Fines haven’t threatened them. In Uzhgorod many dirty yards and leased land patches are still not cleaned

These days Uzhgorod is not only sunk in cherry blossoms but in garbage too. This is despite the declared national month of improvement and the recent statement by the Deputy Mayor of Uzhgorod Yuri Belyakov that soon the directors of Uzhgorod housing repair and maintenance areas (HRMA) and Municipal Road Operation Company (MROC) management will be fined for garbage on their territories.

In particular, Mr. Belyakov said: "We work together with the utilities service of the city, keep on monitoring the situation with cleaning. All managers of utilities services have been warned. If the areas continue being dirty, the HRMA directors and MROC management will be fined from 850 to 1,700 hryvnia,"- he promised at the beginning of April.

However, the month has ended but there are no positive changes. Around the grounds with trash bins chaotic piles of garbage are still growing. Subsequently, the piles are carried around by dogs and wind, so that surrounding "landscapes" are sometimes just striking.

This is especially noticeable in the "frozen" private areas and the areas which are on a long-term lease. Usually such places in Uzhgorod look like wasteland and their owners are not in a hurry to make them attractive. Commenting on this issue, Deputy Mayor Yuri Belyakov assured: "We are actively looking for such owners. In particular, those holding the area on Gulak-Artemovsky street. We will oblige them to clean these areas, as well as fines will be imposed. And I think their size will be significantly bigger than for HRMA"- he stressed. The official also did not exclude the possibility of more stringent measures. "We will decide: if the owners do not use the leased areas purposefully and do not care for them, we will raise the issue of returning these areas to the city property."

However, as it is seen from the photos, none of the problematic areas (neither the aforementioned Gulak Artemovsky street nor the New District (Novy Rayon) or Cyril and Methodius square) have been brought to order yet. Rubbish continues being spread everywhere, lying along the paths, as well as "artfully" adorning the nearby trees. Undoubtedly, such a sight doesn’t contribute to raising ecological awareness among the citizens. As a consequence, the local residents do not shun the possibility of "not making it" to a garbage container.
How to solve this problem, obviously, Uzhgorod government does not know yet.