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Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 20:58:04 +0100
From: Road Alert!
To: roadalert@gn.apc.org
Subject: High speed rail...

> Action Alert!!!
>
> The radical anarchist-environmental movement "Rainbow Keepers" along with the
> other "green"s in Russia need your help.
>
> It's not the first year that the Russian environmental groups have been
> struggling with the freak product of the corrupted Russian empire -
> Joint-Stock Venture "High-Speed Railways".
>
> JSV "HSR" is a high-speed way to elimination.
>
> It's a lift to abolishing of 5,300 hectares of forest reserves;
> - doing away with the Valdai National Park which is the only EUrope's spot
> where the last primeval forest is still preserved;
> - destroying of the biggest Europe's drinking water supply Reservoir -
> the Great Watershed;
> - disappearing of many species of animals.
>
> The governmental powerful lobby represented by the 1-st Vice President
> gave JSV "HS Railways" the State Guaranty on its bonds and declared to
> ensure repayment of its credit.
>
> The British Branch of the Banque Indosuez intends to sign the final solution
> on appropriating $200 mln credit to JVS "HSR".
>
> The credit's priority is building of high-speed railways between Moscow and
> S.Petersburg. In future the credit will run up to $800 mln.
>
> We are planning to carry out fax campaign and have a series of direct
> actions against appropriating credit to JSV "HSR".
>
> We ask for your assistance in organizing parallel actions both in Moscow
> and London in the late March - early April.
>
> The object is the London Branch of Banque Indosuez.
>
> We must get them the message they can't make money on the international
> tragedy.
>
> No credit - no HS Railways across the primeval forest of Valdai!
>
> P.S. Please, let us know the telephone, fax, e-mail of the London Branch of
> Banque Indosuez. Debra Bas, the Chief of Department of Finance and Export,
> is known to be responsible for giving credit to JSV "HSR".
>
> Artem
>
>
> THE HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY PROJECT "ST.-PETERSBURG - MOSCOW"
> (NOVGOROD VERSION)
>
> On 13. 09. 91 President of Russia issued an edict
> "About the creation of high-speed railway St.-Petersburg
> - Moscow". But in other countries high-speed railways lie
> through densely populated territories, whereas the
> Russian one is to lie through wild forests and swamps.
>
> Time in route from Moscow to St.-Petersburg will have
> decreased to 2.5 h without stops. Designed cost of HSR
> is about 7 milliard $.
>
> Realizator (general customer) of the project is
> Russian Joint-Stock Venture "High-Speed Railways". It
> says that no state budget money will be used. Inspite of
> this declaration, in 1994 RJV obtained 60 mlrd roubles
> as credits (Resolution of Russian Government N 671 of 15.
> 06. 1994), in 1995 - 10 mlrd (Res. Gov. N 447 of 04. 07.
> 1995), in 1997 - 9.4 trln rbls.
>
> Russian Government (in its resolution N 1015-r of 27.
> 07. 96) considered attracting of British credit (200 mln
> $) for the RJV HSR purposes to be advisable. This credit
> is foreseen to be paid off by the St.-Petersburg city
> budget.
>
> The nesessity of the whole project is to be proved by
> data. Moscow and St.-Petersburg are connected by October
> railway. During 80-s the amount of passengers of this
> railway between the two cities was about 5.5 mln
> passengers per year. Now it's about 2 mln. According to
> the EBRD evaluation, the HSR must carry 40 mln, accordind
> to those made by RJV HSR itself - about 17.5 mln. Taking
> in account high prices of the highspeed railways, it's
> clear that the HSR cannot attract even 5.5 mln passengers
> per year carried by October railway. So the new railway
> is to carry nobody.
>
> The railway is to lie through the Valday Hills
> territory, where the greatest European rivers (such as
> Volga, Dnieper, West Dvina) have their sources. The
> railway is to cut about several hundreds of different
> water reservoirs; if large rivers can be crossed with the
> help of bridges, the small ones, as well as pure springs
> and lakes, are to be destroyed.
>
> This region is extremely vulnerable hydrologically,
> and even an ordinary woodcutting road will cause
> withering of hectares of adjacent forest. As for the
> "railway monster" about 50 - 90 (in some places up to 100
> ) m wide, it's not even worth talking about.
>
> Moreover, the Valday Hills is a highly rough terrain,
> with height differences in some places up to 50 m, so the
> HSR needs many tunnels and estacades or embankments.
> Furthermore, the karst activity in this region is high
> enough, and it can increase in the case of disturbances
> of the corresponding layer.
>
> The whole railway will be surrounded with a concrete
> fence 2 - 4 m high. Distance between passageways will be
> 3 - 5 km, at some places up to 11 km. So the whole system
> of both human roads and animals' paths will be
> demolished.
>
> The new Krestets power station is being built in
> Novgorod region for the energy supply of the HSR. It will
> through out to the atmosphere more than 3000 tons of
> nitrogen oxydes per year. The Valday Hills is the
> watershed of Moscow and Petersburg artesian basins, so
> both Moscow and Petersburg will be regularly being
> supplied with fresh nitric acid as an addition to
> drinking water.
>
> The Valday National park is also on the way of the
> new railway. According to the Law "About the Particularly
> Protected Natural Territories", building of new main
> lines through the national parks is prohibited, but RJV
> HSR eeps on laying claim to the VNP lands.
>
> There are many other defects discovered during the
> state environmental examination of the TEG of the HSR.
> The whole TEG has not yet obtain positive resolution of
> the environmental comission of experts. The "positive
> resolution" sent to the Government in Dec.,1995 was
> declared to be unlawful by General Procurator's Office of
> Russia.
>
> As for the settlers of Tver and Novgorod regions,
> which the HSR is to cross, they understand uselessness of
> this global project, inspite of its advertising. Public
> organisation named "Barrier" appeared in Tver region; its
> goal is to hinder the HSR building in its Novgorod
> version. The Public House of Novgorod during its session
> on 27. 01. 1997 came out against the HSR almost
> unanimously.
>
> There is a real alternative project to solve problems
> of transport between Moscow and Petersburg. It is a
> reconstruction of the existing October railway between
> these two cities. This project is about 10 times more
> cheap than the HSR, it can reduce time in route from
> Moscow to Petersburg and increase capacity of the railway
> without such terrible consequences for environment.
>
> So the question appears: who stands to gain from the
> HSR building? Evidently, those, who are standing "near
> the source from which 7 mlrd $ flows with a hope to be
> spattered by them".
>
> For more information call the Wildlife Protection
> Center:
> 119270, Moscow, mailbox 449, "Valday"
> (095) 482 1888 (phone/ fax), (095) 903 9321
> e-mail: biodivers@glas.apc.org
> rk@glasnet.ru ( )
>



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