The administration of the Noginsk district has canceled the order to purchase four Lexus LX 570s, which I wrote about yesterday.
http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?notificationId=5544500
Vladimir Nikolaevich Laptev will now be hauling around his medals in a car more appropriate for the head of a cash-strapped district.
Many thanks to everyone who took part in our action yesterday. You did great.
The official version of what happened is this: acting governor Vorobyov (who dreams of becoming governor) called Laptev and asked him to cancel the order, while also urging officials to be more modest.
This is, by the way, a perfect illustration of why there is so much trash, inefficiency, and outright looting in public procurement.
What exactly does an official stand to lose if he decides to skim off X million rubles or just buy himself a Lamborghini convertible?
Nothing. In the worst-case scenario, your superiors call you up and ask you to cancel the order.
No investigation. No resignation. No reprimand. Not even a party reprimand.
That same Vladimir Nikolaevich will go right on sitting in United Russia (the ruling pro-Kremlin party) and talking about how he and Putin care about the people, and how they have "turned Russia into a power that people have started respecting again".
So, back to the cancellation of the order. Why was it canceled?
Obviously, because they are afraid of our leaflet, and of information about this order spreading in general, and of this outrageous case being used in the fight against their Party of Crooks and Thieves.
And here we come back again to the question of the value of likes, reposts, and in general the mighty power of those 3 minutes each of us can spend spreading information.
I will never get tired of reminding you: only 21 million Russian citizens have "fast," broadband internet.
6]({{URL_7}})0% of citizens use the internet.
40% go online every day.
56 million people.
And rest assured, if you get a few simple facts across to those 56 million people, in any form:
a United Russia municipal district head is buying four Lexuses with our money, at five million rubles each
"United Russia" blocks an amendment banning officials from buying expensive cars
then* 99.99% of them, regardless of age, gender, or social status, will curse out that very same "United Russia."
Some out loud, others to themselves.
Of course, the Kremlin crooks have the zombie box (state TV propaganda), and for every one of our internet messages saying, "you bastards, you stole again," they will immediately put out ten news stories: "our* children were killed in America, President Putin ordered combat alert raised. The newly revived atomic combat air fleet once again sailed along the borders like beautiful white birds."
*They won't tell you that the Sukhoi Superjet doesn't fly worth a damn.
Nevertheless,
we don't have any other options anyway.
the persuasive effect of a leaflet in an elevator put up by your neighbor is a hundred times greater than television.
and the trust people place in information they get from people connected to them through social networks is incomparably greater than their trust in TV.
So 3 minutes of your personal time spent on campaigning, on DMP - that is the ultimate super-weapon of retribution.
We just are not using it at all yet.
You're too lazy. I'm not persuasive enough to make you stop being lazy, etc.
For example, I am absolutely convinced that not a single official in the country would buy an outrageously expensive foreign car with budget money if he knew that tomorrow twenty thousand people living in his region would plaster the walls of their apartment buildings with leaflets saying exactly what they think about it.
And what is twenty thousand? It's nothing, really, even for a region with a small population. Especially considering that we know buying expensive cars with public money infuriates absolutely everyone.
Is it hard to make leaflets and distribute them online? Half an hour of work.
Is it hard to inform politically active people in the region through social networks? Piece of cake.
In short.
I can only repeat the phrase all those Nashi activists (pro-Kremlin youth movement) love to throw at me.
Don't reflect, just spread it around. Let them fend for themselves.
If people had reflected, Laptev and his deputies would be driving around in five-million-ruble Lexuses.
Once again, thanks to everyone who helped with this.
And thanks to RosPil as well, which filed complaints and formalized our claims.