Russia has announced plans to build what it calls a “large tourism area” complete with hotels, water, sewage, gas and communications systems on its side of the border on the Curonian Spit, close to Nida. The estimated cost of the project in Russia’s Kaliningrad oblast is said to be over EUR 200 million. Lithuanian and Russian environmental protection agencies are, naturally, worried about such plans. The unique natural landscape on the Lithuanian side of the spit is UNESCO-protected and development there is restricted. According to them, the project may also pose a threat to shipping in the Port of Klaipeda.