The village of Ust-Luga will become a city. This was announced by Leningrad oblast governor Aleksandr Drozdenkov while making a work visit to the village of Ust-Luga in the Kingiseppsky district of the Leningrad oblast, according to the regional governor’s press service. Active development of the territory of the Ust-Luga settlement will require the creation of corresponding engineering infrastructure: residences, roads, social objects.
One of the things to be built is a secondary school with a capacity of 350, which was inspected by the head of the region personally, who applauded the originality of the project, which would lead to the ability to add additional space in the future. The school is scheduled to open on the 1st of September this year.
Meanwhile, new construction also highlights serious problems, primarily water supply and sewage issues. At present the treatment facilities of “Ust-Luga fish processing plant” are the only option for processing manufacturing and domestic waste in the village, and they’re working at near maximum capacity.
In order to prevent possible ecological consequences, prompt action is necessary. After having heard a number of different opinions, A. Drozdenko summarized: sewage treatment plants must begin to be built in Ust-Luga. “The village must have a future. There are many plans here for building residences, and schools. This year, construction will begin on a new kindergarten, and an athletic complex,” highlighted the governor.
Meanwhile, at the doorstep of the port and village of Ust-Luga are the ancient villages of Luzhitsy and Krakolye, where some of the last members of the small-numbered Finno-Ugric people, the Votics live. In 2008, the Finno-Ugric cultural center of the Russian Federation expressed concerns with the events connected with the proposed construction of the Ust-Luga port. Finishing this project will lead to the disappearance of the villages Krakolye and Luzhitsy, where the ancient Finno-Ugric small-numbered people, the Votics live, noted the center. In 2010, the Estonian newspaper Eesti Express claimed that the capacity of the Ust-Luga port by 2015 will reach 170 tons, and the one-time village of two thousand will become a city with a population of 35 thousand.
The head of the Society of Votic culture, Tatiana Yefimova told a Russian publication on nationality, illegal logging and expansion of the port has robbed the Votes of their forest, while the port itself will take their coastline.
“The possibility for the Ust-Luga port to be developed to the north on the Soyka peninsula is possible due to reserve territories,” quoted the newspaper, located at the site of the port, after noting that a village of another small-numbered Finno-Ugric people is located on that peninsula, the Izhorians.