Everyone is asking: are you worried?
In the coming days, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will sign an order extending Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin’s contract for another three years, three federal officials familiar with the document told Vedomosti. The order has already been approved by all relevant agencies and submitted to the government, one of the sources said. http://www.vedomosti.ru/companies/news/27785651/chetvertyj-srok-yakunina#ixzz34ruGQDKo
I’m simply used to it by now, so I’m not worried. All the officials — the heads of state corporations — whose corrupt schemes we exposed have remained in their posts and have even strengthened their positions.
This is Putin’s personnel strategy: a) everyone criticized by the “non-systemic opposition” must remain in place, b) the more corrupt an official is, the better, because a crook is always more loyal, c) a corrupt official who is unpopular with the public is better than one who is popular (Luzhkov, for example). He’s more loyal too. d) members of the “Ozero” cooperative (a dacha cooperative associated with Putin’s inner circle) and the mafia’s inner circle are untouchable; the laws of the Russian Federation do not apply to them.
There are probably some other rules too, but over many years we’ve seen just how ironclad these four are. So while fur vaults and children making money from hotels on station squares may disgust you, for Putin that’s exactly the right kind of thing.
So the only thing I worry about is that power in our shared homeland has been seized by thieves. But that’s more of a constant background worry — an important one, certainly, but each new piece of evidence no longer makes your heart skip a beat.
We’ll keep investigating Yakunin’s tricks — we have plenty of material. If you have anything interesting, send it here.
And, for the sake of looking back, so to speak, here’s a roundup:
Yakunin’s nephew profits from railcar leasing http://navalny.livejournal.com/766010.html Yakunin has a luxurious dacha with everything — even a special fur storage room http://navalny.livejournal.com/804492.html Yakunin illegally blocked off a river to shield his dacha from prying eyes http://navalny.livejournal.com/805401.html The Yakunin family owns an illegal offshore empire http://navalny.livejournal.com/823244.html The hotel branch of the Yakunins’ offshore business empire is criminal http://navalny.livejournal.com/860563.html The children and grandchildren of the hypocritical “patriot” Yakunin live in palaces in England and Switzerland http://navalny.livejournal.com/866661.html The tireless Yakunin keeps skimming trillions from state-funded projects http://navalny.livejournal.com/913738.html The Yakunins’ business has been challenged by the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation) before European anti-corruption authorities http://navalny.livejournal.com/916811.html The Yakunin family is illegally profiting from online ticket sales http://navalny.com/p/3564 “Russian Railways reform” improved neither the quality nor the speed of transportation http://navalny.com/p/3581
Something nice about Yakunin: he became a musketeer http://navalny.com/p/3615