Residents of Dagestan capital prepare mass protest actions

Despite the promises given to residents of the microdistrict located in Shamil Avenue in Makhachkala who yesterday blocked the main transport route of the capital in protest against cutting off electricity supply, their houses are still without electricity.

Tens of thousands residents of Makhachkala continue to remain without electric power as a result of forced cutting-off introduced by the Open Joint-Stock Company "Dagestan Energy Supply Company."

"After we blocked the road, late at night electricity was fed to our house in the 'checkerboard order,' that is, in several apartments only," a woman-resident of house No. 57 in Shamil Avenue explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "From today's morning, there is no electricity again. Besides, there is no water, as we have an electric pump for water supply."

"We shall not restrict ourselves with blocking the road, now the house organizing committee and residents develop new protest actions, to which residents of other houses are ready to join," the woman told the correspondent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has already informed that on October 17 the OJSC "Dagestan Energy Supply Company" announced that it would introduce restrictions of electricity supply in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan because of huge sums of debts on payments for consumed electric power of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise (MUE) "Makhachkala City Electric Networks."

Said Amirov, Mayor of Makhachkala, said, when making comments to the Dagestan mass media on the undertaken switching-off of electricity: "The power suppliers have created a deliberate problem aiming to alienate the city networks into the property of the 'South Network Company.' They want to buy them for 300 million, while the cost is minimum 3 billion. We'll pay out the debts in due course of time. The present problem is deliberate, created with the aim to take away the networks."