Construction in Kurapaty - how close to memorial cross?

27/11/2012 - 08:44

There were no workers at the construction site in Kurapaty at 1.30 p.m. on November 26. The site is encircled by a barbed wire fence and you can see pipes, construction materials and concrete piled up there.

Construction near Kurapaty

People have seen workers at the nearest filling station today - they were buying food there. However, the construction has been stopped.

“They began very quickly but seem to have stopped now. Maybe they lack financing," thinks a filling station employee.

The problem is not caused by financing. The Ministry of Culture has discovered violations there: the construction site crosses the border of the Kurapaty memorial.

"The builders must obey the rules applied to the protected zone. No construction is allowed within 120 metres of the forest. By the way, the developers have confirmed that the object will not be called "Bulbash-Hall," the Ministry of Culture reported.

We have tried to measure the distance. There are 110 steps between the last Kurapaty cross and the construction site. It is less than 90 metres!

110 steps from the cross to the construction site

The Ministry of Culture has replied to the complaint of the round table "Let us protect Kurapaty" about the construction of "Bulbash-Hall" in Kurapaty tract. Hanna Shaputska has received the response.

“It has been discovered that the construction was started in the protected zone. Moreover, the Ministry of Culture did not permit it[…]. The Ministry has ordered "Belrestinvest" and Minsk Province Executive Committee to stop the construction in the protected zone of historical and cultural value […]. The construction may be resumed when the required documents are provided and when it is adjusted in accordance with the legal norms," Hanna said reading out the letter signed by deputy Minister of Culture Victar Kurash.

A restaurant and bath complex for 400 people is being built near the memorial in Kurapaty where dozens of thousands people were shot in the 1930s. The developers are refusing to talk to journalists.