Georgii Kalatozishvili Tbilisi , specially for VK
The "Project of the Century" has recently been announced by the chairman of the Sakrebulo (the city council) of Tbilisi, Irakli Shihiashvili: all so-called "khrushchevki" houses, both five-storey and eight-storey, will be replaced by modern apartment buildings. Despite the scale, there would be nothing special in this statement, were Georgia not approaching municipal elections. If one takes this into account, the "Project of the Century" becomes undistinguishable from many plans proposed by former President Mikheil Saakashvili at the time of the election campaign.
Recall that in those years, the government almost daily presented large-scale initiatives - from the construction of "Sun City", where half of the rural population would be resettled in the framework of "rapid urbanization", to free dentures for pensioners so that “everyone has a Hollywood smile." Indeed, once you look at Shihiashvili’s proposal from a practical point of view, many questions will appear.
Thus, according to official data of Tbilisi City Council, the capital has about 800 five-storey buildings, built in the 60's just for the purpose of settlement and urbanization of the residents of communal apartments. There are many more eight-storey buildings - a few thousand. In fact, Tbilisi City Council started talking about settling tens of thousands of people in the city, without specifying the time when the project will be completed or where the former residents of “khrushchevki” will live until this time.
According to Irakli Shihiashvili, construction of modern buildings will be carried out by the Arab Trade and Investment Holding Company, whose head, Salem Humeid Al Shams, notably refused to comment to the speaker, thereby giving the whole project a somewhat comedic character. It is obvious that the main condition for such projects is an elaborate PR-campaign and constant work with the public, otherwise people would believe neither the government nor the entrepreneurs, and no one would agree to the destruction of their property on the promise of building a new house with comfortable apartments in an uncertain future.
The authors of the project argue that, in anticipation of new apartments, Tbilisi citizens will live in rented apartments, with the rents paid from the city budget. However, if a new financial or political crisis occurs in the country or in the world and the budget cannot cover the rent, where will the "victims" of Sakrebulo’s good intentions go? Clearly, the people who are already scared of a construction industry collapse and bankruptcy of most real estate companies will not believe these promises and no one will agree to leave their old apartment, move to rented housing and wait for construction of a new dwelling.
Then what is the fuss about? The answer is obvious: the municipal elections are approaching, and the experience of many years of Saakashvili's rule and his team teaches the new rulers that major projects “sell” well in the pre-election period. This is the way mass psychology works: the main thing for the authorities is to demonstrate their activity, and, notably, to those who do not live in “khrushchevki,” but only observe the situation "from outside."
