Officials ignored the court's decision regarding the resettlement timeline for Sochi resident Bidanov.
Alexander Bidanov appealed to the Sochi city hall demanding to specify the timeline for resettlement from the emergency house on Kashtanovaya Street. The authorities previously suggested waiting until 2025, but the pensioner is forced to pay for rented housing out of his pension.
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 establish resettlement timelines for residents, but officials claimed that the house was not included in the resettlement program.
On August 5, Alexander Bidanov sent a repeated appeal to the Department of Urban Economy of the Sochi administration. He provided a copy of the application to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
The promised deadline from the authorities has passed, but resettlement has not yet begun, Bidanov pointed out in his appeal. "The house is 108 years old, how can we live like this? How much longer can we endure? Living in such a house has caused health issues. They promised to wait until 2025, but 2026 is passing, and nothing has changed," he stated in his application.
Bidanov informed the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" that due to the danger of collapse, he no longer lives in the house on Kashtanovaya and is forced to rent accommodation, paying for it out of his pension.
"All the neighbors have long since moved away, wherever they could. I myself am forced to wander from rented corners and apartments, spending my last pension on rent. Our house has turned into a real ghost house. It stands on temporary supports, no one has lived inside for a long time, the wooden structures and ceilings have rotted. The building could collapse at any moment. Meanwhile, the authorities haven't even set up any protective fencing around it – children or passersby can easily enter," Bidanov said.
Bidanov's appeal, submitted through the "Gosuslugi" portal, has been registered in the system of the Department of Urban Economy, which deals with the resettlement of residents from emergency barracks, reported a reception staff member of the Sochi administration. According to him, a response will be sent within a month.
"The situation on Kashtanovaya Street is not unique. Thousands of residents are also waiting for their turn to be resettled because there is a shortage of maneuverable housing in the city and funding for this program is lacking," he told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
The department must provide Bidanov with a written response within 30 days from the date of registration of the application, explained lawyer Roman Sivkov. "Since the citizen is forced to rent housing due to the municipality's failure to comply with the court decision, he has the right to go to court with a claim for reimbursement of all rental expenses," he said to the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
To confirm the expenses, according to Sivkov, a rental agreement and bank transfers or receipts for the money received will be required.
By law, the authorities are obliged to organize immediate resettlement from houses that pose a risk of collapse, according to part 10 of Article 32 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the legal positions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, noted the lawyer.
"It is clearly stated that if a house is recognized as emergency and subject to demolition, and living in it poses a threat to the life and health of citizens, which has been confirmed by court decisions in 2018 in the case of citizen Bidanov, then the authorities are obliged to provide such a forced resettler with a well-equipped residential premises under a social rental agreement or equivalent compensation, regardless of whether the house is included in any particular resettlement program," Sivkov explained.