It will clearly be a lot livelier than Usmanov's.
The first video could be called: "Navalny, because of you Sechin and I are eating with our hands".
The second: "Buy a napkin holder for 32,000 rubles (about $350), it's not a high price — we're tired of wiping ourselves with our sleeves".
Read it — it's pure delight. This isn't just Rosneft's drunk press spokesman; this is a top manager at a state-owned company, with a huge salary and huge responsibility.
Two interviews. The first came after I wrote about the purchase of teaspoons at 14,000 rubles apiece (about $150 each).
The second came after, under pressure from the public and the media, Rosneft was forced to cancel the purchase.
In the Beautiful Russia of the Future, Mikhail Leontyev will not be drawing a huge salary from the state budget. He will be getting treatment for alcoholism and delirium tremens.
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M. Leontyev— I sincerely confess to everything. I will lay down my arms before Alexei Navalny. The first thing that amazes me is that Alexei Navalny seems utterly astonished by the fact that people use napkins and cutlery, and also use civilized means to attend to their natural needs. When people are flying almost constantly, sometimes for more than half a day without landing, and when they periodically do not even have the opportunity to spend the night in a hotel because the schedule is such that they have to sleep on the plane, that requires a certain degree of comfort — and not only for the executive, but simply for the employees who fly with him, because this is a work tool, these are negotiations... it is simply a workplace. And this plane is used — aviation equipment in general is used — as the only possible working tool for carrying out that schedule of meetings and trips, including work trips across our country, which is not exactly small either. And you know where our areas of activity, extraction, and production operations are. The schedule is generally known. Sechin has spoken about it publicly as well, including how many flight hours he has. And Mr. Navalny, evidently, is used to wiping himself with his sleeve, defecating in the corner, and eating off the floor. Well, that is apparently how his greatness as an ascetic and anti-corruption fighter expresses itself. Evidently, he did the same thing in his hotel room in Barcelona: he threw the dishes out the window because they were too expensive for him, and the napkins too. And he relieved himself in the room as well. It is simply astonishing. A man who presents himself as an anti-corruption fighter. Fine, let us suppose he is a political player, an opposition figure, and so on. But in this case he simply comes across as an idiot, an ordinary everyday idiot. Yes, by the way, let me point out that the purchase was not carried out. This is a procurement notice. So if Mr. Navalny has dishes and cutlery, acquired through backbreaking labor, of comparable quality but cheaper... Because, I repeat, this equipment is used for negotiations and for trips. We transport our guests, who are often our partners and investors as well. And in respectable companies, items of this kind have a certain representational character. The Kremlin does not receive foreign guests on disposable plates, nor domestic ones either. I think that is normal. I think only Navalny could be dumbfounded by this curious custom of eating from proper tableware and using proper utensils. It is part of the image, including for outsiders. If he can find something cheaper, perhaps we will buy it from him. Does this idiot really think that someone here is making a profit off spoons and plates? Is he out of his mind? Well then. Guys, pay attention to this character's mental and intellectual condition and stop going with him to gatherings that at least, from the standpoint of normal human logic, have some intelligible grounds: fighting corruption is certainly not unnecessary. But there is no need to follow an idiot. If he is sick, what can you do? Well, let him keep wiping himself with his sleeve. O. Khristoforova— Tell me, please, does Igor Sechin intend to follow Mr. Usmanov's example and, say, make a video address to Navalny? M. Leontyev— A video address to an idiot over this episode? That is a rather strange idea. If we made a video address for every idiot, we would simply have to stop our production activities.
Alena Vershinina— We were told that you were ready to comment on Rosneft's decision to отказаться from purchasing super-expensive spoons, blankets, and so on. spoons Mikhail Leontyev— They were not super-expensive. This is routine practice. In our procurement process, there are procedures for negotiating a lower price. I believe that is stated there. But the desired result was not achieved, and the purchase was canceled. This is absolutely routine practice. As I said when I commented on this epoch-making event, this sensational investigation, I said that there was in fact no purchase as such. And Alexei Navalny himself is perfectly free to take advantage of the opportunity: if he has some tableware tucked away that meets the stated requirements but is significantly cheaper, then he has a very good chance of selling that tableware. Alena Vershinina— Mikhail, forgive me, but it still looks a little... We are not very fond of conspiracy theories, of course, but nevertheless the impression is that Rosneft decided to save face. M. Leontyev— What conspiracy theories?! For conspiracy theories, go to your friend Major Lyosha (a diminutive of Alexei). Let him explain it, let him put his conspiratorial brain to work. He officially denied that he eats with his hands, but he did not deny that he defecates in the corner and wipes himself with his sleeve. Which indirectly suggests that he most likely does have forks and spoons in stock for sale to Rosneft, but as for napkins and toiletries, we cannot count on him. Well, what can you do?..
A. Vershinina— Mikhail, how often does it happen at Rosneft that tenders ultimately are not approved? M. Leontyev— Very often. For example, we have a great many tender procedures related to the advertising department and so on. Very often. They are not approved for various reasons. Sometimes because the tender conditions have not been met. There are a huge number of formal requirements they have to comply with... The very fact that this thing was posted is connected with, how shall I put it... corporate... how to say this mildly... this is corporate bureaucracy: a colossal number of formal requirements, criteria, and so on, according to which various actions are taken that, from a logical and everyday point of view, are actually rather meaningless. Though there are meaningful requirements too. And on top of that, we also have a negotiation procedure aimed at lowering the price. Roughly speaking, squeezing the seller. And that is normal, absolutely routine practice. A. Vershinina— So this time you were unable to squeeze the seller? M. Leontyev— You see, you are talking about the purchase of spoons... But when it comes to buying sand, or pipes, or things that are actually purchased for enormous sums... If Major Lyosha (a diminutive of Alexei) were engaged not in cheap two-bit populism, going on about... A. Vershinina— Mikhail, let us call things by their proper names. This is still not a cheap spoon — 15,000 rubles (about $160). Many people earn that much. M. Leontyev— Well yes, a silver spoon can cost 15,000. Yes, people earn that much. Let us look at how much people earn. And how much, for example, a state award costs — and how much people earn. Let us get into all this... Some Demyan Bedny (a Soviet satirical poet), really... This is simply... Well, I understand that this is just a way of engaging in, roughly speaking, social provocation. But if he were really concerned with corruption, rather than whipping up passions among people who really are poor... poor not through any fault of ours, excuse me. Because of us they are far less poor than they might otherwise be, thanks to the results of Rosneft's work. And if he were fighting corruption, he would be dealing with genuinely serious and corruption-toxic procurements. But that does not interest him, either because he is a major, or because he is a buffoon, or because he is a fool — I do not know. A. Vershinina— Mikhail, let us not make this personal... M. Leontyev— Why can I not make it personal, excuse me? Why on earth can I not? Did I swear somewhere not to make it personal? Did I give someone a commitment not to make it personal? Am I violating some ethical norm by making it personal? I think it has long been time for this person to... A. Vershinina— Please tell us what Rosneft found unsatisfactory in this procurement. What was the reason that... M. Leontyev— It says there... I do not know what was unsatisfactory; I am not a participant in spoon procurement procedures, I swear to you. I have no idea. And, by the way, I would not even bother to ask. It is not my job. But it says there that, because the negotiations did not satisfy us, as I understand it... I do not know... there is wording there about negotiations to lower the price with the seller, who most likely turned out to be the only one, because the others may not have met the stated requirements. These are very routine and very technical procedures carried out by people whose main task is to comply with those procedures so that, God forbid... Because procurement, including precisely because it is completely transparent, is a procedure that is, generally speaking, significant for people in terms of risk. Nobody wants to take risks. So some of the stated conditions were not met. Besides, in reality we are always trying to lower the price. I know how we squeeze, for example, our service providers — squeeze them hard. I will not name names; that would be improper. A. Vershinina— Thank you very much for the explanation.