Anatoly Artamonov, the Head of the Working Group for interaction with federal executive authorities and state authorities of the Stavropol Territory on the integrated development of the resort city of Kislovodsk, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee on Budget and Financial Markets, told the EcoTourism EXPERT about the near-term outlook of the resort city.
- You visit the construction sites in Kislovodsk rather often. How is the process of creating new ‘tourism anchors’ going?
- The focus of the parliamentary group on Kislovodsk is primarily on the facilities under construction using federal funding; the residents and visitors of the resort city are looking forward to see them completed. There is a good progress now in the work aimed at improving and landscaping the Old Lake shore that has been neglected for a long time. It was cleaned, and the surrounding area is now being improved.
One of the city’s points of attraction will be created around the Old Lake thanks to constructing new recreational infrastructure facilities. Convenient walking and cycling paths have been laid around the lake, modular toilet facilities and benches have been installed, paving slabs are being laid, and children’s playgrounds are set to be built soon. It can be seen that the area around the lake will be very beautiful and comfortable. Next to the Old Lake, there is the Komsomolsky Park that will also be rearranged and landscaped, and the plans are to complete all the work this year. A wide walking path connected the lake to the park.
A number of large-scale projects are also under implementation now in Kislovodsk, such as the multifunctional center dubbed Russia with a concert hall for 1,600 seats that is expected to allow the city to host large cultural events at the regional, federal, and international levels. Over a quarter of the work has been already completed. The construction of the Kislovodsk Arena sports complex has been completed. All projects progress at a good pace, but we agreed to accelerate the pace of construction works. Social facilities are also under construction like schools, kindergartens, and hospitals. Construction of the new building of the Kislovodsk city hospital should be completed by July-August.
- What issues are on the current agenda of the Working Group?
- Everything related to constructing and landscaping requires constant attention, supervision and monitoring. The Working Group’s agenda includes the plans for the reconstruction of old facilities and construction of new ones in the resort city during the next 3 years and the assistance in the implementation of promising projects.
Talking about problems, we recently discussed one of the most sensitive ones with the representatives of the relevant departments, regional and local authorities, as well as the problems concerning the environmental pollution by road motor vehicles. Frankly speaking, we need the resort cities to have fresh air to ‘breathe’ so that we could tell people “You come here to really improve your health.”
To make the environmental situation better, the municipal authorities plan to update public transport, and grant additional powers to organize traffic in the resort cities. There are different options, including restricting the entry for non-residents’ cars through building several paid parking lots and intercepting ones, as well as developing electric vehicles and switching the public vehicles from gasoline and diesel to electricity and gas. Also, residents and visitors coming to Kislovodsk should be satisfied with the new roads and updated underground walkways - such a project is also in progress now.
- How do you assess the tourism potential of the Kavminvody region (several cities making a cluster of mineral springs in the Caucasus), and what are the prospects for its development?
- As for the resources that can help in improving health, and the use the healing properties of mineral waters and therapeutic muds, the Kavminvody region has no analogues in the world. Today, there are more than 650 health centers and hotels in the resort cities of the Kavminvody region that can simultaneously accommodate about 55 thousand people.
The tourism and recreational potential of the Kavminvody region, of course, is nowhere near exhausted. Infrastructure projects and additional investments are required for its development. I see great prospects in the implementation of the initiative of the Stavropol Territory authorities to create a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which is planned to be located in the cities of Kislovodsk, Zheleznovodsk, Essentuki, and Lermontov. Moreover, the Kislovodsk’ Sunny Valley area will be the largest of them covering over 600 hectares.
The area of the Special Economic Zone is set to provide investors with significant tax preferences. The team of the future SEZ is already actively working to attract investors - in total, as part of the creation of the SEZ, 17 memoranda of understanding were signed across 4 areas with total investments of more than 140 billion rubles. In fact, a new tourism cluster is expected to be created, the number of accommodation places for treatment in health centers and resorts, the health improvement and active rest will double.
