The Gorky Reservoir is a large artificial reservoir on Volga, located in part within Gorodetsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Region. It was created by the construction of the Gorky Hydroelectric Station; locally it is often called the "Gorky Sea." For decades, the reservoir's shores have been developed for recreational and dacha purposes.
Land Conflicts on the Shores
A years-long court dispute over the Zelyony Dol cottage settlement, located on the shore of the Gorky Reservoir on land belonging to the Gorodets Forestry District, became particularly well known in Nizhny Novgorod Region. Land plots of 4.2 hectares and 2.5 hectares were leased in 2008 to the firm AKA and V. Oborina; the lease rights later passed to the Zelyony Dol Recreation and Sports Complex Association, which managed the settlement. Eighteen permanent structures were built on the leased forest fund land, which contravenes current legislation. Litigation over the legality of the buildings dragged on from 2019.
In 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, on appeal, upheld the decision to demolish all 18 permanent structures of the settlement. The suit for demolition was brought by an environmental prosecutor; experts from the Volga Regional Center for Forensic Examination confirmed the permanent nature of the buildings. The Zelyony Dol Association's counterclaim was rejected.