At public hearings in Bolshoye Goloustnoye, the planning project for the Baikal Gate tourist and recreational special economic zone was approved, with about 9 billion rubles planned for its implementation. On the 1,612 hectare site there will be a business center, spa resort, water park, hotels, a congress hotel, an entertainment complex, and an authentic Buryat village. Residents were especially interested in environmental issues and infrastructure development, including the road to Irkutsk, new social facilities, and village utilities.

The territory planning project for the special economic zone of tourist and recreational type “Baikal Gate” was approved at public hearings held in the settlement of Bolshoye Goloustnoye this week. It is planned to attract investments of about 9 billion rubles for the implementation of the Baikal Gate SEZ project.
The hearings were attended by representatives of the administration and the council of the Irkutsk District, the administration and the council of the Goloustnensky municipal formation, representatives of the territorial office of the federal agency for the management of SEZs in the Irkutsk Region, the branch of OJSC “Special Economic Zones” in the Irkutsk Region, managers and employees of the forestry sector, representatives of Irkutskgrazhdanproekt, the project designer, as well as local residents.
The special economic zone will be located in the area of the settlement of Bolshoye Goloustnoye on an area of 1.612 thousand hectares. The construction of a business center, a spa resort, an aqua park, hotels, and other recreational facilities is planned. A production and maintenance base will be built on the SEZ territory, where materials and equipment intended for the construction of facilities within the SEZ will be produced and stored.
According to the designers, the tourist zone is planned to include a congress hotel, an aqua park, hotels, cafes and restaurants, a horse-riding center, a large entertainment center, an authentic village where visitors will be able to learn about the traditions and way of life of the Buryat people (similar to the Taltsy ethnographic museum), and other facilities.
Residents of the settlement of Bolshoye Goloustnoye were interested in whether all environmental standards would be observed in the creation of the tourist zone, and what measures are planned to improve the settlement’s infrastructure — power supply, wastewater disposal, and social facilities. The authors of the Baikal Gate SEZ planning project said that waste disposal points would be created outside the tourist zone (8 km from it). To improve the infrastructure of the settlement and the special economic zone “Baikal Gate,” the construction of a road from Bolshoye Goloustnoye to Irkutsk is planned. A police station, a fire station, an outpatient clinic, and a school for 540 students will be built in the settlement.