Officials responded with a standard reply to the request of a disabled person from Sochi for relocation from an emergency house.

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Alexander Bidanov received a response from the Sochi city hall regarding his request for relocation from an emergency house. Officials suggested he gather a package of documents for relocation to temporary maneuvering housing.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in February 2019, Alexander Bidanov warned the mayor of Sochi about the threat of the house collapsing built in 1917 on Kashtanovaya Street. A court in November 2018 ordered the district administration to set deadlines for the relocation of residents, but officials claimed that the house was not included in the relocation program. In early August, Bidanov again appealed to the Sochi city hall demanding to specify the deadline for relocation from the emergency house.

On August 31, Sochi resident Alexander Bidanov, who has been striving for years to relocate from emergency house No. 11 on Kashtanovaya Street, received another official response from the city hall. The document was signed by the acting director of the municipal economy department of the Sochi administration, Evgeny Shelovnikov. Instead of providing comfortable housing, the official referred to formalities and suggested that the applicant gather an impressive package of documents for the temporary maneuvering fund.

Instead of real actions, I received another standard reply

Alexander Bidanov is extremely outraged by the document he received and believes that the city authorities are deliberately dragging their feet, putting his life in mortal danger. "Instead of real actions, I received another standard reply. My house is in critical condition, it is literally about to collapse, living there is life-threatening! But instead of fulfilling their obligations and providing normal housing, officials suggest I run around various agencies and gather a bunch of papers for some maneuvering fund. This is just mockery," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

In the response from the city hall, a copy of which is available to "Caucasian Knot", it is stated: "There is no court ruling regarding the immediate relocation of the MCD. Thus, when forming new programs for the relocation of citizens from the emergency fund, the MCD will be considered for resettlement."

"The official believes that until the court writes the word 'immediate', the house, recognized as emergency back in 2018 by their own order No. 155-r, will wait for abstract 'new programs', despite the real threat of collapse," Bidanov wonders.

Instead of addressing the issue substantively, the disabled person is offered to undergo a complicated procedure of gathering documents to obtain not permanent, but temporary maneuvering housing. The list includes an application, identity documents, copies of state registration certificates of civil status acts, a copy of the apartment card, certificates from the technical accounting authority, extracts from the EGRN.

Recognition of a house as emergency implies its immediate demolition

Bidanov considers the stated requirements to be "the official's invention, as the recognition of a house as emergency implies its immediate demolition, so that people are not harmed, and immediate relocation to other comfortable housing, not to a maneuvering fund, which is usually provided urgently to fire victims without requiring additional documents."

Lawyer Roman Sivkov, analyzing the response from the city hall, noted that the administration's position is unlawful for a number of reasons. "The reference to 'the absence of a court ruling on immediate relocation' is manipulation. If a court decision has previously established that the house is emergency and requires relocation, not, for example, repair - the municipality is obliged to execute the decision on relocation immediately. Delaying resettlement until 'new programs are formed' substitutes the effective court ruling with arbitrary interpretation by officials," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

The maneuvering fund does not replace the obligation of the city hall to provide permanent comfortable housing in exchange for emergency housing

"The proposal to gather seven types of documents for the maneuvering fund shifts the burden of solving the problem onto the citizen himself. The maneuvering fund is a temporary emergency measure for relocation when a house has burned down or completely collapsed, and people are left without clothes, documents, and a roof over their heads. And the maneuvering fund does not replace the obligation of the city hall to provide permanent comfortable housing in exchange for emergency housing," Sivkov also noted.

He points out that such standard replies create a threat to life, as living in a house that has physical wear and a threat of collapse violates the fundamental right of a citizen to safety. The standard replies from officials prolong the process and endanger the health and life of a person.

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