Sochi officials refused to re-register the Savelyev family on the housing waiting list.

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The Savelyev family applied to the Sochi authorities for re-registration on the housing waiting list. They were told that their documents had been forwarded to the Sirius administration, where they were told that they didn't even have a department that registered those in need of housing.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in December 2011, the Savelyev family of five, including two children, was evicted from their barracks, which was later demolished during the construction of the Olympic track. Having received no replacement housing, in February 2015, the Savelyevs occupied a cottage in Veseloye Psou, a settlement for Olympic displaced persons in Sochi, but were also required to vacate it. Authorities offered the Savelyevs the opportunity to move from their occupied cottage to a three-room apartment, but they refused, demanding the cottage and land be returned to them. On February 8, a Sochi court denied the Savelyevs' claim for housing. In late April, they filed an appeal against the court's denial of their claim against the Sochi authorities, but a court in Krasnodar upheld the decision denying housing. And at the end of January, they discovered that the barracks, before being demolished, had been owned by a local official.

Lyudmila Savelyeva and her son, Alexei, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on February 22 that, according to Sochi City Hall regulations, they re-registered their housing waiting list every three years for those in need of better housing. The Savelyevas last re-registered in 2023, confirming their low-income status. They contacted the Sochi administration again and were informed that the documents had been transferred to the authorities of the Sirius federal territory, as the demolished barracks where they had previously lived were located on its territory. On January 16, Lyudmila Savelyeva received a certificate from the Sochi Municipal Housing and Legal Service. The document indicated that she was registered at the following address: 5/1 Akatsiy Street, Apartment 6, Adler District, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai. The certificate listed the family composition of five, including her son, grandchildren, and her son's ex-wife. The document was issued "for presentation where requested" based on an archival apartment card, Form No. 10 (17), or a house register."

We confirmed the waiting list every year, provided such certificates, and never had any questions.

"We confirmed the waiting list every year, provided such certificates, and never had any questions. On the Adler waiting list, which had approximately 10,000 people since its inception in 1987, we were 8,563rd at the time of the barracks demolition. According to the latest information from 2023, our waiting list was 8,463rd," Savelyeva said.

That is, over 40 years, the waiting list has advanced by 1,500 people. According to Savelyeva, the housing and legal services department confirmed to her that the queue is moving slowly "because social housing isn't being built, and apartments received from commercial developers are being redistributed among municipal employees: healthcare workers, teachers, administration staff, and housing and utilities workers."

Savelyeva also said that she was on the single mothers' waiting list and was among the first to receive housing, but the waiting list was abolished in the 1990s.

On February 20, Savelyeva applied to the Sochi administration's Department of Urban Development for a certificate of re-registration on the waiting list, but was denied. "The head of the citizen registration department told me, 'You've been transferred to Sirius, and now you can get any information you need there,'" she said.

That same day, Savelyeva and her son contacted the administration of the federal territory of Sirius, where, according to her, "they didn't even understand what they were talking about." "They told us there was no information about us, and there wasn't even a department that handles registering those in need of housing," the woman claims.

The officer on duty at Sirius confirmed to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, "We don't have such departments."

Now it turns out that we were simply "thrown" into nowhere

Alexey Savelyev On February 22, he sent a written request to the Sochi administration demanding an explanation of where their documents were transferred, why they were not warned about this, on what basis this was done, and where their documents are now. "We are asking for an official written response: where is our housing file, who is handling it?" handed over and to whom exactly. Because now it turns out that we were simply “thrown” into nowhere,” he told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

Savelyev believes that what is happening cannot be explained simply by confusion. “This is either gross negligence of officials, or intent. We have been trying to restore our rights for fifteen years. We have been on the waiting list for almost 40 years for those in need of better housing conditions. I have been on this waiting list since I was 10. Now I’m already 50. Soon there will be grandchildren. Now it turns out that our documents were allegedly transferred to Sirius, where they know nothing about us. It seems that they simply want to cross us off all lists and from life in Sochi in general,” he said.

Lyudmila Savelyeva called the situation alarming. “If our documents are lost or transferred without proper registration, this means that we "They can even deprive us of our formal status as needing housing, and deprive us of our registration in Sochi, even though it concerns a building that was demolished 15 years ago. We were already left homeless, and now they're trying to take us off the waiting list," she said.

Independent lawyer Natalya Volynina, who is not associated with the Savelyev case, believes that the situation with the "transfer" of documents requires an investigation. "If a citizen has been registered as needing housing for a long time, any change in jurisdiction must be formalized by a proper act with notification to the citizen, and to everyone on the waiting list. The lack of information about the case in the receiving authority may indicate either negligence or more serious violations," the lawyer told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In such cases, a prosecutor's investigation is necessary.

According to her, the family should first seek written responses from the city administration, and then, if they are unsatisfactory, contact the prosecutor's office and appeal the inaction of officials. "When documents are 'lost' during administrative reforms, it is usually socially vulnerable citizens who suffer. In such cases, a prosecutor's investigation is necessary," she noted.

The lawyer also noted that if the documents are lost, the family has a chance to go to court to restore their place on the waiting list by filing a petition to establish a fact of legal significance. But this is a painstaking and costly process, especially for disabled people and pensioners.

"We didn't give up housing. We want to get what we are entitled to by law. But each time we encounter new obstacles that officials in Sochi create for us," she concluded. Lyudmila Savelyeva.