Stores renovated in Kamenyuki, 2009

Events, facts, documents and evidence: The village of Kamenuyki, the administrative center of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha national park, which is currently home to 1,100 people, had six stores and a small restaurant. Only one of the stores, the smallest one, was privately owned. The rest of them - two grocery stores, a non-food store, a household goods store and a building materials store - are property of the national park. The stores were public property during the Soviet era and for some time after the Soviet Union broke up. In the mid-1990’s, when the national park began to step up its manufacturing, retail and wholesale businesses, these stores, just like many others that were located within the national park’s area, became property of the national park under an order issued by its management. In the late 1990’s through early 2000’s, the stores sold massive amounts of goods confiscated at the border. These have mostly bee replaced with regular consumer products.

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(Inside the store, September 18, 2009)

Below: a view of the general store that bears the number 1 in 2004. It is located close to the entrance to Kamenyuki.

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(August 21, 2004)

The shot below shows a grocery store (the number 2) and the restaurant, named Alesya, after a Belarusian female first name, located nearby in 2004. Both are in a different part of the village, not far from the river, on the way to the tourist center of the national park.

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(August 8, 2004)

The pictures below show the grocery store number 2 in summer (1), in winter (2) and at night (3) in 2004-2005.

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(1 - June 1-23, 2004; 2 - February 7, 2005; 3 - February 16, 2005)

This is the restaurant in summer (1 and 2) and in winter (3), 2004-2005.

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(1 and 2 - August 4, 2004; 3 - February 7, 2005)

The plan of preparations for the 600th anniversary of Belovezhskaya Pushcha’s protection in 2009 provided for an overhaul and upgrade of stores number 1 and 2, and the Alesya restaurant.

The building of store number 1 was renovated several years ago, and no work was done on the building itself this time. The porch was tiled and the adjacent ground, asphalted. The rain used to turn the area into puddles and mud, preventing normal passage.

The shots below show the newly tiled porch (1), the ground in front of the store graveled and prepared for asphalting (2), the current view of the store (left), a privately-owned store (center) and an uncompleted church (right) (3).

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(August 30, 2009)

Below: asphalting of the ground in front of the store.

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(September 5, 2009)

This is how store number 1 and the area in front of it looked after the work was completed.

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(September 6, 2009)

These are views of store number 2 during the overhaul, in spring and in early summer.

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(1 - March 1, 2009; 2 - March 21, 2009; 3 - May 3, 2009; 4 - June 25, 2009)

Here is a view of the store in mid-September.

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(September 16, 2009)

Around that time, painters started painting the facade.

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(September 19, 2009)

A canopy had been installed above the entrance to the store by that time.

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(September 19, 2009)

The look view of the store number 2 after the overhaul was complete.

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(September 27, 2009)
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(September 30, 2009)
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(November 16, 2009)

There were two other small retail outlets between store number 2 and the restaurant: a household goods store and a building materials store. In the August of 2009, the building materials store was pulled down (1 and 2) and replaced with a brick wall (3). The household goods store remained in place.

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(1 - August 6, 2009; 2 - August 10, 2009; 3 - September 13, 2009)

The ground in front of the store was covered with tiles.

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(1 and 2 - September 15, 2009; 3 - September 19, 2009)

The view of the household goods store after the overhaul was complete.

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(September 30, 2009)

These shots show the Alesya restaurant at the beginning of summer (1) and during the painting (2 and 3).

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(1 - June 25, 2009; 2 - September 18, 2009; 3 - September 19, 2009)

That's the view of the Alesya restaurant after the overhaul was complete.

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(1 - September 27, 2009; 2 - September 30, 2009; 3 - November 16, 2009)