Photo: https://travel-or-die.ru/
The eighth anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia is celebrated under the motto ‘Crimean spring – forever together!’ today. Festive events, concerts, and motor rallies will take place in Russia's regions, as well as in Crimea and Sevastopol.
Eight years ago, on March 18, 2014, Crimea and the city of Sevastopol reunited with Russia. In 2015, this day was officially declared a public holiday on the peninsula of Crimea and Sevastopol. According to the voting results, more than 95% of the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol voted for reunification with Russia in a referendum held on March 16, 2014. Both the peninsula and the hero-city of Sevastopol are now part of the Russian Federation.
Over these years, much work has been done to integrate the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol into the social, legal, financial and economic space of the Russian Federation. Many facilities important for these places have been put into operation. The Crimean bridge, which connected the peninsula with the Russian mainland, could well be called a symbol of the reunification of these lands.
The Tavrida highway was constructed, a new international airport in Simferopol was put in operation, and the Crimean Republican Clinical Hospital named after N.A. Semashko and many other social and cultural facilities were built.
During these years roads, thermal power plants, new residential houses, as well as social infrastructure occurred there. The fact that this region has only benefited from reunification with Russia is evidenced by economic growth figures.
Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksenov, cited by RIA Novosti, said that in 2014, the region's revenues were 25 billion rubles ($238.55 mln.) Last year, Crimea earned already 79.2 billion rubles ($755.72.) If the comparison with 2013, when the peninsula was Ukrainian, the budget of the republic did not even reach 10 billion rubles ($95.42.)
The economic growth is largely facilitated by the fact that there has been a free economic zone on the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol since 2015. It is the fact that there are tax benefits, as well as the rules of the customs procedure of a free customs zone, that attracts investors. If you take the data as of March of this year, for the past 8 years, investors have invested in the Crimea and Sevastopol 1.37 trillion rubles ($13.07 bln.)
The Crimean peninsula with its unique climate is very attractive to tourists. Every year, more and more Russians prefer to go on vacation in these places, where they can not only improve their health in resorts and comfortable hotels, as well as enjoy sea bathing, but also learn the rich history of the peninsula, visit the pearls of antiquity, as the Chersonese and the Khan's Palace in Bakhchisarai, examine Vorontsov, Livadia and Massandra palaces, ancient temples and monasteries, the famous Swallow's Nest. In Crimea they can admire waterfalls, visit caves, water parks, dolphinariums and much more. There are more attractions on the peninsula than in countries like Germany, France or England, and this is no exaggeration. According to media reports, there are more than 10,000 historical and natural monuments in Crimea.
Last year, 9.5 million tourists visited the peninsula. According to the Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of the Republic of Crimea, for the three quarters of last year's tourism revenues amounted to more than 36 billion rubles ($343.51.)
The Crimean Spring holiday is celebrated all over the country on March 18. Thematic exhibitions, concerts, and rallies are organized in the cities of Russia. It is planned to hold more than 20 festive events only in the Orenburg region. A rally-concert in the Z-style [Z stands for “for victory”] will be held in Novosibirsk. Residents of Crimea and Sevastopol will celebrate this important date until the evening, and then the sky will lighted up with festive fireworks.
A big show, which will be broadcasted by TV Channel One, will be held at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow today. Nikolay Rastorguev and the Lube band, Grigory Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, Nikolay Baskov, Polina Gagarina, Vladimir Mashkov and other artists from Russia, Ukraine and the Donetsk People's Republic will perform there.
March 18 has become a truly festive and meaningful day for the residents of our country. The story goes that the originally Russian city of Sevastopol and the Crimea have returned to their home harbor, and no one can argue with this fact. This is the historical truth.