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Head of Baikonur administration Aleksandr Mezentsev believes that making the city a tourist center will escalate the risk of terrorist attacks in it, Megapolis writes. "For example, a tourist may come and detonate an explosive and those 5 rubles that he brings to the city will not cover the damage. It is difficult to check everyone. Especially since modern explosives are very hard to discover: it may be water in one pocket and a droplet of some powder in another one. They mix them up and make a blast," Mezentsev said. He noted that Kazakhstan party was not developing infrastructure required for the tourism. "Infrastructure has to be developed for the city to be able to accept tourists. But Kazakhstan is not dealing with these issues. There is Hotel Kazakhstan in the city, so repair it, it's yours! But nobody wants to do it," he said. Russia has been renting Baikonur complex with the town of 70 thousand people since 1994. Russia performs the majority of its state and commercial space launches from Baikonur. Annual rent stands at $115 million. Another $50 million is transferred by Russia annually to maintain the infrastructure. Baikonur is rented out till 2050.
Head of Baikonur administration Aleksandr Mezentsev believes that making the city a tourist center will escalate the risk of terrorist attacks in it, Megapolis writes.
"For example, a tourist may come and detonate an explosive and those 5 rubles that he brings to the city will not cover the damage. It is difficult to check everyone. Especially since modern explosives are very hard to discover: it may be water in one pocket and a droplet of some powder in another one. They mix them up and make a blast," Mezentsev said.
He noted that Kazakhstan party was not developing infrastructure required for the tourism. "Infrastructure has to be developed for the city to be able to accept tourists. But Kazakhstan is not dealing with these issues. There is Hotel Kazakhstan in the city, so repair it, it's yours! But nobody wants to do it," he said.
Russia has been renting Baikonur complex with the town of 70 thousand people since 1994. Russia performs the majority of its state and commercial space launches from Baikonur. Annual rent stands at $115 million. Another $50 million is transferred by Russia annually to maintain the infrastructure. Baikonur is rented out till 2050.