Quote Originally Posted by Hanna View Post
Omg, I didn't think of that risk. I have not been to Crimea, but I've seen pictures and I have heard how beautiful it is. That would be terrible.

The citizens there should consider to put some conservation rules in place. And nature protection zones.

Or maybe they should institute a rule that only allows local citizens to OWN property on Crimea. Because otherwise the property prices might rise until regular people who are born there can't afford to buy a house there.

There is a very nice group of islands in the Baltic Sea that has a rule exactly like that, and it has stopped them from being exploited and priced out of their own market. It's autonomous and even though it belongs to Finland, they only speak Swedish there. They also decided no military bases are allowed there and they make money off tourism and gambling.
So, what do you want to say? The savage Russians will come and spoil the place? It's ridiculous.
Don't you think there are already lots of nature protection zones existing since czars' times and the times of the first years of Soviet Power? There is the magnificent and unique Nikita Botanical Garden founded in 1811 by Russian Emperor Alexander I and build up by self-sacrificing effort and labour of Swedish-Russian scientist Christian von Steven. You can't imagine how devoted and careful to their land Crimean people are. They are not cruel savages as someone in the West might think, they are highly civilized, intelligent, hospitable and joyous people despite all the difficulties of recent years, proud of the heroic history of their land.
As for the real estate property, your proposal doesn't really have much sense for a few reasons:
1. The local population is not very numerous, the resort places packed with tourists during summer season become almost lifeless in winter. So, I don't think, there is lack of accommodation for locals.
2. Nonresidents are chiefly targeted for near - sea accommodation, whether locals usually prefer districts more remote from the sea. You know, Black sea is not very quiet in winter times.
That's why the biggest part of construction activity in the region is set around building near-sea hotels for rent. You can buy such a hotel if you want, but what can you do with it but lent the rooms for tourists? So, what is the difference who the real owner of the hotels is provided they pay taxes in the region?
What for the concern that Russian oligarchs will build their private dachas in Crimea, I think they would prefer to have them somewhere in the Canaries.
Actually there are a lot of small private hotels in Crimea. Locals who have houses lent them for resort visitors, moving themselves to sheds. When they collect enough money they begin to reconstruct their houses, build a new wing or a storey, a garage, supply them with air condition, the satellite TV and the Internet.