Environmentalists alarmed by lack of information on condition of water and beaches in Anapa

The authorities’ assurances about success in cleaning the beaches of Anapa, as well as the decision to close the beaches in the city, are not supported by research data, environmentalists claim. The lack of unbiased information provokes mistrust, and the closure of the beaches threatens the survival of small tourism businesses, entrepreneurs emphasize.

Anapa began to install banners warning people about the ban on swimming. However, no official conclusions from the “Rospotrebnadzor” (Russian Federal Agency for Consumer Supervision) on the quality of the water have been made public. This fact is causing concern among local residents and entrepreneurs.

“According to Article 42 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every person has the right to reliable information about the state of the environment. And the Anapa authorities simply refuse to inform people whether the water is dangerous or not. We see banners about the ban on swimming, but there are no tests or justifications for this ban. This is a direct violation of the law,” the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was told by Olga, an owner of a guest house in the village of Sukko.

The paradoxical situation is developing against the backdrop of the statements by the local authorities about completing the cleaning of the beaches by May 13. Nevertheless, beach owners, being instructed by the local city administration, are already hanging up the banners reading: “Swimming is prohibited,” as follows from the document signed by the acting A. Belokonov, the head of the resorts and tourism department.

Small businesses consider authorities’ actions a threat

Entrepreneurs suggest that the actions of the authorities in Anapa may be connected with an attempt to push small businesses out of the first coastline.

“We are in direct competition with large hotels and children’s boarding houses that have swimming pools. We don’t have such resources as pools, and only the sea saves us,” the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was told by Yekaterina, an owner of a 10-room hotel.

The entrepreneur claims that she consciously participated in clearing the beaches of fuel oil as a volunteer, hoping to save the season, but now the banners prohibiting swimming call into question the entire upcoming resort period.

 “First they say that the cleaning is going according to the plan, later, they suddenly hang up posters stating that swimming is prohibited. Where is the specific data from the ‘Rospotrebnadzor’?” 

Elena, another entrepreneur, believes that the information chaos is being deliberately created. “First they say that the cleaning is going according to the plan, later, they suddenly hang up posters stating that swimming is prohibited. Where is the specific data from the ‘Rospotrebnadzor’?” the business owner asked.

Olga believes that the current situation is related to the adoption of the General Plan of Anapa in 2021, which many residents opposed. “Real estate prices have fallen since then. And now there is an environmental disaster. Someone is trying to artificially collapse the market in order to buy up houses by the coast for pence,” the entrepreneur believes.

“After the adoption of the General Plan of Anapa and the fuel oil disaster, housing prices by the seacoast have collapsed. People who earned money from tourism are now barely surviving,” confirmed Oleg Yantsen, the head of the “Anapa Grazhdanskaya” (Civil Anapa) movement.

Environmentalist Roman Pukalov, the director of environmental programmes for the “Green Patrol” public organization, believes that swimming is not dangerous on a number of beaches. “Regarding the pollution of sea water in the regions of Utrish, in the villages of Sukko and Supsekh and closer to the High Coast in Anapa in the Krasnodar Territory. I hope that it will be possible to swim here in the summer,” environmentalist Roman Pukalov wrote in his Telegram channel on April 20.

Environmentalists: statements about clean water on some beaches made too early

Environmentalists are cautious about the statements that in some places the water is clean and people may swim there.

“Even if the beaches seem clean, it doesn’t mean that everything is safe there. The problem is in the source of pollution itself: collapsed ships, from which fuel oil continues to leak out. In the warm season, the fuel oil spill will become more fluid, and it will be thrown onto the shore again,” environmentalist Valery Brinikh told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

“There is no fuel oil pollutions in Sukko and Utrish now. But no one can predict whether fuel oil will not be thrown out later by waves,” environmentalist Tatiana Tribrat believes.

Constant monitoring and honest information are needed. People should understand the risks and decide for themselves whether to go on vacation

“The authorities want to bring tourists back as soon as possible without solving the problem,” suggests the environmentalist, who preferred to remain anonymous. “Saying that everything is safe is a dangerous illusion. Constant monitoring and honest information are needed. People should understand the risks and decide for themselves whether to go on vacation,” the environmentalist told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

However, the authorities are broadcasting optimistic statements. Meanwhile, no results of laboratory tests of the sand have been provided yet.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 5, 2025 at 12:04 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.