The occupying authorities of the Zaporizhzhia region announced the nationalization of more than 1,000 recreation centers on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Earlier, the Russians stated that they were developing a draft law, according to which they planned to “legalize” appropriated tourist facilities under Russian law. According to collaborator Yevhen Balytskyi, most of these institutions remained “ownerless”, so the Russians decided to appropriate them. He added that the restoration of this infrastructure is planned for 2025.
In Moscow, representatives of eight occupied coastal cities – Donetsk, Mariupol, Mangush, Berdyansk and Henichesk, as well as Russian Taganrog, Yeysk and Novoazovsk – concluded an agreement on the so-called joint development of tourism on the Sea of Azov. The fake mayor Oleksandr Saulenko signed the agreement from Berdyansk.
This promotion is another imitation of the Russian Federation’s development of a tourist destination in the Azov region. The reality looks different: in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia, only 120 tourist establishments functioned in the summer, which is 8% of the total number. This is confirmed by the so-called “senator” from the Zaporizhzhia region, who notes the lack of funding for the tourism industry and many facilities that are idle.
The occupation administration continues to seize Ukrainian property in the temporarily occupied territories. In the spring of this year, in three months, they took about 1,500 real estate objects from Ukrainians, including apartments, houses, shops and the central park in Primorsk. Since April 22, 2024, more than 13,000 plots of land have been appropriated.
During the two years of occupation, the Russians did not build a single tourist facility, but destroyed and neglected 92% of the existing ones. In this context, the agreement looks like an attempt to simulate the active development of resort potential, while the real situation indicates serious problems in the tourism industry in the occupied territories.