Russian City Ever Watchful Against Being Sucked Into Earth

Jeremiah Cornelius writes "Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the most expensive apartment ever sold in New York City — the $88 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West — and did much for local real estate values. But in Berezniki, the mining city where he made his fortune, properties have literally been plunging. 'Imagine putting a sugar cube in a cup of tea,' Mikhail A. Permyakov, the chief land surveyor for Uralkali, the company that owns the mine. 'That is what happened under Berezniki.' Berezniki is afflicted by sinkholes, hundreds of feet deep, that can open at a moment's notice. So grave is the danger that the entire city is under 24-hour video surveillance. In 2008 a government commission cleared Mr. Rybolovlev of wrongdoing, blaming past unsafe practices for the sinkholes. A senior official close to Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin says that Mr. Rybolovlev bears some responsibility, even though he sold the mine after the occurrence of the first great openings."

Comments

money talks

[Anonymous Coward]

if one thinks the US has problems with wealthy, influential people, just look to Russia to see how bad it can get.

Re:money talks

[Dexter Herbivore]

if one thinks the world has problems with wealthy, influential people, just look everywhere to see how bad it can get.

FTFY

Re:money talks

[Anonymous Coward]

In my experience Unions are run by people who want to be Wealth influential people. They don't really care about the works they are supposed to represent.

Re:money talks

[MrKaos]

In my experience Unions are run by people who want to be Wealth influential people. They don't really care about the works they are supposed to represent.

Well your free to have your opinion Mr Murdoch.

Re:money talks

[RCourtney]

FTA: "The largest sinkhole appeared in 2007."

I thinks its even worse than you think since the only reason this tycoon is being made an example of NOW is that he probably forgot to pay his dues and/or respects to soon-to-be-president-again Putin. At least that has been the narrative in the past when some wealthy Russian falls from grace.

In Soviet Russia, the corrupt decorrupt you.

Re:money talks

[Nidi62]

In my experience Unions are run by people who want to be Wealth influential people. They don't really care about the works they are supposed to represent.

Well your free to have your opinion Mr Murdoch.

He's right though. If unions were about representing the worker, they wouldn't be so hard to leave or disband. Once they are created they care more about growing and consolidating their power and influence. I've seen firsthand the lengths unions will go to to try to stay in power. Harassing people at their homes, getting the NLRB to change rules to give them a better chance to get voted in, and complaining and charging interference when the company advertises to its employees when the vote is. Not who to vote for, just when it is. You cannot claim to represent the workers when you don't even want the workers to vote.

Re:money talks

[Nidi62]

The point is, it's the wealthy, influential people who are the problem.

No, the point is it's the sociopathic people who are the problem. It just so happens that many of the rich happen to be sociopathic, but they can be seen in all strata of a society. They care only about themselves, and will enrich themselves at the expense of others. But it is unfair to say it is the wealthy that are the problem. Look at Warren Buffet, who advocates for heavy taxes on the wealthy, or Bill and Melinda Gates, who donate much of their money to charity. There are plenty of wealthy people that, while they still try to further their wealth (which is what "pursuit of happiness" originally meant), still believe they have social responsibilities to those less fortunate than them, or to the government.

Berezniki Real Estate

[toygeek]

Everything but the kitchen sinking!

Centurion South Africa

[flyingfsck]

Sink holes are quite common in many places around the world. There are no mines under Centurion, yet a sink hole occurs multiple times per year in the dolomite areas.

Re:Momma jokes

[Professr3]

Don't quit your day job

If you have one

“We will fight the holes with science"

[Anonymous Coward]

“We will fight the holes with science,” the mayor, Sergei P. Dyakov, said in an interview.

Meanwhile in America, we hold prayer vigils for rain.

2012

[mutherhacker]

The year where an apartment in manhattan is sold for an amount that can feed a small country for a month.

Re:2012

[Anonymous Coward]

The potash mines employed many people for years before Mr Rybolovlev started skimming the profits off for his personal benefit (the mines opened in the 1930s as a Soviet work camp). Putting it another way, this stuff probably would have been mined whether or not Mr. Rybolovlev got involved, and it was mined for decades. He was just fortunate enough (*cough* corruption *cough*) to buy the mines for cheap when the government practically gave them away in the 1990s. This is a lucky opportunist, not a particularly skilled entrepreneur who cares about their employees. I'd be surprised if all the employees in his former potash business earn as much as he made from the deal (he sold it for billions). He's more concerned with whether he'll lose his $100 million yacht in his divorce.

Re:2012

[tomhath]

I understand your point, however two other points to keep in mind: 1) The money didn't disappear, it just changed pockets. 2) If you tried to spend that money to feed a small country that needed to be fed it, would almost certainly end up arming a warlord's henchmen. Don't worry about #1, solve #2 first.

Nothing to see here.

[nyan.kitty256]

Didn't anyone inform them that things tend to disappear in Russia? In this case, the entire city.

In the west

[swamp_ig]

In the west you sink money into mining investments, in russia money in mining investments sink YOU!

Grave

[TeknoHog]

So grave is the danger

I see what you did there.

We have the same problems in this country

[Grayhand]

Corporate profits always come first. Coal fires are a problem in some areas and at least one town had to be abandoned since the fires can last for decades and possibly centuries. Many towns had to be abandoned over industrial pollution and yet I constantly hear it's government regulations that cause the problems. How much of the planet do we sacrifice to greed? I'm not talking about halting progress this is about people cutting corners to make higher profits. Coal companies were supposed to have phased in safe guards to limit mercury and other heavy metals from being released but they ignored the regulations and now want them thrown out. A lot of cheap power depends on ignoring the problems it causes. In coal country areas near power plants have cancer rates through the roof. There's a price of pain and suffering. Often in the end the government ends up picking up the bill for health care and clean up. So long as corporations are protected and the people that run them are safe from being held accountable this will continue to happen. Change the rules and bankrupt the owners and corporate heads of the companies and see how fast it all changes.

Re:We have the same problems in this country

[rtb61]

Definitely looks like Russia has learnt the lesson of privatisation well. Privatise the profits and socialise the costs. How come when you buy an existing mine you get the profits but get to deny responsibilities for the mine, where exactly do they squeeze that nifty clause or is that just post contract corruption.

Re:We have the same problems in this country

[DrKnark]

There are a few places in Sweden where entire towns are in the process of being gradually moved due to the expansion of neighboring mines. The thing is, these towns were built _because_ of those mines in the first place, generations ago. The citizens don't mind, they actually support it, since they know their towns would become ghost towns without the mines.

That being said, from the sound of things this town should have undergone similar procedures a long time ago. But there is more than one side to this type of situation.

Re:We have the same problems in this country

[turkeyfeathers]

Corporate profits always come first. Coal fires are a problem in some areas and at least one town had to be abandoned since the fires can last for decades and possibly centuries.

Citation needed. The fire that eventually resulted in the abandonment of Centralia, PA, was started when a fire at the local garbage dump ignited a natural coal seam that lay near the surface. Evil mining companies had nothing to do with the fire. Don't blame job-creating business owners and corporations for natural disasters... blame your choice of either Mother Nature or God.

Re:We have the same problems in this country

[moortak]

Centralia is only the best known coal fire in the US. Some are not mine related, some like Laurel run PA are. Centralia is a mix. The fire was started at a landfill, but that landfill was located in an abandonded strip mine. The natural coal seam wouldn't have been near the surface had it not been for the mine.

Video surveillance

[Anonymous Coward]

"So grave is the danger that the entire city is under 24-hour video surveillance."
I guess London must be on its way down as well.

Re:Sinkholes

[datapharmer]

As a Floridian, I can tell you this is made worse by water bottling operations, mining, bad agricultural practices and pollution. While they do occur naturally doing things that erode the limestone (acidifying the soil) or lower the water table (the water helps holds it all up!) really makes it more prevalent. Last year there were many sinkholes that opened up on the same day - all within about a 10 mile radius of the water bottling plant. Sure, you could say that could be a coincidence, but it isn't. This can be observed time and time again.

Re:You know it's coming...

[MrKaos]

In Soviet Russia, hole buries you!

Shouldn't it be;

In Soviet Russia, hole sinks you!