When City Hall created a conservation area on the land where the Rechnik settlement stands now, it broke the law, a source at an agency involved in the demolition of the settlement told Vedomosti.
City Hall didn't reach an agreement on the creation of the Moskvoretsky nature reserve with the necessary federal agencies — these documents don't exist, the source said.
The protected nature reserve Moskvoretsky Park was created in December 1998 by a decree from the city government, and the same decree defined the borders and the territory of the park. But according to the federal law on specially protected nature sites, enacted in February 1995, all decisions on nature parks made by regional governments must receive oversight by federal agencies charged with protecting the environment.
In 1998, that agency was the State Committee for Protecting the Environment. A deputy director of a department in the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, Amirkhan Amirkhanov, who worked as deputy head of the committee from 1996 to 2000, said: "The decree on the park Moskvoretsky was published in breach of federal legislation because Moscow authorities didn't get the approval of the state committee. We didn't give special representation on the creation of this natural reserve, as is required by law."
There was no plan substantiating the feasibility of creating Moskvoretsky Park, an official in the Natural Resources and Environment ministry said.
"Besides, there should have been a public hearing on the municipal level to evaluate public opinion: whether or not people agree with the plan to break up the park on what conditions," Amirkhanov said.
The demolition of houses in Rechnik began at night on Jan. 21 according to a decision by Moscow's Kuntsevsky Distrcit Court, which declared the constructions illegal because the settlement is located on the territory of the park.
There were no environmental problems in Rechnik, said Yevgeny Shvarts, director of environmental policy at the World Wildlife Federation in Russia. He added that environmental legislation is used as a loophole for getting rid of "unwanted" buildings.
If it can be proven that the administrative procedure was not followed, then specially protected nature sites will cease to be protected, said Maxim Kuznechenkov, a partner at Baker & McKenzie. "A homeowner in Rechnik can legally require City Hall to show the documents by which the settlement's land was turned into a nature park," he said.
Or the Prosecutors General's Office could start the process, since it received an order from President Dmitry Medvedev to investigate the legality of the demolition of homes in Rechnik, said Alexei Novoselov, a managing partner at Corpus Juris.
If City Hall doesn't have the appropriate documents, then the court can declare that the park is no longer protected and all actions that were taken, particularly the demolition of homes, will become illegal.
"In this case, Moscow authorities should either compensate homeowners for the value of the demolished homes or build new ones," Novoselov said.
The violations committed by the Moscow government "will help" resolve the fate of Rechnik, said a source at an agency involved in the Rechnik issue. "It's necessary to seize the moment. But so far the question of whether the prosecutor's office will file a suit hasn't been discussed."
Neither City Hall nor the Prosecutor General's Office would comment on the issue. On Saturday, mayor's office spokesman Sergei Tsoi said the president's order [to investigate the legality of the demolitions] doesn't mean that the issue has been countermanded, but rather that a review of it will be put off for a later date, Itar-Tass reported.
City Hall could prepare a counterclaim against Rechnik residents, which would require them to present all authorizing documents for the construction of the houses, Kuznechenkov said.
"Naturally, there aren't any such documents, so it is impossible to prepare them. In this case, City Hall nevertheless has the right to demolish the houses," he said.
The Economic Development Ministry provided for such a situation and came up with a plan, which Vedomosti wrote about on Saturday: The federal government would get the right of ownership to the houses through the court, after which it would lease them to the current Rechnik homeowners.
"We're satisfied with both options — most important is that the demolition of homes is stopped. But we'll survive the couple years while the legal process continues," said a Rechnik resident.
"Moscow authorities have been isolated for too long. No one has decided to silence them, so the president has had to get involved," political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov said.
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