Autumn Tour. Rally in Kursk

Thank you very much for coming today.

The weather is really not great, but you

are awesome for being here. We’re very glad

to see all of you.

We’re starting our rally. And first, I’d like

to invite onto the stage an activist from

Navalny’s campaign headquarters, Dmitry Khobotovsky.

I clapped, but I’ve got an umbrella.

Hi, everyone.

Hi.

Great to see you.

At

I know many of you.

Ah, but as Bilbo Baggins said, a good

half of you are worthy. No, a good

half of you ought to be known better

today this film.

Well, I’m very glad too; I was very pleasantly

surprised to see that so many people in

the city of Kursk are ready to come

and support one another. Thank you

so much.

And you all know how our deceitful

city administration tried to obstruct us,

didn’t want Alexei

Navalny to come to our city.

And for two months straight, we kept filing

notifications, and then we

were practically living in the courts. And all of this

was aimed at one thing: to

stop us. Us.

We were told that they didn’t want to give us

a convenient venue in the city center,

they wanted to send us as far away from

the center as possible, and all of that was aimed

solely at disrupting our

event. But we won, we

proved that we deserve to gather

here. And now here we all are together.

Thank you all for coming.

Thank you. We are gathered here as people with

completely different political

views, but we are all united by one thing.

We all clearly understand

that we can no longer trust this government.

We want to live in a better country. We want

a better future for Russia. And that is why

every day we gather at the campaign headquarters

for exactly that reason: to make, at the very

least, we are trying to make life in our

city—and life in our country—better.

And only one candidate,

only one candidate is capable of helping us

with that today. This is a candidate who

is not afraid to tell the truth. This is a candidate

who is ready to act—and

to act in our interests.

That’s why I’m here today for this candidate.

And you should join

our headquarters too, which is located on

Rodishcheva Street, 40. Be sure to come by.

Together we will win.

We will win.

Thank you.

Let me give another plug for the headquarters:

40 Rodishcheva. Please come by if

you have any questions. Behind my

back right now are volunteers from our

campaign. You can meet all of them at the headquarters.

And now we move on to the most important

part of the rally. And I invite onto the stage

the candidate for president of Russia, Alexei

Navalny. Lyokha.

Hello, Kursk.

Hi, guys. Risky situation. I

read that all your schools

organized special

discos today. Right.

So that no one would come here.

Who has run into things like this, when

they tried to intimidate you, said you couldn’t go,

that you’d be expelled? Raise your hands if you’ve

dealt with that.

Raise your hand.

Interesting,

but why is your government,

your governor Mikhaylov—how many votes did he

get in the last election?

Nobody chose him, but he got some number

anyway. But if they’re so powerful,

United Russia, Putin, huge percentages—then

why are they afraid of our rallies?

What was it he said about the rallies on March 26

and July 12?

The fifth column has gathered.

The fifth column is holding rallies. And this

rally, probably for him, for them, for

all of this government, is a rally of the fifth

column.

And that raises a question: Mikhaylov has been

in power here for how many years?

Twenty—eighteen years, since 2000. Right, just like

Putin.

How exactly is the fifth column stopping him? How have we

gotten in his way so much?

I came in through the metal detectors, and there are puddles

up to your knees and mud everywhere.

So why couldn’t he fix that in 20 years?

Are we the ones stopping him?

Twenty years.

Tell me, please.

Yes, and roads. What about the roads in

the city of Kursk? Are they normal, great,

good roads? Even in the official

United Russia ranking of road quality,

Kursk Region is in seventy-

eighth place, which basically means there are no

roads in Kursk Region. Are we the ones

stopping him from fixing that?

No.

Vodka.

So this government

drinks vodka

has been sitting there for 18 years, and in those 18 years it has already proven

through its actions alone that it can do

absolutely nothing. It is a gathering

of idlers and crooks. Not only are

they crooks and thieves, in the literal sense,

they're also incompetent, and

This government needs to be changed. Do you agree

with me?

How much longer can we put up with the fact that in a

huge, very rich country, we are still

seriously, in the 21st century, in 2018,

constantly discussing roads, puddles, and

mud. In countries all over the world, even in Africa, these

problems have largely been solved. And only we

at every single election have a governor come here

and say: "I'll solve

your road problems, buddy."

And what were you doing for 18 years?

I'll come and solve pensioners' problems. And for 18

years, what were you doing?

Stealing, obviously,

because here in Kursk Region,

in Kursk Region it's very easy to answer

that question.

Boo!

As I understand it, that's a little group of United Russia members

of four people. They're shouting at me: "Boo!"

Great,

guys, I invite you onto the stage. Maybe

Mikhailov is with you? Come on, get up

here, old man Mikhailov. Do you want a debate with

United Russia members?

If you're not afraid, I invite any of you onto the stage

any one of you. And while you're deciding

whether you're afraid or not, I want to

tell you what a candidate will do

who isn't afraid, who

came here to Kursk Region in order

to speak with you, unlike

all the other candidates. First, let me

ask you this. Has

Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov come here to see you?

No.

Grigory Alexeyevich Yavlinsky.

No.

Sergey Mikhailovich Mironov?

No.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

No.

Ksenia Anatolyevna Sobchak.

Amazing, isn't it? Supposedly

there's an election campaign going on

right now, but nobody is doing anything. So

I am doing something, and that's why they ban

everything for us. Because, guys, our

campaign is simple. We talk about

basic things that we can

achieve, that we can solve.

Here, in Kursk Region, it's very easy

to answer one question. Which one?

Roads. Not roads,

jobs, money. Where is the money? Where did they

steal our money to? You have here

that splendid estate in Mansurovo, right?

Built with money stolen

by Medvedev.

Who here has seen the film He Is Not Dimon to You?

Then you've probably seen that

remarkable footage where the drone flies over and

shows the devastated region. It

looks as if our planes

made a mistake and, instead of bombing ISIS,

bombed everything around it. And then suddenly there is

this magnificence,

palaces. And you and I understand that this is

stolen money, right?

And the whole country understands that it's stolen

money. And the FSB guys guarding it

know it's stolen money. But

the authorities stay silent,

The Duma stays silent, the prosecutor's office doesn't just

stay silent—it helps them. The Investigative

Committee doesn't just stay silent either—it helps them.

So our campaign is about

saying: "Enough, it's impossible to

put up with this any longer." Right? How much longer can we tolerate

these thieves and this corruption? Everyone can

plainly see that they have looted the entire

country. It can't just be a coincidence

that all of Putin's classmates became

billionaires, all his former colleagues became

billionaires, his dacha neighbors became

billionaires. Is that accidental? No,

a coincidence?

I don't think so.

I don't think that's a coincidence. That's why,

guys,

I'm running in this election to fight

corruption. And when I talk about corruption,

I'm not speaking vaguely, like, well, I won't

name names so as not to

offend anyone or so they won't sue

me—but I'm perfectly clear. Let them sue

me—they sue me all the time. I

say honestly that all these people,

whose names I mention, I will put in prison. Do you

want that or not?

Do we want to do this or not?

Then we will put them in the dock

and try them properly. They must be tried

by an honest court. Right?

They've pushed the whole country to the limit. And these

people living in poverty look at

the constantly growing number of

billionaires in Russia. You've probably seen

articles with statistics saying that, yes,

real household incomes are falling

for the fifth year in a row, but the wealth of Russian

billionaires has grown by 20%. Russian

year. They're not Russian. Thank you very much.

That's right. They're not Russian. Because

all they do is siphon

money out of here and take it to their yachts. And this

is protected by the authorities. And it is organized by the authorities

here, in Kursk Region. It's especially important

to say this because you are not just

somewhere in central

Russia in a poor region—you are sitting

on money here, right?

One of the richest resource

regions. That's right.

My favorite, Alisher Usmanov, who, as

you may know, once replied to me: "Pah, to hell with you,

Alexei." And then: "Shame on you once

again."

But he makes money off your

Mikhailovsky GOK (a mining and processing plant), among other things.

Right?

Well, you have to admit, it’s a bit

of an abnormal situation when, in the region

where he pulls all this out of the ground and sells it

abroad, there is poverty and roads like these, while he

buys himself the most expensive yacht in the world.

Is that normal?

No, of course not.

And I want to be the candidate who,

for God’s sake, for the first time in the last 20 years

of election campaigns, will actually say this

out loud. Everyone keeps quiet about it. Not a single

official candidate ever talks about

it. Sure, everyone whispers about it behind the scenes,

but I want to be the candidate

who comes here, stands right on stage

and, excuse me,

shouts himself hoarse about it. I’ll say it on

television, I’ll say it at the debates,

because I believe people want

to talk about this. Right? Yes.

Yes.

How is it that there is such

staggering equality? How does it

happen that they are so rich, that they are

richer than comparable capitalists abroad

who are in the same

business? Why?

Why are they like that? For two reasons.

First, they don’t pay taxes.

Second, they underpay wages.

That’s it. What’s the average salary here

for you? Let’s not even take the whole Kursk

Region—just the city of Kursk.

Okay, I’m hearing 10, I’m hearing 15. 23.

10.

And over there are the United Russia people whistling.

What’s the average salary?

Ten—the United Russia people are saying ten. What’s the

average salary?

Ugh.

Ugh. Well, I agree that this is the right

assessment of your salary: ugh. Absolutely.

Ten and fifteen are definitely ugh.

What is the salary? So tell me,

does anybody know?

No. 15.

25.

The average salary. All right then. Let me

quote Governor Mikhailov then and

say that, well, this really is a

fifth-column rally, because, well,

obviously, the State Department hired all of you. You’ve

all gathered here for American money.

You’re not afraid of the rain because

you’ve been paid, right?

Because you’re here,

well, all slandering the flourishing

Kursk Region, because—go to

your governor’s website, to the region’s

website, and it says there that the average

salary in the city of Kursk is 27,000 rubles.

I can’t repeat what you just

said from over on this side. Let’s just say

he’s lying,

you see, folks, and it’s like this in every region,

in every city. And what is

26,000 or 27,000 rubles? It’s a poverty

wage. And even about a poverty wage

we all understand that it’s a lie.

It’s a lie. A complete, absolute lie,

and everyone knows it. Putin knows it,

Medvedev knows it, the governor knows it. You know

that all of this is false.

And you see, they lie and prettify

reality. They say: "Sure, everyone

gets 15, of course, but let’s

lie

and say they get 27." And in that alone

is reflected

Russia’s catastrophe. We have to lie about

a salary of 27, because it is still

a poverty wage. I always use

Estonia as an example. You know it? Yes.

And have you heard about the Estonian magnetic

anomaly?

No. Estonian oil, Estonian gas.

Have you ever heard anything about Estonia’s natural resources?

And the average salary there

is 75,000 rubles when converted.

Do you understand? 75,000 rubles in a country where

there are no natural resources at all.

We’re sitting on them. We like to say that

Russia is the richest country. That’s simply

true.

Russia is the richest country, but here we are

lying about having salaries of

27,000 rubles. Is that normal?

No,

is that really what we deserve?

We built our Russian civilization,

our Russian one, call it what you like. Look, basically,

we’re pretty impressive,

right? The women here are saying, "We’re

pretty impressive." Did we launch rockets into

space?

No.

Well, hello there. Really now.

In the Soviet Union. Yes,

well, fair correction, but still. In the

all right, in the Soviet Union. Yes. We built nuclear

power plants here too, right.

We produce physicists, chemists, we win Nobel

Prizes, and it would seem

that we are quite an advanced

nation, right? We’ve got everything going for us. So

why have we ended up in a situation

where we dream of a salary of 27,000 rubles?

The average salary in Russia is now lower

than in China. And 10 years ago we laughed

at China. The average salary in Russia

is now lower than in Kazakhstan. And

once upon a time it seemed to us that, wow,

Russia was far more impressive than Kazakhstan.

I’m going into this election with a simple message about

the fact that

the enormous resources we extract

even at today’s oil prices, are

enough to provide

a decent life for our country. We just don’t

need to do one thing. What is it?

We need to stop stealing. They have literally looted everything,

because 80% of their working

time is spent stealing, and in the remaining 20%

they can’t get anything done, because

even if you have money, you still can’t

repair roads or fix housing and utilities services

— you can’t do anything at all.

And as for taxes—let’s talk about

taxes. Are you satisfied with the situation

when it comes to taxes?

No.

No,

no. Someone’s shouting that they are.

They’re shouting, nobody’s crying.

A deputy is telling me—I don’t know, how did you

manage that? A deputy came up and said:

“Navalny is the best.” And which party are you a deputy from?

A deputy.

Well, thank you very much. I’m very pleased

that there is a deputy in the Kursk Regional Duma

who tells me I’m the best.

I hope he won’t add, right now, something like,

“well, that’s not entirely certain.”

So, guys, here’s a deputy, and he’ll

confirm it for you: 60% of the money

collected from you gets sent

where?

To Moscow.

To Moscow. To Moscow. And in Moscow it

ends up in people’s pockets. How is it possible

that your city’s budget is—how much?

Someone help me out—7 billion rubles. Right.

The budget—the budget of Kursk. And in Moscow they spend

6 billion on lighting up Christmas trees. Well, sure,

if there’s money to burn, then

maybe you can spend it on lighting

trees for 6 billion. But if it turns out that

the whole country is living in poverty,

then maybe it ought to be distributed

a little more fairly, right?

I really want you to support me

so that I become the

one candidate who is talking

about this. I don’t understand why they

stay silent. Your governor, Mikhailov, by

all logic, if he were really defending

people’s interests, he would go to

State Council meetings, he would go to meetings with

Putin, he would go to the Duma, to the Federation

Council, to any official

events. And whenever they were discussing

something there, he would listen and listen,

stay quiet and stay quiet, and then he would suddenly bang

the table, stand up, and say: “Excuse me,

what the hell is going on? Give the money back

to my Kursk region. I can’t repair the roads.

Why is it that I have the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly

(a major iron ore deposit), I have mining and processing plants,

I have industry—why are you taking all

the money? I represent the interests of the people of Kursk,

the interests of the region’s residents, and I demand it. My

deputies are introducing a bill so that

this money is distributed more fairly in the

budget.” But he stays silent. Well, that’s because

he’s an appointee, because he does not

represent your interests. Right.

How much with Dimon and booze?

The United Russia party represents your

interests. Boo.

The governor represents your interests.

And yet United Russia makes up 90%

of your city and regional assemblies. So

what you end up with is a bunch of

bureaucrats sitting there, and they do not represent

anyone’s interests at all. The people are one thing, these freaks are another, right?

The people are separate. They are separate. And this

has been going on not for one year, not two, not three, but nearly 20

years already. So yes, I know

for an absolute fact that no matter how much they

lie to me about their 84%,

that 99%

of people across the country will support me

if I propose a fairer

redistribution of taxes. Do you support

that?

Everyone supports that. Any grandma sitting outside her apartment building

or any professor at a table

supports it. Everyone supports

the fight against corruption.

The Periscope stream should be on, right?

Please,

What prospects are there at all in your, well, in your

region?

Wow.

None. Give me a rough idea.

Who here is in college? Who is studying at

school or college? Raise your hands.

Or vocational school. Doesn’t matter. If,

let’s say, you study very

well. I hope so. And you—terribly. Why

terribly? Fine, well. Let’s suppose this is

an experiment, a thought experiment.

Answer me this. You study

well, everything goes well for you,

you graduate, and you land a good

job. By average Kursk

standards, everyone around you would say that

you’ve done well for yourself. What kind of

salary would you have?

10,000.

No, not 10. Ten is not good. I mean really

landing a good job. How much?

A good one. How much?

Fifty grand.

Well, no, I mean if

you really landed well. You come home and say, “Mom,

I got a job at this place.” Good for you. 40.

20

Well, I did hear 40–50 after all.

Well, I heard fifty right away.

Let’s go with 40–50.

All right, guys. Look,

you hear 40–50 thousand rubles (about $430–540), and most people

say, "No, we don't believe it."

So basically, it means there are no prospects at all.

It's a dead end. We've reached a dead end. If in

our country a young man

or woman who has done well for themselves

on 40–50 thousand rubles, because on 40–50 thousand you can't

buy yourself a home, right? No kind of

mortgage either. On 40–50 thousand, it will be practically

impossible to support your children. Have two

kids, and that's it — everything

is over for you. On 40–50 thousand, nothing

good awaits you. You can't even go away once a year

for a proper vacation. You've become poor. You just can't.

It can't be done.

Officially, 20% of the country is poor, and you,

it turns out, your life has gone

well in Russia, and you've still become poor,

joined the ranks of the poor. But is this really the

country we want? Is this the future we see for ourselves?

And that's why, when people ask me, "So

why are you running around, speaking out, Alexei, what

are you doing? Why can't you just sit still?" Well,

the answer is simple: "I'm 41, but I

want to live in a normal country. I know

that Russia can do better." All the indicators

for Russia show it. You just take an economics

textbook and look at what we have:

an educated population, natural

resources, a good geographic

location — we have everything. That means

Russia should be, well, maybe not

the richest country in the world, but certainly a fairly

prosperous, confident, wealthy country. But I

have lived my whole life watching a poor

Russia.

And from what is happening, I understand that

it will remain poor. And my children

will be poor, and their children will be poor,

because those same people want to stay there forever

in power. He's been sitting there for 18 years. Come on,

do you really think he'll leave?

No.

It'll be like in those futuristic horror movies.

Just a head on top of a bionic body.

He'll walk around saying, "Vote for

United Russia, stability above

everything. We don't need Maidans (mass protest uprisings like Ukraine's Maidan) and all

the other phrases they keep repeating,

and will go on repeating. That's why, that's why I

am running in the election, because, well, I don't want

to spend my whole life in such a poor country.

I'm running in the election because,

I assume,

you guys pay quite a lot for

housing and utility services.

How much are the utility bills for a two-room apartment

— what's the rate?

In winter? Six thousand.

Six.

Five to seven thousand? How much? When your salary is ten thousand

Seven. Well, seven is pushing it. It can't be

as much as seven.

Seven. Ah, well, then you basically have no salary left at all.

It can.

So your salary is 20 thousand or less, and you have to pay seven thousand for utilities

— but then it's impossible

to live. And do utility rates

go up or down?

Up.

So there is manipulation, there is cheating,

isn't there? There is. Here, if I'm not mistaken,

back in 2011 there was

that story when a whole lot of apartment buildings,

half the buildings in Kursk, were handed over to some

newly created management companies.

They raised the rates. That happened here, right? Yes,

it was canceled, but only after a huge

scandal. But in general, officials

are wired this way — they thought, "Well,

let's just dump these people around like serfs

and make them pay more." Meanwhile, in

America electricity has become cheaper than

it is here. Gas has become cheaper than it is here. Who

here has a dacha (country house)? Raise your hands.

Right, now tell me,

please, who has a dacha? Who has one

that is connected to gas?

Is that Mr. Boss or what? Who keeps shouting

in that voice all the time over there?

A provocateur. Don't feed him, just speak

less often. All right. If your dacha is gasified,

how much does it cost here in Russia to connect to gas?

Here in Russia?

150 thousand.

To tap into the gas line, to connect it — 150,000 rubles.

What plot size are you talking about? This year it's already 150 thousand.

That's what it costs.

Oh, right, that's the right

figure.

But turn on the TV, and they show you that nice

commercial: Gazprom is the national

treasure.

On TV, of course.

And that raises the question:

Why is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,

the man who says everyone here

supports him, saying the week before last

that Russia would allocate

200 billion rubles to Kyrgyzstan for gasification?

Just a Kyrgyz spy, right?

There it is — the fifth column. People who

don't care about any of us. If our

country itself isn't fully gasified,

if some old woman is paying her last money for

that gas cylinder and has to choose what

to do — buy medicine or buy a

gas cylinder? And we're allocating money to some

Kyrgyzstan. Why do we need that?

Why do we need that? Who needs it? Why are we handing out

our money left and right? What I want is

this.

She's about to finish.

Russia wants to show that it's good.

Then let it show that to us.

I want — that's an excellent slogan — I want to become

the president who will show his own

to his own people that the president is good, and

that he will spend all the money on him, because

otherwise what we get is a kind of spectacle of

unheard-of generosity. We gave them

money. We gave them money. And I,

guys, this is an important issue for me, because

I no longer have the strength to watch stories about how

Cuba was forgiven its debts, this one was forgiven

its debts. So I want to give you

a campaign promise:

President Navalny will stop

forgiving other countries' debts. This is our

money, right? How much longer can this go on? Yes, we

love Cuba, we love Venezuela, we love, I don't

know, Aleppo, Palmyra, and everything else.

Why should we have to pay for all this

out of our own pockets? Do we want to do that? No.

No. I know that 99%

of the country's residents do not want to sponsor

other regimes, but for some reason the authorities

keep doing it. When I become president, I will

put an end to it. And over there, in the puddles and the mud,

police officers are standing there.

And I want to say to them, dear

police officers, please look

over here.

Your presidential candidate, the best one

for you, is named Alexei Navalny

Anatolyevich. Because when I become

president, I will not waste time on this

nonsense. They were driven here at 9:00

in the morning. They are standing in the rain, guarding

this peaceful rally, which causes

absolutely no problems at all. Why

is this necessary? Do we, as taxpayers,

want them doing this?

Or do we want them dealing with

crime?

Yes.

So I will finally make sure that

the police, of whom we have a huge

number, do their actual job and

receive a decent

salary for it. Look at

Russia's military and police budget. It is

enormous. There is enough there to simply give every

police officer

an apartment, to build each one a palace like in Mansurovo

for everyone. Do you understand? Everyone could

get a pay raise, but that is not

happening. It's unclear why. I will do

it. I will bring all this back. I will turn it

right side up again, because

if there is a lot of money in the country, people should

be getting richer. That's exactly why I'm running. I will be able to

bring transparency to the monopolies, and

housing and utility rates will go down, will be

reduced, or at the very least you will understand

what you are paying for. I will jail these

corrupt officials. I know how to lock them up.

I know how to cancel corrupt

government procurements. The draft laws have long since been

written. I will be able to make sure that

the police do their job. This is,

you understand, not just some kind of

words. I

this has already been done in many countries, and

we will be able to do it here too. There is nothing

special we need to invent, you see.

We do not live in Africa. The president's job is not

first to take his people, I don't

know, down from a palm tree and put them on

the ground, and only then do something with them. We

have an advanced society, we have

an educated people, we have a sea of money and

a huge amount of natural resources. We just need

to work properly. But this government

stays in power because of one crucial thing. And

that thing is our main enemy. This may be

the most important thing I want to say in my

speech. Who is our main enemy?

Putin. Are you kidding? Putin is not

the main enemy at all. Corruption,

corruption. No, not corruption, our own blindness.

Corruption is nothing. We can defeat it easily, and

we know how.

The idea that we can't do anything.

Now that makes sense.

Ourselves. No, that's what another candidate says,

that the main problem is not

Putin, but ourselves. There is no problem

in us. To anyone who says the problem is in us

ourselves, I would say: well then, please

stop moving billions into offshore accounts.

And you, please, stop buying

yachts for yourselves. And you, please, stop

turning into billionaires

by not paying taxes. No, guys, our

enemy is something else. A lack of faith in ourselves. We have simply

grown used to the idea that we

decide nothing. We have grown used to the fact

that the authorities always win anyway, and

the crooks always win. And at every

rally, every time, someone comes up to me

and says:

"Alexei,

you're a great guy. Everything you said, you said

it all very correctly, but admit it, you

understand that these are all just your fantasies, you

won't be able to win. Nothing will ever

change, because it can't be changed."

I'm telling you honestly, guys,

completely sincerely. I don't just believe, I

know that everything can be changed. Yes, your

governor may seem to us like a wall,

a monolith, impossible to break through, United Russia. They

are watching the livestream of this rally and

shaking, because this is where rallies

in support of United Russia are held.

How many people come there

for free? For free. How many people

come there? Zero.

Why a rally? Well, Putin does not hold

real rallies in his own support,

genuine ones. Because no one would come.

This government's approval ratings exist

only under conditions where there is no

competition at all, no one is allowed to do anything

is dealing with it. Unfortunately, we are like our

parents, like our grandfathers, and we've gotten used

to the idea that everything is bad.

Russia is for the sad.

And we are that sad. And then there are also

proverbs too: we've never lived well,

so there's no point in starting now. So we've been

made to believe that, damn it, well, we just weren't

lucky — we were born in Russia, so

we'll die poor too.

It doesn't have to be that way.

It doesn't have to be that way.

There are a huge number of us here. They're afraid of us.

It's just that because we don't believe in

ourselves, we do nothing, because, well, it's all

useless anyway. What's the point of campaigning?

It's all useless. They'll decide everything without us.

Write something online. Oh, come on, what

is there to write? Everyone knows it's useless, they'll

count everything however they want.

Well, that's not true, not true, and not true. The whole

history of humanity is the history of how

people, when they believed in themselves,

achieved real positive change.

We look at the countries that are

next to us, not even the most prosperous ones

among them. I'm not saying that tomorrow I'll turn Russia

into Switzerland, but at least to the level of

Eastern Europe — we can live like that. We can

live that way as soon as tomorrow if we

work, if we put pressure on this

government, if we see ourselves as

citizens and fight. Standing here is

the main political force in the city of Kursk.

A sufficient number of people came here in the

rain, despite the pressure — they came.

And there are enough of you to

win over

all of Kursk in three weeks, in two weeks.

Because in reality, no one else

has that many people. I'm not

saying this just because I'm some great

candidate and I have people while no one else

does. It's just that the number of people who are

sick of all this

is much greater than everyone else combined.

It's just that we don't believe,

we don't believe. We think that nothing can be

changed. Can it be changed?

Yes, it can. And I'm running in the election, bringing together those

people who believe that things can

be changed. And, guys, my main request

to you is:

believe in yourselves, work together a little

bit, support me. Yes, of course,

they don't want to let me onto the ballot.

Yes, of course, they don't want anything at all.

Support me, and we'll achieve everything. Because

if we don't, we'll go on forever

dreaming of a salary of 27,000 rubles,

and getting 15,000. Do we need that?

No. We're very tired of this. And

I know it for sure. I can see them

shaking. I can see our

support growing. I go to cities, any

cities, all kinds of places, and they give us

some venue out by cemeteries

for rallies. And everywhere, people come —

more people than the authorities can gather. So I

know for certain that we can

defeat them. And if we believe in ourselves, then

we will build our beautiful Russia

of the future. Thank you very much. I'm ready

to answer your questions. Thank you

very much.

Are there any United Russia members who want

to debate? A United Russia member?

What's the United Russia member's name?

Wow.

Go ahead.

So the United Russia member finally worked up the courage. That's good,

because it rarely happens. Usually they

run off somewhere. What's your name?

All right, Evgeny has come up to us. Are you a member

of United Russia?

Evgeny is a member of United Russia. Let's give

Evgeny a round of applause.

Please, go ahead — I'm giving you the microphone

for a brief statement. Two minutes.

All right.

Hi, everyone. I'll be a little

brief. It's easy to indulge in demagoguery. We

all know perfectly well, we live in this

city, that we don't have — that we don't have

roads, we don't have decent salaries. Everyone

knows that perfectly well,

people — I never knew at all,

how many were here. Ah,

All right, all right, I get it, I get it. So,

literally two years ago, the LDPR party,

the Communist Party held rallies. We

have one deputy here, Comrade

Bulgakov. Someone dared to call him

a thief and ended up with a criminal case.

LDPR held the same kind of rally, the same

situation with the Communist Party and LDPR. So, I want

to quote a phrase from the Bible: By

their deeds you shall know them. So,

Be quiet, Alexei, let's put it this way. There is

Bulgakov, there is a problem in Kursk

Region. Solve it, bring in your ACF,

and we'll see your deeds. Anyone can make promises

from a stage. Come on, there's a real problem,

a real person. Will you help?

Well, I can tell you this: you

know that I'm not a prosecutor, not

an investigator from the Investigative Committee, not

the head of the FSB (Russia's security service). Our public

organization, the Anti-Corruption Foundation,

has canceled corrupt contracts worth

billions. But I wanted to ask you, since

you came up on stage — you surprised me. You

said, your first point was: "We know everything

about the problems, but nothing can

be done." And you ended your remarks

with, "By their deeds you shall know them." And yet you

are a member of United Russia. And your party

has been in power for many, many years.

Please explain what we are supposed to

learn about you from your actions, and why

nothing can be done.

There are, there are members of United Russia who

sit at the top. And there are people like

us, who can't do

anything. And, and unfortu-

And the ones at the top, are they bad?

Wait, everyone has their own point of view.

I'm just telling you,

if you want to bring order to Kursk Region.

You said: "My course, our course,

help us with this person. Then we'll see

your power and your capabilities."

We'll go to the election and vote. Not

just me, but thousands of other people who are

aware of this criminal case. Can you do it?

name.

So, am I understanding correctly that the party

United Russia, which has the president,

which has a majority in every

Duma, and to which all mayors and

governors come, has come to me and says:

"Navalny, please help us, we can't

deal with the problem".

So, guys, that's a cor- that's a correct

assessment. That's not bad. That's, that's excellent.

I suppose, well, that kind of

assessment is flattering to me. Unfortunately, uh, I have to

agree that you yourselves have a low

opinion of your party's level, but

simply put, I'll help you when I become

president. I'll solve the problems of whoever it was

you mentioned there, and all the other problems as well.

But then may I ask you a question

before, before the presidency, however you like. Right

now I'm simply asking you as a citizen

a question. So, are they people, or a fifth

column?

They're normal people. Normal people from Kursk,

right? Normal, good people. So

they have the right to nominate their own

candidate for president. As a member of

United Russia, do you think I can

take part in the election?

United Russia says that we can

take part in the election.

That's it, man, just

then say it one more time, that was going so well,

so well,

one more question. Bruha, vruha, and

please tell me, this system

of tax distribution, under which all

your resource revenues, all your money

is taken to Moscow — is that good or bad?

That's bad.

Am I right in understanding that you are now

criticizing the decision of your party, United

Russia?

You could say

not only United Russia. Today

Zhirinovsky spoke too, either today or yesterday,

calling for regions to be forgiven their taxes

and thus leave the money in the regions.

This is not only your policy, it's also

the policy of other parties as well. I agree

with it. And if he said it in vain, in vain he

started higher up, they forgive everything there too.

Listen, we wanted a debate, but United

Russia agrees with everyone. Unique

Kursk. It turns out United Russia agrees with everyone.

Bad bills,

bad Putin. So it turns out,

Alexander, next question. Go ahead. I

came here with a specific situation.

Comrade Bulgakov, remember that surname.

and break it up.

No, no, I mean, gentlemen, in terms of

the election, this will be a very interesting

bombshell, truly sensational. If

the guys at the ACF have time for it, then I

have materials that I can

provide to them. Please, let's talk

for real, not just stand here on stage

promising them millions. There is

a concrete case. Let me help you,

and you help me. You'll see

everything for yourselves.

We will help you. But still,

please explain to me why

the Bulgakov problem and all the rest of the

corruption are not being dealt with by your authorities, your

party? Put together

one whole

One whole? Ah, so one whole with

corruption?

Alexei,

Alexei, you're setting me up for a criminal

case. I climbed onto the stage — sorry, different

things can happen. So I just

wanted to say this: you see, guys.

Well, any person, even a United Russia member,

you joined United Russia for nothing. I mean, you

since you came up here, you're a brave

person. You'd be better off not joining

United Russia — join these

wonderful people instead, because they want

the same thing you want: order,

right, taxes that belong to them,

a normal human life. And for all of us

this is a great lesson: it's easy

to work with people. Anyone can be persuaded

over. One United Russia guy came to the debate, and already

supported participation in the election. Already, already

points of our program are being implemented,

so let's start campaigning. I'll win

everyone over. Thank you very much for

coming. Thank you. Questions, guys. So,

as I promised,

the floor goes to the deputy. Deputy, yes, please.

Right now just

ask me briefly, and then I will not

who will own the natural resources.

All right, I'll give you the microphone, but since you are

a deputy, you might not give it back.

Deputies are like that, they talk for a long

time. I'm giving you the microphone. One minute for

the question. All right.

Alexei, Kursk applauds you.

I am deeply convinced that the real people

of Kursk, true citizens with a strong

civic stance, are only for Alexei

Navalny. Another round of applause.

Our city of Kursk has been headed by Alla

Albertovna Chertova. Chertova, who was born

on the thirteenth. It's ужас, but Alexei

will do everything so that

there will be no authority for her to have been born on

a different day.

No, she won't be born on a different day, but in

any case

Kursk will prosper anyway, because

Kursk is a City of Military Glory (an official Russian honorary title).

Kursk is a great city. And I think

that with your arrival we will revive the city of

Kursk. No question, just

applause for Alexei Navalny.

What a guy.

Alright, and now I already have

serious suspicions that right now

the lights are going to come on. It says: program

giveaway. United Russia supported it,

a deputy supported it, and like, something something

something's off here. Some kind of trick. A question,

guys. Give me a tough question.

Who has a critical question,

please? You there in the hat.

A critical question. Yes.

I haven't my own for a long time...

who will they belong to. Lyokha.

I'll repeat the question. How are you going to

run for office, Alexei? Because they won't let you

on television, they won't let you anywhere,

they don't let you in anywhere. They keep saying how bad you are.

And campaigning is the most important thing. How can you

run if you have no access

to anything? That's the right way to put it.

Well yes, I don't have that. Who has seen me

on television? Well, except in programs

about how I stole the entire forest, or about how

I'm a foreign agent. Well, for many,

many years now they haven't shown me in any other

context, and for the last 3 years they haven't even

made negative mentions of me.

It's completely forbidden, right?

Remember how Peskov refers to me — this

gentleman, or this supposedly previously convicted person, or

something else? Politician.

a well-known politician, a provocateur, and all the

rest of it. I, of course — well, what,

what is obvious to everyone? I have no television,

no radio, nothing. I have you. That is

that is more important than anything. This isn't me

trying to cheer you up,

it's

it's simply a proven fact that the most

powerful campaign tool is

one person talking to another

person. We now have 170,000

volunteers across the country. No one else

has that many. It's a huge force. So, well,

just because I'm not on television,

what am I supposed to say now? Fold my

little paws? Wow, the mighty

television doesn't show me, so well,

alright then, I guess I'll just give in completely. No,

you came here, in the rain, and you've been standing

here for an hour already.

That means, then, that I have achieved

something. If today I can convince you of something,

maybe you'll spend

5 minutes a day campaigning. And any

television host Vladimir Rudolfovich Solovyov

will cry like a little girl in

his Italian villa, because

he will understand that our means of mass

campaigning and propaganda is 100 times stronger

than any television channel. Besides, I

am actually working as a candidate. Nobody else does

anything. All our elections are about

the fact that nobody does a damn thing. Here I am,

I spoke yesterday in Ivanovo, today I'm here with you,

tomorrow I'll be speaking in Tambov, and

next week somewhere else. I am working

like a normal human candidate. And

that, by the way, is the most important task of

my campaign: to make sure that in the

next elections we set

a standard so that people simply won't believe

candidates who don't do all of

this. You do want candidates to come

to you and bend over backwards here

in front of you, right?

When

even after I've served one presidential term.

Well, not served time — more like worked through it somehow.

Though serving time would be easier for me, of course.

Come here — president or not

president — get up on stage and speak,

talk, answer questions. That's how it

should be organized, and that's how it will

be organized, and we will make that happen. So,

let me give you the floor, and then you won't

have to keep shouting in that

voice of yours anymore. Alright.

For one minute — do you actually have a question?

Do you have a question? You need a microphone.

Give him a microphone.

You don't need a microphone.

One.

Dear Alexei, to be honest,

this is the first time in my life I've ever seen you. I'm not

interested in politics, yes. I basically

have everything I need in life.

In a voice that makes people believe it's really

you.

My name is Roman Valentinovich Kamenev.

I, well,

I just used to like the work of

Professor Lebedinsky (a Russian pop performer), and the way he

would tune his voice. Anyway, Alexei, I

am seeing you for the first time in my life. I've heard a lot

of good things and bad things about you. Uh, you

seem like a normal guy. That's how I see it. I'm

a simple person. You seem like a normal

guy. So, the only thing that I

I wanted to say this. I’m outside politics. So,

you were talking here about Estonia. As for

Estonia, I have

relatives there, and I know the situation very well.

As for what you were saying about Europe and so

on, I also have a very good sense of the

situation. So, I want to say one thing:

we live in a wonderful country. This

country just needs a little time to

cool down after the turmoil.

At least, at least 50. Alexei,

yes.

The thing, the thing, the thing is, that’s not a question.

You seem like a decent guy,

you come across well,

you make a very good impression, but Russia must be

loved. I would like to wish that

you, naturally, love Russia. There is no country

better than ours in the world, because

I’ve seen many people around the world, but our people

are better. I wish you good luck.

I don’t have any questions.

Ask a question.

And the question?

What should be done about Crimea? Answer, Alexei.

Alexei, well, since I’ve managed to get to the

microphone, the microphone.

Uh,

So, I’m from Belgorod, from Navalny’s headquarters,

from Belgorod. Yevgeny Sokolov. So,

here’s the question. After the publication in

February of the list of our officials, thieves, in the

United States, what fate awaits them, what

fate awaits them after the publication of this

list?

Will they abandon their capital to the mercy of

fate, or will they

be forced to flee there ri-

Alexei, will you be there on the eleventh

on 5/11 I will definitely be somewhere

out on the street because I will at the very least

be speaking, so first I have

a comment on what Roman said

I have a question too

and then I have an answer to the question

that I was asked, so

the wish to love Russia. You know, Roman,

I do love Russia, and that is exactly why I am here

speaking. But you see, you tell me,

“You, Alexei, should love Russia.” But

Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov loves it from his

yacht in Monaco right now. Or it is loved by

Peskov, who also rides around on all sorts of

yachts and funnels money,

stolen money, into offshore accounts.

So, this whole idea directed at us—

ourselves.

Come on, guys, let’s love Russia after all.

Yes, we do love it. And we live here, unlike

United Russia. My father is a military man.

I spent my entire childhood in

military towns. My

only real estate is an apartment

in a prefab apartment block on the outskirts of Moscow in

the Maryino district. My children go to an ordinary

school, and I love my country, and I want

to make it richer. Yes, there are problems in

Europe, there are problems in Estonia, everywhere,

but those are problems of a different order. Our

problems are that 20% of people are below the

poverty line, officially the poorest. Officially,

20% of people in the country are poor. So the point

is that we are precisely the ones who love Russia, and we

are fighting those people who have latched onto

it and treat it, see it, as

a kind of testing ground for making money.

Take your Kursk Region, for example—it is a

typical testing ground for making

money: taking something out of the ground, not paying

taxes, sending it all offshore and then

reselling it later at a higher

market price. They underpay taxes, they underpay

wages, and they live abroad.

They’ve sent their children abroad,

they’ve bought property abroad. Even

Solovyov tells us how we

should love the motherland. Everything is abroad. And

do you know what they tell us? And do you know

what they tell us? They say that,

well, even in private conversations, these

United Russia people have said to me: “Listen, Alexei,

come on, you know these people—it’s better if we

steal it than if they drink it away.”

That’s what they say. They say: “Well,

are they right to say that, or are they wrong

to say it?”

They drink because

there’s no hope.” Well, why wouldn’t they drink?

Whether you work or don’t work, you’ll have

a salary of 25,000 rubles. Of course, he

doesn’t care about anything. He goes and gets drunk to

forget all of it. Therefore,

so, when I am president,

officials will love Russia. They will

live here, their children will live here,

their wives will be here, not

in London. That’s how it will work.

So,

you promised me you wouldn’t shout in that

voice anymore. So, and as for comments

regarding the sanctions lists. You

said the Americans are publishing new

sanctions lists. And what do you think,

will happen to these people?

So, uh,

I’ll answer, as you—or rather, as people ask

first: what do you yourself think will happen to them under Putin?

What will happen to these people? They will have

everything just fine. You remember

the bill they introduced: if they

fall under sanctions, then from the Russian

budget these people will be compensated.

So if any pro-Putin billionaire

has something taken away from him there

by the Americans, they’ll squeeze money out of us as well

in order to pay them. So the answer to your

question is twofold. Under Putin, they’ll be

just fine. Under Navalny, everything for them

it will be very, very bad. Without any

Americans involved—that’s the question. Let’s start from this

side.

Crimea. What should be done? Crimea

go ahead. Yes,

Guys, don’t say “can I ask a question,” just

ask it. How can we make sure that

there is no merger of capital and power?

How can we make sure there is no

merger of capital and power?

The merger of capital and power is called

corruption.

In order to eliminate corruption,

you need proper courts,

you need free mass

media. And most importantly,

you need someone in power

who actually wants to fight corruption, so that

there is political will. I mean, listen,

if you and I, who are not the security services,

every one of you could right now

talk to anyone. You could name

10 cases of corruption for me. I’ve investigated a whole lot

of corruption cases. Obviously,

Putin knows all of this. He is simply the father

of corruption. He himself is personally corrupt.

Why would he fight corruption if he

made his son-in-law Kirill Shamalov

the country’s youngest billionaire? They

steal this money. Every single day.

It’s obvious he is not going to fight anyone

over it. Why would he need to go after

Serdyukov?

That was the most famous case of that kind.

On television they showed how many days

Serdyukov spent in the defendant’s dock.

Zero.

And Vasilieva—how long did she serve? Two

months. Why? Because Serdyukov

went to Putin and said: "Volod, come on,

I was only doing what you allowed me to do."

And he said: "Come on, Tolya, it’s all

fine. We’ll make a bit of noise about this

on TV, feed people a line, and then

you’ll carry on, and everything will be

fine for you." And everything is fine for him. He still

even rides around in a Mercedes with

a flashing beacon, works in state corporations,

gets paid there. And there was all this talk

about what a terrible corrupt official he was. And then life

went on as usual. That’s why political will matters.

What’s needed is a person who will send them to

the defendant’s bench. And I am that

person. Next question.

When is the film about Vova (a familiar form of Vladimir) coming out?

When is the film about Vova (a familiar form of Vladimir) coming out?

Well, in a sense, all the films are

films about Vova, because it’s his

system. But we can’t reveal

any

details of upcoming investigations, because

then it won’t be interesting for you, and they’ll

hide. Question:

What will you do if Putin doesn’t let you

run in the election?

I’m not giving you the microphone again. Go ahead,

ask.

Where will you get 34,000?

I thought you weren’t going to ask me about that, damn it.

How would you comment on the much-publicized

nomination

of Sobchak

of Sobchak for president?

Why does no one ever ask me about

Zyuganov?

Who needs

or about Mironov? Guys, I’ve already

commented on this many times and I’m not

going to comment on it in any more

detail, because

Ksenia Sobchak has every right

to run for president. She is over 35

years old. Correct

so she can run. Let me see—raise your hands, those

of you who are over 35. Wave them.

All of you, like Ksenia Sobchak,

have the right to run. But the most

important part of the answer to this question

is that I also have the right

to run. So let Ksenia

Sobchak run, and Sobchak Ksenia, and Olga Buzova,

whoever else. I don’t know whether Buzova is 35

yet.

She isn’t. Then Buzova shouldn’t run.

We’re banning Buzova from running. All citizens

over 35 can run. And I have the right

to run too. United Russia has allowed me to.

So I know one thing.

I’ve been acting as a genuine candidate. For a year now

I’ve been running an election campaign. I’ve assembled

volunteers. I’m raising money. You know

how I raise it. Raise your hands, those

who have donated at least something once. Thank you

so much, guys. The campaign stands

on you. So I know one thing: if

I’m not allowed onto the ballot, then these elections

cannot be considered real elections, because

that is exactly how they want to win—by not

letting someone in. They look and say: "Wow,

he’s been traveling around the regions for a whole year,

drawing huge crowds. No, that’s not the kind of candidate

we need. We need a candidate who

won’t do anything. Do you

agree with that?"

No.

Exactly. So, will we go to these elections

or not?

Yes, we will. If I’m on the ballot. If not, we won’t.

No, if I’m not included on the ballot.

That’s all there is to it.

Question

Alexei.

Diagram

the political program... at one polling station 1% were

spoiled ballots, while against the backdrop of the same...

LDPR. They got 6%, while Navalny got

35. Why are they trying to protest if

the vote could be used properly against them?

Why not boycott? Why not just spoil—spoil the ballot?

Spoil the ballot, people.

All right, I understand. I understand the question. I understand

the question. Why are you, Alexei, saying

that the elections should be boycotted?

Why not come? No,

why not? I hear you. I’m repeating your

question. Ksenia Sobchak is right when she

says it means “against everyone,” because

you still have to go to the polls anyway. Why

are you proposing a boycott? You could

just come and spoil your ballot. I

am proposing—I am not proposing a boycott of

the elections. Listen, I’m running an election

campaign. People are standing there soaked through, saying

to themselves: “Navalny, wrap it up already,

we’re freezing.” I’m running an election

campaign. I want everyone to go to

the polls, but,

I care deeply about elections. And

therefore, if a candidate is not allowed onto

the ballot, that means—look, guys, for

us what does that mean? It means they will

never again allow a decent candidate,

if we accept this. If it isn’t

Navalny, it’ll be a candidate named Sergei

Semyonovich Gorbunkov. He’ll run a great

campaign, better than I do, he’ll

come here and draw even bigger crowds.

And they won’t let him run either, because he is running

a campaign. If we agree to this once,

show up at the polls, they’ll say: “Huh, well,

you can do whatever you want with these people.” They’ll

go vote anyway. Whether we spoil

the ballot or don’t spoil the ballot. In

essence, it makes no difference at all.

We need to tell this government: if you do not allow

our candidate into a fair election, then we

do not consider it an election. We do not

recognize you. Starting the very next day, we will

work every single day to

remove you from power, because you

seized it unlawfully. That is the only way.

Let me take a question from over here. President—

Platon, yes, the truckers’ group, which

does,

right, then later there will be a question from

young people. For now, a question about Platon.

The Association of Freight Carriers. What?

The question, if I may—

this is a system that is illegal. And

a question from the carriers’ association,

who are asking me: when you

become president, what will you

do with this system? Dear

Association of Freight Carriers, it seems to me you

should already have signed an appeal

to vote for Navalny,

because I am the only candidate

who went to court

over this Platon system. I published the text

of that agreement. I was one of the first

politicians who spoke about it at all

and who took part in it and supported

the strike. So, the Platon system is

a system for stealing money. First from

truck drivers, and then from everyone

else. Because when

truckers raise their prices, that

means I will pay for milk at

3% more. That’s my

money. Besides, the Platon system is also

effectively a system under which

we are in fact paying a tax to a private company,

to a private individual, Rotenberg. This is

a rip-off.

It is absolutely illegal. But besides

that, let’s say honestly that, well,

who here has ever seen a truck-driver

millionaire?

What, are these the richest people? If

we want to squeeze money out of someone right now,

there isn’t enough money in the country, so let’s

slap a tax on someone—a truck driver.

Listen, you promised not to shout like that,

so behave decently. All right. I

gave you the microphone. I gave you the microphone. I gave you

the chance to speak. Show some respect for the people

around you. Why are you screeching here and

not letting anyone say anything? So once again,

about truck drivers. You cannot

insult people like this. You cannot take

their money away. It is hard work. They are

not wealthy people. Therefore, of course, I will not

simply abolish the Platon system—I will

put everyone who introduced it in the dock.

Question. Right, I promised a question from

young people.

Alexei, take a question from the communists.

Where are the young people?

All right, go ahead, ask your question.

The question from young people is this: why is it that in

many schools there is an event taking place that

was supposed to happen yesterday, but is happening during

my speech? But you young people yourselves

don’t understand that they

are afraid of you, the youth.

Why?

Why are they afraid? Because they are thieves. And

they are afraid that in Russia there will emerge

a stable group of people who are not

afraid to say that they are thieves. Well,

look, they’ve been sitting there for 18 years, and for 18 years things have

gone more or less normally

for them. There was a glitch, a glitch in

2011–2012, when

people poured into the streets, but then it seemed everything

got sorted out. And now, would you look at that,

some schoolkids have suddenly

taken to the streets, and instead of

sitting quietly and keeping their heads down, they are asking

questions, they are making a fuss.

That is frightening to them. That’s what I was saying about

what matters most.

They want people to be apathetic.

And every person who asks a question

is frightening to them and scares them. When people

organize themselves and come out to a rally

even if it's just 10 or 20 people,

or 100 people, that is very

frightening for them. That's why they want to turn you back

into slaves. They are very

afraid that a generation will emerge that

does not stay silent. But I very much hope

that yours, judging by the fact that you still

came here anyway, are not afraid, you are standing

in the rain, they will not succeed.

Question. Yes.

How will you prevent extortion in

schools, and how will you prevent the promotion of

Orthodoxy through, for example, classes in

Orthodox culture? You can't promote Orthodoxy in

schools. How will you

do that?

How, how will I prevent the advance of

Orthodoxy in schools? Look, we

all—this is an important issue, because right now in

every city I get the same

question: what are we going to do about

this clerical obscurantism? What are we going to do about

Poklonskaya? What are we going to do about

Milonov? What are we going to do about all

these people? Well, we will do one simple

thing.

Religion is separate from the state. The Church

is separate from the state. We love everyone.

We respect everyone. I am Orthodox. But under

President Navalny, clergy

will not be putting people in prison. Under

President Navalny, there will be no such

things as some

priest calling up and saying, "Oh, go to

the Investigative Committee, check VKontakte,

read it, and lock this person up."

No, that will not happen. More than that, let me

ask you—this is also my favorite

campaign promise—but first let me ask you:

as taxpayers, do you want

to pay the state so that it can hunt down

some bloggers,

put people in prison for likes and reposts? We

have people jailed every week. Do you want

some resources to be blocked?

Well then, since you don't, I will

repeat my favorite campaign

promise: that President Alexei

Navalny will shut down the hellish mess that is

Roskomnadzor entirely.

I will disband it. Disband it. I almost want

to say, "Burn it down." But we won't burn it down.

We'll need the building. We'll fire every last

one of them. It's a gang of parasites, thieves, and

crooks. We don't need them. They are

harming us. They are making our lives worse. Question.

Yes.

A question from the Communist Party.

Alexei,

How is my brother Oleg doing? My brother

Oleg? Well, he has now received

a ruling from the European Court saying

in effect: "Brother Oleg, you are actually

an innocent man, your case was

fabricated," but he is still sitting in

prison, nearby here in Oryol Region.

So in that respect things are not going very well for them,

but as for him, he is

a brave, courageous man, he is holding on,

he understands that he is completely innocent

and is sitting there like a hostage, because they

are keeping him and understand that every time

I release an investigation, they can

throw him into solitary confinement for another 15 days, and then back into

the punishment cell. So yes, he is a hostage.

The authorities are a pack of scoundrels. He

understands that, so he is holding on. Let's take

a question from this side.

Question: how are you going to get along

with the team of governors that you

will inherit?

A question on domestic policy: how are you

going to work with the team

of governors that you will inherit?

Here's the answer: get rid of them. Why should I

get along with your governor? I, I will

come here and say to him: "Buddy, we're going

over here to Mercury Stadium. I'm showing you

this huge pit, and you're fired,

because you've been governor here since 2000.

So what exactly have you done here?

Industry here has collapsed, there is

nothing here. There are other regions that are not rich either,

although this region ought to be rich. But

at least something is happening there; here

nothing is happening. Tell me,

please, has even a single

enterprise been built here in 15 years?

No,

It's all been destroyed.

Throw them out.

Once, when I asked this in some city,

they told me: "Yes, there is

one business chain—what's it called?

Krasnoye & Beloye."

You see, that's the only

business that seems to be appearing all across

Russia. So I am not going to

inherit these governors. They are

appointed now, and I will fire them. And when I

become president, there will be no such thing as

Alexei Navalny appointing

the governor of Kursk Region or

saying: "You will elect them yourselves,

because otherwise it's impossible. As it is now,

we no longer even elect city mayors,

or heads of rural settlements.

And that's why it turns out that our police

and migration service say: "Well, there are

between 5 and 10 million migrants in Russia." Well,

give me a break. You can't count them within

plus or minus 5 million? That's absurd.

That is why I am introducing a visa regime, so that

we can at least begin to address the migration

problem, because otherwise in

a few years it will turn into

colossal, monstrous problems,

many of which, for example, are now in

what is happening in Europe now is happening because

an Uzbek man came here, and he is basically in the position of a slave

and is treated however people please. And then

his children will grow up here. And what then? The children have never been to

Uzbekistan, they don't know any other language.

They are ordinary Russian

citizens, and they ask: "Why is it that

our rights are being restricted here? We want

to be exactly the same as everyone else." And then

they have no rights, no education,

nothing at all, no social guarantees

either. And then it all starts heading toward what is happening

in Europe now; in many countries it will be

even worse. That is why I support a visa regime. And

the second question is why I am not uniting with anyone.

Tell me, who exactly

do you want me to unite with?"

With Maltsev.

With the people.

I am already aligned with Maltsev, in the sense that I support him.

He will

support me. Oleg, who do you want me

to unite with? Guys, I have united

with everyone, because I said:

here is my platform, support me

on the basis of this platform. And I am completely open

to everyone. Every time—remember, there was that

Opposition Coordination Council (a Russian opposition body). I

proposed voting. I have consistently

argued in favor of primaries. But many

Moscow politicians want to

unite in a way that goes, well, "Alexei, you are

kind of ignoring us. Let's come together and

organize a round table." Do you want

me to be your candidate and travel

around the regions giving speeches, or to organize

a round table? Presumably, you want me

to speak. So despite the fact that

I have united with everyone, I am not going

to waste either my time or yours on

meaningless, endless Moscow

discussions, various round tables,

and artificial unity schemes. Well, that

makes no sense. There is an election—so get moving,

because that is what you are supposed to do. That is

exactly what I am going to do. Let's take a couple more

questions, because otherwise the police will

disperse us any minute now. Yes,

We have a major problem in Kursk.

Many of its residents do not know

that in our region they are planning to build a plant for

processing

—they have just taken up such a project.

The first problem is that

naturally, all safety measures will be violated,

and they will be hauling in huge quantities of all this

from all over the world.

The environmental assessment

is simply not ready

for the city of Kurchatov.

I understand the question. So, the question is about

the disposal of nuclear waste

from abroad, which in your city

of Kurchatov was originally indeed supposed to be handled in

the Krasnoyarsk region, in Zheleznogorsk.

They refused, because it was expensive. And

now they are doing it in your area. It is simple

as that.

Well, what do you think—are Europeans stupid or

not? Probably no more foolish than we are.

Exactly. They do not process it themselves;

they send it to us. Our

authorities simply lie, saying that this

is profitable, because it is profitable right now to take

the money. They took a pittance, and after that

it will have to be stored for dozens and

hundreds of years. It will have to be guarded,

protected from terrorists. And

spending on

healthcare will have to increase.

That's it. If they actually factored into all this

the cost of guarding it for the next 100 years and how much

additional money would have to be invested to

treat everyone, it would immediately become

unprofitable. It is a deception. Here you already have

a truly monstrous environmental problem,

right? You have monstrous

healthcare problems here, and

people cannot get treated. I can see there are many

older people standing here. Tell

me, is it easy to get a free ultrasound

here?

No.

Oh, tell me then, right? What about a CT scanner?

A CT scan. But fluorography is easy enough

to get.

What kind of nonsense is that, people? The 21st century,

you understand—without CT scans and ultrasounds

it is impossible to diagnose any

diseases, impossible to fight

cancer, impossible to cure people.

And here we are in the 21st century, in a developed country,

saying: "Wow, a free

ultrasound." It exists everywhere—except here

we do not have it. That is why here a person—why here

a man lives to 65, dies, and everyone

says: "Well, that's it, bury him—he lived

long enough.

In no developed country today

does anything like that happen."

Sixty-five is a perfectly normal age at which

a person understands that he still has

at least 15 years ahead of him, and he is still quite

active. That is how it should work. But here

it is considered that, well, 65 means that's it, goodbye,

farewell. Already a very old man, time

to die. It should not be like that. And all of this

is happening in part because they are bringing in

this waste. A question for Alexei.

Alexei

Alexei did not ask the question

A short question, a question

never in one

fighting corruption or eliminating

eliminating what—corruption, or fighting it

or eliminating it

eliminating cor...

if I become president, the fight against

corruption, or should it be eradicated?

Choose.

First fight it, then eradicate it.

And what else are we supposed to do with corruption?

Whatever will save us.

Destroy it. Of course we will.

There are almost no countries where corruption

doesn't exist at all. But in most

normal countries, corruption is significantly

lower. Corruption in Russia is simply

out in the open. Obviously, billions are stolen

right before our eyes. So I know for certain

that Russian corruption can be reduced

by at least 80% in a year.

Whether completely eradicated or not, it can be cut

very drastically. Yes. Next question.

Healthcare—how should it be reformed?

What

From pensioners.

And how should

from pensione...

patients

The healthcare question sounds like this:

how should doctors be protected from patients?

Doctors don't need to be protected from patients, so

look, I get it, I get it. I'll answer simply

since time is short. Russian

healthcare needs, first and foremost,

money, because if, as you yourselves say,

there's no CT scanner, no ultrasound

machine. Doctors are paid next to nothing.

Doctors' training is appalling. Our

medicine is 40 years behind, because

our medical education is 40 years behind.

So, if you look at the list of developed countries,

the Organisation for Economic

Co-operation. And we can see that if a

country does not fund its

healthcare at around 6–7% of

GDP, that country is in bad shape and everyone there

gets sick. We're at 3.7% now. We need

to increase healthcare spending

at least twofold. And the money for that

exists, because we simply need to

cut the military and police budget,

because it's already too large. And

direct that money into human capital—

education and healthcare—because

the money is there.

I will defend the border.

I will defend the border with border guards.

I will defend the border with the military.

I will defend the country's borders with a professional

army, because I will abolish conscription. Russia does not

need conscription. It needs a normal

professional army. Thirty percent of our

budget goes to the military and police

budget. We will cut it

by a third, and there will still be

plenty of money left—for salaries, housing, and

allowances. There will be enough money for everything.

After all, it's not me—not opposition figure

Alexei Navalny—but the Accounts Chamber of Russia

that says every fourth ruble

allocated to the state defense order

is cashed out within a month.

Can you imagine what that means?

We allocate trillions, and those trillions

are simply wheeled away in rolling suitcases

almost instantly. That's where

corruption needs to be defeated. And then there will be enough money

for everyone. As I already said—for housing, for

border protection, and for everything else

there will be enough. Guys, it's important

to understand that this lie from the authorities about

it being populism, that Navalny promises things

that can't be delivered—yes, it can all

be delivered. Look at the budget of the

Russian Federation—it is enormous. Right now

for the first time ever, Russia's budget is

22% classified. They are simply hiding

everything now, because it's easier to loot that way.

We live in one of the richest countries in the world. We need

to remember that every day when we see

this puddle, when we see a crumbling

clinic, when we see a doctor who

is officially allotted

8 minutes per patient appointment.

Ten, you say? Yes, maybe for a doctor. We

must always remember that we live in

one of the richest countries in the world. And in fact, we

do have the money for this—for everything. It's just that it

gets stolen and squandered.

Our task is to make sure our voice

is heard, so that now there appears

a presidential candidate who finally

says this out loud, who would change

public opinion, who would rouse

the people and make them put pressure on this

government so that they change at least somehow,

because without pressure from below—well,

why would they change? I stole a billion yesterday,

I stole a billion today, so why would I

suddenly stop doing it tomorrow for no reason?

Of course not. Of course not.

Either we rise up and put pressure on them, on

all of them, and they change—or better yet, they

finally leave, and we appoint normal

officials at last—or

this will remain forever. I believe that everything

can be changed. I ask for your support.

In order to win and become

president, sooner or later Russia must have

an honest president.

It must. I want to be that president.

And if you help me, I will become one. We

will defeat them all and be able to do everything.

Thank you very much, guys. Thank you

so much for coming. Thank you.

Hooray!

Thank you so much for staying even though you got cold and soaked,

and didn't leave. Thank you so much for your

optimism. I promise I will not

let you down. Russia will be free and

prosperous. Thank you very much.

Thank you, guys. A very

great stand-up set.

Alexei, we invite you to Velikiye Luki.

Alexei,

right now I'll also answer questions one-on-one

and come over.

I'm coming over to you.

Alee,

Alexei, answer a question from

the communists. Let's hear from the pensioners.

Thanks for the psychology. What are we going to

do? The environmental situation here right now is really

the current environmental laws

are fairly strict. They just need to be

enforced.

That's the whole point

how to solve the problem. Unfortunately, it is not

a problem.

That's an uncomfortable question for him. He won't

talk about it.

What should be done?

May I ask a question on the substance of the issue?

The old lady wants to ask a question.

Alexei, one more question from a pensioner.

About Crimea

I believe. You can't just take people or

send them back and forth again. The question of

Crimea is a question for the people of Crimea. There are 3

million people there, and they should decide this

themselves. So, last time, the previous

referendum was absolutely illegal and

fraudulent. I have no doubt, in fact,

that a new referendum would most likely

show the same result, but what we need

is finally to hold a proper

referendum, with real

observers, where it won't be FSB officers

standing at every polling station, but

normal independent observers. And everyone can

honestly campaign for whatever they want,

and hold a new referendum. That's how they

should resolve the issue. So you believe that

if Crimeans vote again to remain with

Russia,

regardless of everything

Well, the main thing is that it's against Putin. Well,

I see, but territorial conflicts are not

resolved all over the world. They are very

hard to resolve. And in that sense, of course, they

will never recognize it. Well, there's nothing

you can do about it.

You are the president

the president. Step number one: I organize

a referendum. Step number two: I recognize

the result.

Alexei, run your campaign with dignity.

It will be better for you.

So, the only thing that matters to me is

the opinion of the residents. That's all.

Let me ask a question.

Reduce pressure on business so that

large-scale industry can develop,

because right now, if you open a

business—there used to be a factory here, our plant employed

12,000 people. Agreed, they destroyed all

industry, which is why there are no jobs.

Alexei, can I take a selfie with you,

Of course you can. Pass the microphone.

The microphone, now.

And you don't have a program, do you, no

right now.

One, one. So, there are quite a few

people who want to take photos,

right?

Right. Okay. Are you sure you want to

stand in the rain and wait?

Yes.

Okay. So now I'll slowly go from this

side. Just,

guys, get ready, take out your

phones, and turn on the front-facing camera.