The results of yesterday’s poll on sanctions are, in places, quite unexpected. It’s clear, for example, that most respondents believe individual sanctions (visa bans and the freezing of foreign assets) should strike first and foremost at the very heart of the Kremlin mafia: the Rotenbergs, the Kovalchuks, and Timchenko.
But where does this affection and sympathy for oligarchs and the heads of state corporations come from? I was sure they would outrank government ministers and the businessmen’s kids. I’ll have to think about that. What’s especially curious is that Vekselberg turned out to be the most hated oligarch.
Even beating out the ghoul Usmanov, one of the chief enforcers of censorship. I don’t like Vekselberg myself either, but his leading this rogues’ ranking is something new. It’s also interesting that, out of everyone in the government and the presidential administration, the person citizens most want to smack over the head with visa sanctions is Pavel Astakhov, who has nothing at all to do with Ukraine or Crimea. On the other hand, we want sanctions not because of Ukraine, but because of fraud, hypocrisy, and money laundering. As I promised, I’ve laid out my position on sanctions in some detail. I wrote a column on the subject for The New York Times, figuring that in Russia any restrictions against officials would be supported anyway, so it made sense to write for the audience of global elites. Take a look. It even names names, for example: Such sanctions should primarily target Mr. Putin’s inner circle, the Kremlin mafia who pillage the nation’s wealth, including Gennady N. Timchenko, head of the Volga Group; Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, influential businessmen and former judo sparring partners of Mr. Putin; Yuri V. Kovalchuk, a financier believed to be Mr. Putin’s banker; Vladimir I. Yakunin, president of Russian Railways; the oligarchs Roman A. Abramovich and Alisher B. Usmanov; and Igor I. Sechin and Aleksei B. Miller, the heads of Rosneft and Gazprom, respectively. For those who have trouble with the language of the presumed adversary, here are the main points: the sanctions imposed so far look ridiculous and do not affect any truly serious figures. If anything, they look more like encouragement. as a citizen of the Russian Federation and a patriot, I oppose sanctions that would worsen ordinary people’s lives. everyone in Russia would welcome individual sanctions against corrupt officials of all kinds. I propose two things: a) sanctions against the core mafia (Timchenko, the Rotenbergs, etc.), and sanctions against the “party of war” (TV propagandists, deputies, and other riffraff). b) finally launching corruption and money-laundering investigations that can be pursued in foreign jurisdictions. As an example, all ACF’s (Anti-Corruption Foundation’s) complaints to foreign regulators have been left “sitting in a drawer” for obvious political reasons. That’s it. Let me repeat: everyone in Russia would support sanctions like these, both those who are for Putin and those who are against him. Such sanctions would amount to the actual enforcement of Russian laws, which provide for criminal punishment for corruption (something that does not work now, because the “authorities” and the “corrupt officials” are one and the same). So, read it: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/opinion/how-to-punish-putin.html?_r=0 And please don’t forget to help me by promoting this link and the link to http://navalny.us/, where those whose access to my LiveJournal blog has been blocked can quickly find mirror sites. Thank you. While Alexei Navalny is under house arrest, his blog is being run by Yulia Navalnaya and ACF staff.