The Ministry of Economic Development denies vote manipulation regarding the draft law on the logging of mountain forests.

The fight for ancient mountain forests continues. Briefly, for those not yet familiar with the problem: the Ministry of Economic Development (together with the Ministry of Natural Resources) is trying to push through a bill to legalize clear‑cutting of protective‑category forests across the country for the sake of building ski resorts. If the bill is adopted, they will be able to cut down forests in mountain wildlife refuges, sell the timber, and build resorts on the devastated sites.

We managed to achieve the cancellation of the first version of the bill, which they were hastily trying to pass back in the summer of 2024. After that, the officials duplicated the bill under another number and tried to pass it again, but we opposed it once more! Then, on the very last day of the “public discussions”, the number of people allegedly supporting clear‑cutting of mountain forests began to rise sharply: literally from a few votes to almost five thousand within a day.

This aroused serious suspicions of manipulation, so we submitted a statement to the Investigative Committee of Russia! In addition, the sudden appearance of “votes” was documented: our associates, independently of each other, took screenshots with time and date. Thus, society has unequivocally recorded the “anomalies” that cast doubt on the actions of the bill’s authors and, even more so, on any public discussion in the form of electronic voting.

So!

I received an official letter from the bill’s authors: officials from the Ministry of Economic Development tried to justify their actions! As I understand it, after the intervention of the Investigative Committee. In addition, they promptly closed the old duplicated bill. 

And as a pretext to write to me personally, they used a forwarded request from the Prosecutor General’s Office. The story is this: the Prosecutor General’s Office simply delegated our request to the Ministry of Economic Development itself so that they could “respond somehow”. Although I personally did not contact them. 

The letter is interesting; let’s analyze it in detail together. 

THE AGENCY WRITES:

“The Department for the Implementation of Projects in the Field of Tourism Activities of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia (hereinafter — the Department), in accordance with the letter of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation <...>, has considered, within its competence, your appeal regarding the possible commission of unlawful actions by officials of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia in the development of the draft federal law ‘On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation’ in terms of creating conditions for the construction of ski resorts (hereinafter — the bill) and reports the following.

At present, there is an increase in the number of tourists choosing to visit ski resorts for leisure purposes. Modern ski resorts do not limit their activities exclusively to sports or entertainment functions. In the summer season, many Russian ski resorts offer tourists hiking on equipped trails, cycling, and other activities that help spend time in harmony with nature. They are often venues for health camps, ecological schools, and other similar events. Some ski resorts also host all‑Russian and international sports competitions.”

I don’t understand something? They write to me “has considered, within its competence, your appeal regarding the possible commission of unlawful actions by officials of the Ministry of Economic Development”.

And in the next paragraph the topic suddenly shifts to the growth of tourism and the justification of the need to “urgently‑urgently” clear‑cut MOUNTAIN FORESTS OF PROTECTIVE DESIGNATION.

Let’s continue.

“Taking into account the existing public demand, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia has developed a bill aimed at legislatively regulating the creation of ski resorts on forest plots.”

Here they tell me that resorts will be built on forest plots because there is public demand. Probably the very “public demand” we saw in the form of almost five thousand votes that appeared within a day on the last day of the bill’s public discussion on the website?

I see the real public demand “on the ground” with my own eyes! And people unanimously say that destroying mountain forests for the sake of resorts is a crime against nature.

“In accordance with the Rules for the disclosure by federal executive authorities of information on the preparation of draft regulatory legal acts and the results of their public discussion, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 25 August 2012 No. 851, the bill with identification number 145734 was posted on the information and telecommunications network ‘Internet’ on the website www.regulation.gov.ru (hereinafter — the official website) from 15 to 29 February 2024 for the purpose of public discussion. 

Taking into account the public discussion of the bill, as well as its consideration by the State Legal Department of the President of the Russian Federation, the bill was revised and reposted on the official website for public discussion from 7 to 21 March 2025 under identification number 155253 in compliance with the legislatively established deadlines and procedural measures. Please note that bill No. 145734 has been officially closed.”

They are prevaricating. They officially closed the old bill literally just now, after the Investigative Committee began working on the issue! I believe that in this way they are now trying in the letter to absolve themselves of responsibility for possible manipulations in order to push through clear‑cutting of mountain forests by any means.

Now to the most interesting part.

“Regarding the influence on the voting process during the public discussion of bill No. 155253, we note that to participate in voting on the bill, the official website provides a procedure for registration or authorization via the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (Functions) (EPGU), which eliminates the risk of creating fake accounts in order to influence the voting results. 

Thus, during the public discussion, citizens at any stage could express their opinion in support of or against the bill once.”

They continue to prevaricate. They say that it is impossible to influence the voting process during the public discussion because… one needs to register through “Gosuslugi”.

I personally went to their platform and registered in a minute using an anonymous email. There is an option to authorize through “Gosuslugi”, but in reality registration is completed quickly and without problems through any email, after which you can participate in public discussions! Thus, the claim that this “eliminates the risk of creating fake accounts to influence the voting results” does not correspond to reality.

Anonymous email profiles, which can be created by the thousands, have no identity verification. 

“At the same time, we inform you that the bill has received a conclusion from the Ministry of Justice of Russia, according to which the bill complies with acts of higher legal force and does not contain corruption‑prone factors.”

The conclusion of the Ministry of Justice relates to legal formalities, not to environmental consequences or, even more so, possible technical manipulations with the bill. Even if the project is “in order” legally, from a scientific point of view its logic may be extremely flawed. The Ministry of Justice does not study climate and biology, so reference to its conclusion does not remove scientific and public objections. 

At the end the letter is signed: “Deputy Director of the Department for the Implementation of Projects in the Field of Tourism Activities V. V. Perepelitsyna”.

For those who did not understand, let’s put it very briefly:

The Investigative Committee, at our request, began to check the situation around the bill. The reaction followed instantly — officials officially closed the first version of the bill, which they had deliberately kept in limbo for a long time. Then they sent an official response on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development, and as a pretext to contact me personally, they used a delegated request from the Prosecutor General’s Office dating back to early April. 

In their letter, in essence, they stated only that manipulation of the bill is impossible (vote rigging) because registration through “Gosuslugi” is required. And at the same time, not a word about the instant anonymous registration via email. 

It is also worth noting that the Ministry of Economic Development is the author of the bill on clear‑cutting mountain forests and is designated as the operator of the legislative initiatives platform. 

You can study the official response from the agency yourself. I attach the original document!

File Letter from the agency 102 КБ

LET’S SUM UP

I understand that our fight for ancient mountain forests has reached the federal level. I perfectly understand that it is only through the efforts of society that we have already managed to stall the first version of the bill and, at the very least, delay the destruction of wildlife refuges for six months!

And now all these frantic, incomprehensible movements — chaotic, strange, and extremely impulsive — demonstrate a serious defect in the management system. These defects “come to the surface” thanks to us as well — ordinary people who sincerely love their Motherland.

Having received the letter from the Ministry of Economic Development, I was once again firmly convinced that we are doing everything right!

Let’s continue to fight for nature! She has no one but us. Everyone only dreams of tearing a piece from the living flesh of Mother Earth.

© PAVEL PASHKOV