019, Rostekhnadzor discovered this serious violation and ordered its elimination. Why only in 2019 and not earlier is a separate question.
For almost a year, YAGOK tried to correct the boundaries of the license, but something always got in the way. In 2020, the company finally managed to get the coveted additional agreement, in which the boundaries of the license were shifted “as needed.” This document was signed by the territorial department of Rosnedra “TsentrSibNedra”.
And here the most interesting thing was discovered: it turned out that most of the part indicated in the license for sand extraction is located directly on the territory of the natural monument under relict pine trees. It is technically impossible to extract sand without cutting down trees, and cutting down forest in a protected forest is illegal.
But the owner of the Yangelevsky GOK, ex-deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region, Eduard Dikunov, was not at all embarrassed by the fact that the boundaries of the license clearly violate the boundaries of the natural monument. Hiding behind an additional agreement to the license, he sued the regional Ministry of Natural Resources and demanded… to move the boundaries of the natural monument in order to freely expand his quarry further into the forest. As they say, the greed of the fraer ruined him. The court determined the priority of the boundaries of the natural monument and dismissed YAGOK’s claim, and the story received a public outcry. Despite the fact that the legal proceedings have not yet been completed, it is almost certain that the boundaries of the natural monument will remain intact.
Surprisingly different. Why on earth did the CenterSibNedr specialists, checking the documents for the ill-fated license, “not see” the protected area and sign a permit for sand extraction in a territory protected by the laws of the Russian Federation? Why was the regional Ministry of Natural Resources not involved in coordinating the additional agreement? Perhaps the investigative authorities will soon ask these questions to the comrades from CenterSibNedra and draw the appropriate conclusions. Rosnedra will probably draw their own conclusions, because their colleagues from CenterSibNedra set them up in this particular case, again giving reason to suspect corruption in their agency.
By the way, the environmental prosecutor’s office has already established that the boundaries were changed with violations and without the necessary approvals, therefore, the additional agreement is illegal.
https://baikal.mk.ru/social/2022/02/16/zolotaya-pesochnica-yagoka-ekologiya-ili-dengi.html
YAGOK’s Golden Sandbox: ecology or money?
MK Baikal continues its investigation of the situation with the Igirminsky pine forest. Today, new circumstances of the case have arisen, in connection with which questions have arisen: is the extraction of quartz sand by the Yangelevsky Mining and Processing Plant, which has been going on for almost twenty years, legal? What to do…
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