Autumn Tour. Rally in Tambov

Hello, everyone.

First of all, I want to say that

that

a huge thank you to everyone who helped

organize this meeting. Among you,

among everyone who came here, there are at least 30

people who are right now working

to make sure you have a good time here,

feel comfortable, and that the event goes

successfully.

And second, secondly, I want

to definitely invite you to our

regional campaign headquarters. I can see many

people here who still haven’t been there. And

I always wonder where those

volunteers are who signed up

but still never made it to headquarters. And

finally I have a unique

opportunity to invite you there personally, to

our headquarters, which is located at

1 Nosovskaya Street. We have

a wonderful, welcoming atmosphere there,

wonderful volunteers who will

greet you warmly and friendly. And I

am sure that when you come, you won’t just

be glad you came—you’ll find exactly what

you want to do at headquarters. That could be

registering people on the website,

campaigning, handing out newspapers or

leaflets. Of course, incidents do happen sometimes,

but we always

provide legal support. And,

all in all, that doesn’t stop us, and

we always keep campaigning,

campaigning and campaigning. And we don’t

lose heart, and we keep our faith in victory. And

let me repeat once again: 1 Nosovskaya Street.

I’ll definitely be waiting for you. I hope that

after this meeting, you’ll come to headquarters

and say to me: "Diana, I want to help

the campaign. Tell me how," and I’ll be

happy to explain it to you." And,

see you at headquarters.

Behind me are volunteers from our

headquarters who helped us

organize this entire event.

Come visit us at headquarters, I’ll say it again.

Well then, now I’d like to invite onto

this stage the candidate for president of Russia,

Alexei Navalny.

Hello, Tambov.

Well, people actually came,

they really came. Because when I was on my way here, I

was reading analysis by local political commentators,

obviously working for your

administration, and they were saying, quite

confidently and authoritatively, that no,

of course, no one would come to Navalny’s rally.

Naval...

In our city, no one will be interested

in Navalny’s platform. After all, in Tambov

life is good and stable.

No.

No.

A high standard of living?

No.

Stability. Everything is fine.

We don’t need any of these troublemakers

who come running in, shouting about something,

unhappy about something. Because in our city

everyone is satisfied.

No.

Is everyone in your city satisfied? No,

I’ve already traveled all over the country, and I have not yet

seen a single city where everyone

is satisfied. From that I draw a simple

conclusion: this entire government lies to us in

every word. Right?

Yes.

There is no stability in Russia.

There is only the stability of poverty. And in

your city, by the way,

there is one striking place.

Which one? Come on, you can tell me yourselves

what that place is, the one next to which

it becomes very clear what

is happening in the country. This place

symbolizes the regime. What place is it?

That place is called the Tambov

Philharmonic Hall.

You see, that is the essence of what

is happening. First they allocated 200

million rubles, then 700 million rubles. And for years this

building has just stood there. It looks as if ISIS (the Islamic State) had been inside it

and it was bombed.

Do you understand?

That is the essence of what is happening in the country.

An enormous amount of money. The country is

rich, there is plenty of money. But that money disappears

somewhere like into a black hole. And it gives us

nothing. Good Lord, they’re not even

building a spaceport there, right? They’re building

just a philharmonic hall building. Could they give

us a better life? Can they or can’t they?

No.

Can they give us education or not?

Can they give us healthcare or not?

Maybe we wouldn’t be able to criticize them

or make demands of them if

they had only been in power for 2 years, 3

years, 4 years. But come on, folks,

these people have been sitting

on enormous oil revenues for 18 years. These have not been 18

years of poverty for them—poverty for us, yes, but 18

years of a huge flow of oil money. And

during all that time they have done

nothing. And that is why I,

well, maybe this sounds provocative on

my part. And they clearly think it is

provocative too, since they won’t let us

hold rallies and are trying not to

let us onto the ballot, I believe that

the time has come to change the government. Do you

agree?

Yes.

I believe the time has come for

real elections. I am not afraid of these elections.

They are afraid.

I travel around the regions and speak at events. I see

this support. I understand that my

program and what I am proposing—this is

what people support. It’s not that they have 84%,

we have 90%.

Because what I am proposing

is supported by every decent person.

I want to become president, and I promise you

that when I become president, there is money in

our country—we have enormous

opportunities, we can do whatever

we want. But what is happening to this

money?

It’s being stolen.

It’s being stolen brazenly, absolutely brazenly,

right in front of all of us. But

today, if you read the news—just today—

the Norwegian oil fund, which

provides pension money, added

for Norwegian pensioners, just in this

year, since the start of the year, $95 billion

At the same time, Russia’s

pension fund has a $15 billion hole in its budget

How does that happen? How?

How does that happen? Our country is

one of the largest exporters of oil, one of the largest

exporters of gas. So where is it all? How

tell me, please—when

oil prices go up, do you feel that

you are becoming a little richer?

I don’t feel it. No one in our country

feels it, because that money

is simply stolen.

Are you shouting “boo” at the corrupt officials or at me?

At the corrupt official.

If it’s at me—okay. I see that a group of

United Russia has formed.

Excellent. Ready to invite a United Russia member onto

the stage?

If United Russia members aren’t afraid, I see a young

man, I invite him up. I’m speaking now,

and afterward I’ll answer questions. You

see, this is United Russia—its typical

behavior: shouting, but afraid to come up.

Guys, there’s no need to be afraid. We’re not

like you. I’m not going to eat you. I’m not going to bite off

your arm or your leg. It’s just that you have nothing

to say here. And I want to tell you that

I, well, you know that I’m not, well, not

a prosecutor, I’m not an FSB officer, I’m not

a police officer, but our organization

raises money here.

And you’re standing there, [ __ ], uh, scum

holding this rally with American money.

Excellent remark. Excellent remark.

Thank you very much, guys. Raise your hand

honestly—those who have ever

sent money to the ACF or the foundation

campaign. Boo.

Thank you all very much. And now

raise your hands, those who have ever

sent money to United Russia.

Boo, shame.

There’s one.

Excellent. And raise your hands, those who know

people who have sent money to United

Russia.

Almost no one. And that’s why it turns out

that here there are quite a lot of

people who know whose money

is funding my campaign, but no one knows

whose money is funding United Russia’s

campaign. Right?

Do you understand where United Russia gets its

money from?

From Putin—they steal it.

United Russia steals money. I will stop

this. If we were able to cancel

corrupt tenders worth billions, tens of

billions of rubles,

when I become president

trillions of rubles—trillions, without

exaggeration—that are stolen

through public procurement every year. It’s not me

saying this, it’s Dmitry Anatolyevich

Medvedev saying it. That’s right. I can take these millions—

these corrupt officials—I will deal with them

the way they should be dealt with.

What do you want me to do with them?

Shame.

This is

please, an organizer—not

some abstract person who, you know,

just criticizes corruption in general. I am

a person who is running in an election and

who

What are you—what are you shouting?

Tambov without Navalny.

Let’s vote.

Who is in favor of Tambov being with Navalny?

My little friend from United Russia. Tambov

without United Russia. Tambov without United

Russia. You’re all already sitting here. I am

telling you directly my campaign

promise. What a screecher, for heaven’s sake.

So, I am standing here, raising my hand, and

telling all of you, dear residents of the city

of Tambov, that when I become

president, I will put all these

corrupt officials behind bars.

No, I will punish them properly. I will send them to

the defendants’ bench,

where they will face a fair trial.

Do you want that?

Yes.

And the whole country wants that. Absolutely

everyone wants it.

When I become president?

Boo, shame.

Young man, come up on stage.

Young man, either come up on stage

or leave the event,

United Russia man.

He keeps shouting at me without stopping: “Well, you

there don’t hear what’s against Tambov.”

And this, by the way, shows

the intellectual level of a United Russia member. He

doesn’t even understand that I have a microphone.

Dude, I have the microphone,

you’re not going to shout me down.

I want to tell our dear United Russia supporter that

my second campaign promise and

the second point in my platform,

everyone here will support it now,

and your United Russia party will be in the

minority. Tell me, please,

guys, do you want your taxes,

the taxes you pay,

to stay here or

[inaudible] Tambov? Tell me, please,

when you hear that Moscow is allocating

3 trillion rubles for major repairs and

renovation, do you want some of that money

to come your way too for major repairs

to [inaudible] Tambov,

[inaudible]. Navalny is saying

something elementary, but a country cannot be organized

in such a way that all the money, all the

taxes, are taken to one place. That is,

fundamentally, absurd. Do you agree? That’s why

I’m running in this election

in order to make sure that

a significant share of regional money,

Shame. American stooges, all of you.

Shame. Shame, shame. [inaudible] Tambov.

Man, if you’ve got something to say,

come up on stage, please. Guys,

let’s tell this United Russia guy: his party,

United Russia, votes for all

your money to go to Moscow. Please,

Tambov, vote. For the money

to stay here. Who’s in favor? Raise your

hands. Shame.

Turn around and look at your people.

A crook from United Russia.

I know the people of the Tambov region. Tambov

doesn’t need you.

I know them here. The people there, as far as I can

see, want these

crooked, dilapidated buildings we saw

around the city, to be gone.

When was the last time you had

major repairs done on your buildings?

Listen.

Never.

That answer is monstrous: never. And I

want to become president of a country,

a rich country,

that, excuse me, can afford to carry out

major repairs on its own buildings. And I

will become president. I will make sure that

people’s taxes stay here.

We don’t need a president like that.

When I become president?

As president, I’ll make it happen.

Ugh. You won’t do anything. You won’t

succeed.

I see we’ve already got a debate

going here. This guy is shouting, “We don’t

need a president like that.” And then he’s

asked, “What kind of president do you

need then?” So, what kind of president do you need?

You want to come on stage? Great,

come on up, come on up, come on up,

get up on stage. Come on, come on, get up here.

Well, the governor was afraid, the deputy governor

was afraid. Come on up. A representative of United

Russia. You are United Russia. Well, if, if

you’re against United Russia, then I’m just as

against it

[inaudible].

I want to become president for one

simple reason.

God forbid you ever become president.

God forbid.

You never will, not in this lifetime.

I apologize to those standing in the back

who can’t tell what’s going on here.

It’s actually pretty funny here. This guy is telling me

that I’ll never become president and

[inaudible] Tambov and all the rest. So let’s

discuss it then.

Come on stage then.

How much, generally speaking,

with these United Russia guys?

Tell me, please, what is the

average sal— Tell him, please,

what is the average salary in the city of Tambov?

8,000 rubles. I don’t believe you. No.

What’s the average salary? How much?

12.

Shame.

15.

No, really. So what is the average salary?

What’s the citywide average salary?

American [inaudible]

12, 15. Well then, no. Then I guess he

is right.

If the average salary in the city is 8, 12, or 15 thousand,

then the United Russia guy is right, because that means

it turns out that all of us gathered

here are, in fact, just

American agents.

Excuse me.

You’re all here shouting 8 and [inaudible]. Because

I went to the website of your region’s governor

and it clearly says there that the average

salary in the city of Tambov is 28,000

rubles.

28,000 rubles. Don’t lie, American

agents. He’s right. You see, he’s right. And

we’re American agents. In Tambov.

I want to become president, and I’m asking for your

support to put an end to these lies.

Just listen to this. Guys, come on,

you were shouting 8,000 rubles. You live

here, right? This is your city, you know

everything about it.

And they lie to you about those 28,000.

The governor knows it,

the deputy governor knows it, President

Putin knows it. They all know it,

and they keep lying, lying

endlessly. Do you need that? You’re

and I don’t need it either. I’m a real person from

real life. I understand that

all this government gives us is

poverty.

Because

we talk about our dream as if it were

something unattainable. 28,000 rubles. But

even 28,000

rubles is officially just poverty.

Poverty.

That means we have absolutely no prospects

at all, guys.

President.

Here in Russia, as I've said many times

and will say again, we are one of the world's main sellers of oil and

gas. We are a developed country, right?

Yes.

Well, tell me this: we launched

rockets into space,

we built nuclear power plants,

we created universities across the country.

We are an educated,

advanced nation, one for whom many things

should be possible.

We built this civilization, built this

state, United Rus

so that we could live for ourselves. And everything

that exists.

No, no, no, don't touch him. He wants

to speak—or throw him out. And

don't throw out the United Russia guy. If he behaves

normally, let him stay, let him stay

here.

Come up here on stage. Get on stage.

Get on stage. Let's give the floor to the United Russia guy.

Let's do it.

Give him the microphone. To the United Russia guy.

Go ahead. You get one minute.

Dear citizens,

what did you come here for? And what did you come for

You've seen how this Navalny

tries to stage coups in Moscow, haven't you?

Shame on him—how can anyone come to this American

rat and do anything here? This is

a disgrace to Russia. He ought to be

deported from Russia to the United

States of America, where they pay him.

We don't need him here. He is a disgrace to Russia.

A sellout rat.

Go home, citizens. Go home, I

ask you, go home. If you don't want

your children, your children as well,

to come out into the square and be

taken away by the police. Why? We in Tambov Oblast don't need this.

We don't need it. Prochmbova, prochmbova.

Come on, wait, stop, stop. Stand

still. No, no, no, he's standing there. Don't drag him,

don't drag him. Let's ask the United Russia guy

a question. So, he's saying, he's

saying that we should

leave here.

Calm down. Navalny.

tell me, please, tell me, please,

if Tambov doesn't need Navalny,

then does it need Dmitry Medvedev there?

Yes, it does. It needs Dmitry Medvedev,

a wonderful prime minister.

Dmitry Medvedev, a wonderful

calm down, calm down.

Come on. That's it, that's all, thank you. Dmitry

Medvedev, wonderful.

Ah, good. A question. A question. Dmitry

Medvedev and his

estate in Tuscany—is that what Tambov needs?

What estate there? In Tuscany?

And where is your estate?

I have a house in Marino. I have

an apartment.

I don't have anything in Miami. But tell me,

please, may I ask you a question?

Let's look again, guys. What's your name?

My name is Marat Zaripovich. Marat

Zaripovich. Let's show Marat

Zaripovich who has ever sent money to the

campaign. Please raise your hands,

please. Marat Zaripovich, look

here.

Marat Zaripovich, can you hear me?

We don't need American money.

We absolutely don't need it. Do you understand?

They look like Americans. They look like

Americans.

Marat Zaripovich, thank you very much. All the

best. Thank you.

Thanks to Marat Zaripovich.

Unfortunately, it wasn't even possible to have

much of a dialogue with him. He's crazy.

It's not just him, you understand—that's how everything is structured

for them. What you just saw is exactly that.

It's like Dmitry Kiselyov crossed with

Vladimir Solovyov, crossed with

your governor. That's the kind of

human centipede it is. He doesn't want to hear

anything. He turned away from the people,

turned his back and shouts: "American money,

American money. What American

money? We have our own,

man, look at the country. Here people are shouting

8,000 rubles at you. We dream of a salary of

28,000. At a time when in practically any

Eastern European

country salaries are three or four times

higher. Look at Estonia,

look at Bulgaria, look at

Slovenia or somewhere like that. They have nothing there.

And yet the salaries are there.

Well, you can live on a salary

of eight—no, not a salary, on a pension. What's going on there?

The United Russia guy is acting up again.

Guys, don't beat up United Russia. Let's wait

a little while.

After we win the election, we won't beat them,

we'll send them where they belong—

where they need to be.

Detention centers and places of imprisonment by

court sentence. Are the United Russia people ready

to go there?

I'll send them there. Because they are

criminals, they're robbing us.

Tell me, then let me ask you

Another question. All right, say 8,000

15,000 rubles. But surely there are

some people who are successful here.

There are people like that. Raise your hands, those of you who are

school pupils or students.

There are a lot of you. Excellent. A question for you.

If you study hard, let's say you

do well in school,

graduate from university with flying colors, get lucky, and

land a great job. So

you look through the list of jobs

available in Tambov, and get the best one

there is. What salary will you have?

8,000.

Well, 15. No, 15. No, seriously. But if

No, really, if you get lucky. How much?

28. I hear

30

bullshit.

So, wait a second. So far I've only heard

28,000, but maybe you can find more

than that.

And that's what it comes to, you see?

There's your answer. Are there any prospects in

Tambov?

No.

There are absolutely no prospects at all. How

did that happen? And Tambov Oblast, by the way,

used to be one of the most

densely populated regions, as you know,

in Russia. Right?

It used to be a wonderful,

prosperous region. And now

it turns out that in the very best-case scenario for you,

in the very best-case scenario for

a young person, they will earn

here half of the average

salary in Estonia. Is that normal?

Is this what we built a great country for?

I am running in this election so that

the country's money and national wealth

work for us. Because

the only thing growing in Russia right now

is the rankings of billionaires. Is that

normal?

No.

At 18, they tell us that,

well, guys, come on, you just can't

make it, you're just kind of not very bright.

There's something wrong with you, something off about you.

If your salary is low, then that

means, well, that you're just, like,

idiots, or drunks, or there's something else wrong

with you. But I'm running in this election to say

that we are fine, everything is fine with us, but

we will always have miserable

wages if things are arranged the way

they are now. Oligarchs don't pay taxes,

don't pay decent wages, and move money into

offshore accounts. And again, that's not just me saying it.

American researchers recently

published findings that in offshore jurisdictions

like Panama, Cyprus, and the rest, there is more money

than Russia's GDP. Whose money

is that?

Ours.

Ours. It's our money. In the literal

sense, our money. Because oil

and gas belong to whom?

Ours.

And nothing else really happens in Russia

except the sale of natural resources. I

am running in this election to make

them pay taxes. No one wants to

do that. I will make them pay taxes.

Under the current laws, they will pay, and

there will be enough money for

all of us. Tell me, please, is that

what should be done?

You

I will come

do you want to sponsor other countries?

Do you want to sponsor other countries?

Do you really have enough

money to sponsor

other countries?

I don't understand how this works at all.

You know, it seems like we ourselves have nothing,

yet the Kremlin is constantly telling us

that the citizens of Russia want to help

Syria.

No,

the citizens of Russia in Tambo—Tambov, the whole city of Tambov

dreams of rebuilding North Palmyra.

You see?

We want to forgive Cuba's debts, we want

to forgive the debts of Mongolia, Mozambique, and

everyone else. Do you want that?

No.

I know the whole country doesn't want that. That's why

I am standing here on this stage, at this podium,

to make one of my favorite

campaign promises.

President Alexei Navalny will stop

forgiving other countries' debts. Not

one kopeck more.

Enough already. The Soviet Union

sponsored everyone. We lived in poverty, but

we sent everything there. And now, good Lord,

we can't even repair a road in the regional

capital, yet we keep giving money away, giving it away,

giving it away. If you calculate how much each

Russian pensioner has paid toward

writing off the debts of foreign

countries, the total would be enormous.

I can't repeat that word, let's just say

it's a very, very large amount, very, very

large. What the hell? I don't want to

do that. I will stop doing it. And the money

of Russian citizens will work for

Russian citizens. That's the only way it

should be. Right?

It's obvious. It's right there

in plain sight, but everyone stays silent about it. So

whether I become president or not,

at the very least I am already

proud that, with your support, I have become

the candidate who refuses

to stay silent, who is actually saying what

everyone there wants to say — the Communists

want to say it, A Just Russia wants to say it, and so does

Zhirik (Vladimir Zhirinovsky). Your governor wants to

say it too, but he’s afraid. Because when

we hear that, well, yesterday they allocated 3

billion rubles, additionally allocated

to Channel One, do you really want to give Channel One

3 billion rubles?

And, you know, the whole country is boiling over, everyone

is furious, and nothing can be done. What

should your governor do? He should

stand up at some State Council meeting or other

and say: "All right, guys,

please, enough. I’m the governor

of Tambov Region, and how many people voted

for me?" 85%.

Right?

No. On behalf of the entire Tambov Region, I say:

"Why the hell are we not giving those 3 billion rubles

to Channel One? We’re giving them

to Tambov Region. I’m restoring

the philharmonic hall."

I’m restoring it, finally finishing construction on

whatever it is you have there — the Triumphal Descent and

everything else — because that money

is needed by my region. But of course no one will

say that. And that is why I’m running in this election:

to become the voice of all these people,

all of us,

who are the majority in this country, but whom

absolutely no one hears when it comes to their

basic demands for fighting

corruption, transparency of monopolies,

utility rates, bringing tax money back here,

and proper functioning of law enforcement

agencies. Listen,

there are police standing all over the place here

everywhere. Yes,

absolutely.

Dear police officers,

your candidate for president is named

Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny,

because only he will put an end to this

nonsense where police officers are busy with

who-knows-what. Instead of

maintaining public order, they’re being sent off to do this.

They stand out on the street, they’re paid

a miserably low salary too, and everyone suffers. And

it’s obvious what they’re suffering for, but police resources should be used

to protect our

peaceful rally.

No. A police officer. The only one needed here was

for that United Russia guy, and really for no one else.

So Navalny will finally help

the police. He’ll save the police from the same

poverty. So vote for me,

folks, vote for me. I’m sure

you will vote.

Another United Russia guy.

No, no, he’s with us.

Ah, with us. Okay. A United Russia guy has joined our side.

Come up on stage.

Before I move on to answering

questions, I want to say something very important,

something we need to overcome in order

to achieve any change. Tell me,

tell me,

who is our main enemy?

Putin.

What kind of enemy is he? Ridiculous.

The authorities.

Corruption.

Medvedev. Corruption. These are all unpleasant,

nasty things and nasty people, but they are not

our main enemies. The main enemy is

what?

Enemy.

The main one.

Yes, that’s right, I heard it. Our main enemy

is a lack of faith in ourselves.

Do you understand? Because all of us standing here

are shouting, we’re inspired, we’re all here

as supporters. But many of us, when

we leave here, will think: "Well,

damn, of course all this is great, but

nothing can really be changed." At every

rally, someone comes up to me

and says: "Damn, Alexei, you really

went after them from the stage, well done." But

just honestly admit it — you understand

deep down that nothing can be changed.

And when you’re campaigning, you’ve

surely said to someone,

"Let’s fight

corruption." And they replied to you:

"Corruption will always exist." Right?

Or they answered: "They’ve all

stolen plenty already, and they’ll come back and

steal again." Have you heard that?

And this endless lack of faith,

this conviction that we are doomed to

poverty, that is Russia’s main

problem — that we think, damn it,

well, my

grandfather lived in poverty, my father lived in poverty,

because living in Russia on 28,000

rubles is poverty. Official poverty.

So, well, I guess I’ll live like that too, and

everyone after us will live like that, and my children

are doomed to it, to all of it. And I

am running in this election, and I am bringing into this election those

who do not think that way. And I

want to try to convince you of this: we are not

doomed to this. A huge number of

countries that are worse off in terms of

natural resources or the education level of their

population live better than we do. Why are we

supposed to be doomed to this poverty? Where is it written:

"In golden letters across the sky: Russia will always

be poor"? Russia is for the sad.

Where is that written? Who decided that? I

just look at the size of the budget of the

Russian Federation and understand that as soon as

tomorrow Russia could be living twice

as well. Pensions could be raised at least twofold

as soon as tomorrow. Teachers could be paid properly

as soon as tomorrow. The money exists. It’s

This isn’t populism. These are real figures from

the budget. All of this can be done if

we believe in ourselves, if we start putting pressure on

this government, if we start

resisting it. Because

it doesn’t rest on the police or on

the National Guard (Rosgvardiya). It rests on the fact that

we’re simply convinced that there’s nothing

to be done. I mean, what can we do? They’ll

always stay in power anyway.

No, they won’t stay forever. They’re

terrified of us. They’re absolute cowards.

They’ll be panicking. My God, I

guarantee you that your regional administration

will be holding meetings all next week

asking themselves: how did we fail to

prevent this?

How did Navalny manage to gather people? My

God, what are we supposed to do? We need to give

double the number of lectures in every school about how

it’s American money, extremists,

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

They’re terribly afraid. We just need to understand

that they really are afraid of us. And how

much we can achieve if

we just put in a little work. There are enough people here

to win over the entire Tambov region

in a week and

get any percentage of the vote here. And I came here

not just to give

a speech, but because I believe in all of this.

I know it. We’ll work, we’ll defeat everyone, and

we’ll build our beautiful Russia

of the future. Thank you very much.

Just as I promised. Damn, too bad the United Russia guy

ran off. I’m ready to answer any

questions. Youva

any kind at all—praising, critical,

and so on. A question. Go ahead.

No, I’ll come up on stage. On stage. Are you also

with United Russia?

No,

no, I’m not with United Russia. I’m from the Tambov

people.

From the Tambov people. And where are they from?

I don’t know.

Come up on stage. No need. I’ll give you

the microphone. Just give it back.

No, I’ll come up on stage.

No, no need to come on stage. Go ahead.

Let’s go up.

No need. Let’s ask the people. No.

Shine the light over there. Shine it.

Hello. People, do you want me to come up on

stage? Vote.

No need. Why?

I’m freezing.

Well then, gloves. That’s it.

All right, we’ll give him one minute. Speaking now is a

representative of the Tambov people. You’re not

the people, he is. What’s your name?

What’s your name? What’s your name?

I’ll say how

Go ahead.

My name is Alexander, guys.

I was a long-haul truck driver, I worked at Magnit (a major Russian retail chain).

So, like you, I’m not with anyone, not from anywhere.

I want to say one thing: we don’t need any

parties at all. All the other

parties are just setups. And now he’ll

answer this question for me. I consider him

said this back in the year... Remember, when there was

the revolution, it all comes from there. If you don’t

want to have an opposition, create it

yourself and lead it. The entire opposition—

Zhirinovsky, Zyuganov, and all the other

nationalists they show on

television—are all structures created by the Kremlin

and paid for. And the real

opposition is either sitting in the Kremlin, or sitting

in prison; they’re not shown anywhere. And this

man—has he told you anything at all?

Tell me, has he said anything at all about what

he will do? He too, he

is telling you what, naturally, you

all already know—you all know that in our country

they steal billions through corruption,

but he can’t do anything. Why?

Because the Constitution won’t allow him

to do it. That’s why there must be

a popular referendum on a new

Constitution that would allow it. And why,

I’ll explain, he won’t be able to fight

corruption. Let me finish—why won’t he

be able to fight corruption? Because

there is Article 49 and Article

20. Article 20, which

was ratified in Russia.

Alexander is asking his question now.

The question is this.

Article

20 was ratified, but it doesn’t work. That is,

how do you act against thieves? It’s simply

elementary. If a person has bought

a Bentley, a house, a car, and everything else,

I can’t ask the question right away. I

have to explain the situation. Yes. Right. And

bought it.

Well, this is still my rally. Let’s have

the question. Yes, yes, the question. Right. So, uh,

when they come to him and ask, "

What did you buy this with?" if he can’t answer,

then everything is confiscated and taken away from him."

Right now we have the presumption of innocence. That

means a person can be shown on TV as someone who

stole billions, but nothing can be taken away from him

because of the presumption

of innocence. So this article,

then, the question is: can you create

a referendum, a popular referendum, and

these people here, the ones barking here,

standing in front, yapping and barking,

they’re marionettes, they’re puppets. His puppets, that’s what they are.

It’s elementary. Understood. So,

a popular referendum for accountable

government, for the sake of Kirill Barabash, who is imprisoned,

and all the other guys as well, for

accountable government, that is, for a new

the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

All right, thank you very much, Alexander. As you

have seen, if I am a Kremlin project,

then I’m a very benevolent Kremlin

project, because I let you say everything you wanted. Now

look, this is such an interesting thing.

One person came on stage and said this was funded

by American money. Another came out and said it was a

Kremlin project. Why does this

happen? Because people—this is all

coming from disbelief again. People have completely lost hope

of believing that there are any honest

politicians, because everyone has always

felt that, well, everything is bought and paid for.

That’s why he stands there and says:

"Puppets." He’s convinced that everyone in the

front row was placed there by me for money, because

that’s how it’s always done. Right?

Because that’s how it’s always done. People

refuse to believe that there are honest

politicians. But, dear Alexander, just like the dear United Russia member before you,

we will prove

to you that honest politicians do exist. And regarding

your question about a referendum, I want

to say that

referendums in Russia are currently banned.

If you try to find even one

referendum that was not organized by the authorities themselves

over the past 20 years,

you won’t find a single one. There is

no way to hold a regional, federal, or even

local referendum. If tomorrow you

wanted to hold even a simple

district referendum to rename

this street, you wouldn’t be able to—it’s banned.

President Navalny, dear Alexander,

will give you the opportunity to hold

as many referendums as you like, if

you collect the required signatures, because I stand

for the power of the people, and that is why I also support

direct elections for governors. Do you want

to elect governors? Yes.

Do you want to elect mayors? Yes.

And everyone does. I know that

80% of the population supports this, so these are

simply points in my platform. There’s no need

to force open a door that’s already open. In my

platform all of this is already written down: legalization of

referendums, legalization of direct elections.

And when we win and I come here to

Tambov, Alexander will come out here, hug

me, kiss me, and say: "Well done,

Alexei. Of course, now you’re a Kremlin

project—but a good, normal,

kind Kremlin." Next question.

Go ahead.

Can I have a microphone?

Do it without a microphone. It takes too long. I’ll

repeat it.

Look, you keep talking about one thing.

Laying asphalt there, repairing

houses, right?

But all of that is necessary.

Wouldn’t it be simpler to boost agriculture

so that we have our own meat,

milk, potatoes, cabbage? It’s an interesting

question. It goes like this: you

say that things need to be fixed here,

that asphalt needs to be laid. But do we even need that at all?

Wouldn’t it be easier to develop agriculture instead?

And why should we have to choose? What’s your

name?

Igor. My name is

Igor. There you go, you see? Why should we

have to choose? Even at the current

price of oil, there is so much money in the budget

that we can both develop agriculture

and repair the roads. I mean,

come on, it’s the 21st century, and we keep endlessly

discussing how to fix the roads.

Oh, it’s hard, oh, it’s complicated. We just can’t

repair the roads. Even in most African countries

this problem has largely been solved. Across all of

Eastern Europe this problem has been solved. In

Latin America this problem has been solved. And

only here are we still suffering. Damn, we just

don’t have enough money for roads. And do you know

why we don’t?

I’ll answer with a specific example from Tambov.

What was the name of your former mayor

of the city? Rogachyov. Is that right, the surname?

No.

Right. Right.

The one before him,

what was this man remembered for? For the fact that he

used to come to local celebrations wearing a T-shirt with Putin’s portrait

and say:

"Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is like a

good-luck charm to me."

Please,

I love him so much. I adore him and I’m ready

to die for him tomorrow if need be."

That was in 2015–2016.

And in 2017 it turned out

that he had stolen 120 million rubles.

That’s why we don’t have roads. That’s why

our roads cost 10 times more than in China.

Because these guys with portraits of

Putin steal everything. When they stop

stealing, we’ll have enough both for

agriculture and for roads. Next question. Alexei,

yes?

And will you give it?

Alexei,

louder, louder.

Today it’s all about roads.

Why don’t we have

The question is this: do you think

the upcoming elections will be fair?

No,

they won’t be.

You see? Listen, I’m here in

Tambov. This is the capital of election fraud.

You’re second only to Chechnya (a republic in Russia). Your

governor officially got 85%, but we

all know that was ballot stuffing, right? Yes.

Every resident of the city knows that it was

a scam. So I’m not a naive person, I

from real life. And I understand that I

am running in the election in order to push these

people who have seized power in this

vast country away from power,

so that most of them

end up in the dock. But do they

want that themselves? Of course not. Of course.

They will resist, including by

rigging the elections. I understand all

of that. So what am I supposed to do now—clutch my head,

burst into tears, run off the stage,

and say: "No, they rig elections,

so I won't even run"? My answer to

that is: I will put two observers at every polling station,

three observers, 33

observers. We are the only

organization that has a sufficient

number of volunteers. Right now, we have

170,000 volunteers across the country, and there are

99,000 polling stations in the country. We

have the people, so it will be hard, it

won't be easy, but I will fight together

with you, I hope, for every vote, and we

will defend them. In other words, they

won't get them easily, and we will not

give up a single one for free. Let's take a question from this

side.

I have to wait three years before I can get the

maternity capital (state family support payment for mothers)

payment. I have to wait three years to

receive maternity capital. What are you

going to do about that? Because what he is

offering me is something I simply cannot

get.

All right, I understand. A question. An excellent question.

There are two questions here. The fifth and the eleventh were

first, as I understand it—artillery preparation,

so to speak. I, I've said many times, I

have a positive view of the fifth and the eleventh,

because I generally support

any protest actions. People have the right

to gather peacefully and without weapons. But here

a lot of people have gathered. From where I am,

in the dark I can't even see where the crowd

ends. And nothing happened, everything is fine, everything

is good. Nobody died, right? Well,

except maybe United Russia (the ruling party) from heart attacks. Everyone

is fine. The question that was raised here

was about maternity capital. You have to wait 3

years before you can use maternity capital.

What's more, what

they allow it to be spent on doesn't

fit people's needs. It's absurd. Really,

it's an absurd system. I believe that

if the country has decided to allocate

maternity capital, then it should stop

giving people the runaround and just provide the money.

It's not that much money. We have

terrible demographic problems. From

your region, over the past 20 years,

20% of the population has left.

More than 200,000 people, of whom 190,000

left during Putin's years in power. In other words,

it's a catastrophe, demographic decline.

So money needs to be allocated for

maternity capital and simply provided

properly. It seems to me that rather than giving out

cash directly, because some people might

drink it away, the process of obtaining it should be

made easier. Let's take a question from the middle. Who

has one?

Further back.

business accounts for. What?

My question is this. You said you would abolish

taxes on small business, but small business

accounts for 70% of our country's GDP. What is your

name?

Sorry?

Roman. Oh, how mistaken you are.

Small business in our country is the most

humiliated,

the smallest part of the economy. All,

all, all, all taxes on small business in the

country amount to 0.5% of GDP. Therefore,

of course, I say and repeat that

when I become president, I will abolish

all taxes on small business altogether. I

promise I will do it, because, in

principle, not that much tax

is collected from it. And what is small business?

Well, it's a sole proprietor selling goods at a market or, say,

renting a kiosk. That's not an oligarch.

He's just trying to support himself. I

am going to radically reduce

all administrative regulation

of business. All this pressure. If you,

Roman, decided tomorrow, say,

to open a car repair shop,

who would come to you? The fire inspector would come,

the police would come, the tax authorities would come,

the sanitary and epidemiological service would come, some environmental inspectors

would come—everyone would come. And by the end of the month,

Roman, you would shut down your small business. That's

because it would bankrupt you, and that's how

it happens everywhere. I believe business

is a good thing, and that is why we will abolish both

taxes and bureaucratic interference, and it will

develop, and jobs will be created

so that people can earn a decent

salary, not 15,000 rubles. Question.

Pass her the microphone.

Ah, careful.

Innovations in education.

Well, I can see there are a lot of people standing here

who would like me to say: "I

will abolish the Unified State Exam (EGE)."

I will abolish the EGE in Tambov. By decree I will

give everyone in Tambov the highest possible EGE score

in Tambov. I will do none of that."

But I certainly believe that in its current

form, the EGE simply does not work. In which

region are the highest EGE scores?

Chechnya.

Chechnya and Dagestan.

We all understand perfectly well how this

works. The same old corruption. The EGE

was invented so that you—a

school student from Tambov or a university student from

Tambov,

a school student from Makhachkala, a school student from

Grozny, and a school student from Moscow were in

equal conditions. That no longer works,

because you are already bound to lose

the competition to a school student from Makhachkala and

Grozny. He has not even picked up a pen yet, and

he already has a higher score on the Unified State Exam (Russia’s national school-leaving exam). So we

must fight here too, first and foremost,

against corruption in its current form. Uh,

the Unified State Exam does not work. Two things in

education that I will do. Thing

number one.

I will look at the list of developed countries

of the world, wealthy countries, and I will see that there are no

developed countries that

spend less than 5%

of GDP on education, while Russia spends three. So I will

double education spending,

because it benefits the country. The better

the education you receive, the more

taxes you will pay later. That is beneficial to me, as

president. I will do it.

Second. I do not know whether there are teachers here

or not. Maybe

teachers came to keep an eye on the students

who came. But I do know that

Russian teachers, instead of

teaching children, spend their time filling out some damn

paperwork all day long. 80% of any

teacher’s time is taken up by documentation,

reporting, and so on and so forth. I

will put an end to that. I will finally give

Russian teachers the opportunity to teach

children, instead of churning out

pointless paperwork nobody needs. Teachers should

be accountable to parents. That is where

the reporting system belongs. Without all this

and without this endless giant pyramid of

reporting, I will do it. And doing it is

quite easy. A question. Let us take one from here.

A question, Alexei.

Go ahead. Yes, yes, please. Well,

there is a chance that you will not be

registered

— if that happens, what next?

People will take to the streets.

About Sobchak. Sobchak.

About Sobchak. Yes,

about Sobchak.

I thought you would not ask me about this burning

topic.

Do you want to talk about Sobchak first, or about

not being registered?

Possibly, those things are connected,

of course.

So the question is this. Is there

a chance that you will not be registered?

What should be done? Well, there is a small chance

of that. What next?

What next?

So, look, I will combine this

question. As for Sobchak, Ksenia Sobchak

is over 35 years old.

No,

I think she is.

Therefore she has every right to run in

the election.

Absolutely, anyone has the right

to run. Raise your hands, those of you who are

older than 35.

All of you, like Ksenia Sobchak,

also have the right to run. I just

have one remark here. If you

really want to fight for power,

if you are seriously running in

the presidential election, then come on,

go to Tambov, get up on stage,

answer a United Russia member, answer someone else,

build a system. I have been doing this for

more than a year. We have a huge team, and

we have opened 80 campaign offices. Yesterday I was in

Kursk, before that I was in Ivanovo.

Today I am here because this is the work

of a candidate. I am doing it. This is how one is supposed to

work. I would like all

candidates to work like this, but it does not look

like they are working. Yes. Did Zyuganov come

here to see you? No.

No.

Mironov?

No.

We do not need them.

Zhirinovsky

was here. Zhirik, by the way, does travel around a bit.

Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich,

Sobchak, Ksenia Anatolyevna.

I do not understand, honestly, I simply do not

understand what kind of candidates these are. And so

therefore, yes, I certainly,

given that I came here and

spoke,

while all the others did not even

lift a finger, I claim the right to receive from

you more support than you

give them. But if I am not allowed to run, well,

whether I am good or bad, I am still

a real candidate, right? I am also

over 35 years old. I am not in

prison. And therefore, under

the Constitution, I have the right

to run in the election. And if I am not

allowed to run, then I do not consider these elections

real. Do you consider real

an election that I am barred from entering?

No.

It is not just that I will not take part in these elections — I

will appeal to each of you and

say: "Guys, you stood here on Sunday

evening freezing in the cold, and now this

government somehow says: 'Oh, look at you,

you decided to put forward your own candidate for

president?' No, that will not do. And

if this is how they treat us — you, me,

everyone else, all these

millions of people who want their own

candidate for president — then we will not

simply stay away from these elections, we

we will convince the whole country not to go to them. We

will campaign, argue, and

explain that it is improper to take part

in a process where a candidate is not allowed in.

It is improper, unacceptable, and impossible

to participate in elections. If, say, here and now,

you understand, the police came in, took me

off the stage, dragged in that

United Russia guy, whatever his name is, I don't remember,

and said: "All right, folks, you've gathered here,

he's your candidate, you can

vote for him." Would that work

for you?"

No.

It doesn't work for me either. Those would not be

elections. Of course they, of course they

are afraid. They are terribly afraid. Can United

Russia gather a rally like this?

No.

No,

not for free

no, they can't gather a rally like this.

Why don't they hold

rallies? Because they can't

draw a crowd. They are terribly afraid, worried,

their hands and legs are shaking.

So of course they will try not to

let me in. What is there to say? It's obvious.

You can see it: the Central Election Commission is already at it all day long.

Seven times a day they declare that

I have no right to run in the election. But we

must stand our ground, because if

we agree to this once, then we

will never get a proper

candidate. I will be gone by then. There will be

some, I don't know, new good

candidate, his name will be Petya. And if

this Petya also travels around the country,

conducts investigations, campaigns, mobilizes people,

wins support, the Kremlin will say: "No,

we're not letting Petya into the election." It will fabricate

a couple of cases against him and there you go,

Petya is gone. But that doesn't work for us,

right? We want our own

candidate. And that's why I came here,

to talk about this. Guys,

support me and don't give up on me, and I

won't give up on you either. A question over there in the distance,

go ahead. Yes,

a more positive question. If I let you

through, you win, what

a more positive question. If you are

allowed to run, if you win— What do you mean, if?

That means I am allowed to run, and I win.

What will happen to Putin?

He already said that,

I know this is an unpopular

answer,

but you also know that I have many, including

personal, reasons to strongly dislike

Putin. I consider him a thief,

without question. I consider him the father

of corruption. He personally steals billions.

Putin personally made his son-in-law the

youngest billionaire in Russia. He stole

money from us and gave it to his son-in-law. He is

a corrupt man, unquestionably. But if Putin

is ready for a peaceful transfer of power so

that there are no upheavals

in the country and nothing, I don't know, something

like a revolution or anything else like that,

if he is ready for a peaceful transition, I

believe that Putin personally, and his family,

should be given immunity. It would be a very

unpleasant decision for me and for everyone,

but we need, in a sense, to rise above our

emotions and, for the common good, give him

that immunity. Next question. Let's take one from this

side. Haven't heard from you in a while.

One question, briefly and loudly.

What will you do about the Caucasus and all of

Central Asia?

What will I do about the Caucasus and all of

Central Asia? Those are completely different things.

Do you mean Central Asia?

As for Central Asia, I will introduce a visa

regime. I will introduce a visa regime with the countries

of Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Enough with the fairy tales about how

these are supposedly our brotherly countries and that

we must keep the border open. Come on, who among you has been

to Europe, to any European country?

Many of you have gotten a visa, but you

didn't die of horror, did you? You went,

got a visa normally, and traveled. If we

want to go to Germany, they'll tell us:

"Well, go get a visa and travel to

Germany." I don't understand why

a citizen of Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan can,

even without an international passport, simply get on

a plane or a train and come here.

That is wrong. I am not going to

discriminate against them, but I will introduce a visa regime. That is

the first thing. And as for the Caucasus, I will do

the same there as in the rest

of Russia: I will let it develop

normally. Here, when I asked

about the average salary, I heard 15,000

or 18,000. But if I asked in

Makhachkala, everyone would tell me 8,000.

Because there is extreme poverty there. Despite

the fact that ten times more money is poured in there

than here, absolutely everything is stolen

there. And so, in fact, there will be

no terrorism there, no

unrest, if we simply give people the chance

to fulfill themselves, if they can just, well, I don't

know, get a job and

earn not 8,000, but at least 35,000. That is what

all these people want, just like the rest

of the country. They simply want to

work normally, so that they can support

their families, so that it isn't like

September comes around and you think:

"My God, the kid needs new, new

shoes—where am I supposed to get the money

to buy them shoes?" If this is happening across

the whole country, that's where all the problems come from."

That is why the Caucasus needs the same things,

fair courts, a fight against

corruption,

a decent minimum wage, and

decent pensions. And the money for that, for

all of it, exists. It is in the budget of the Russian Federation.

It is enormous. Next question.

I’m passing along a question. It’s from the blogger

Ruslanmatya.

Speak louder.

Article 282. Free them.

Speak louder.

So, 208. I’ll stand right here.

I will repeal Article 282. I will release everyone who

is imprisoned under it. There are quite a lot of

unpleasant people in there. Quite a lot.

But the fact that they are unpleasant people

does not mean they should be imprisoned under

a political article of the criminal code. It’s simple. You

are taxpayers, you pay the police,

you pay the state. Are you interested in

the police spending their time because someone

clicked “like” somewhere they shouldn’t have, and then throwing

that person in prison? Do you need that? No.

You are authorizing the state to do that.

Do you need people jailed for reposts? Do you

want them monitoring VKontakte (Russia’s largest social network), looking for

some supposedly wrong posts? Do you want

money spent on that?

Well then, I’m your candidate, and once again I return

to my favorite subject and make

my favorite campaign promise.

President Alexei Navalny will shut Roskomnadzor the hell

down.

Shut it down

in the literal sense. I will fire everyone from

the first person to the last. It is

a pack of parasites. They are not needed at all.

And if before, at rallies, I used to

say that it was a pack of parasites and

thieves, and that was my assessment, then

the latest cases at Roskomnadzor

show that it is literally

a pack of parasites and thieves. They sit on

our backs, take our money, and they are not

needed. And there are many like that there. I will

get rid of all of them, and I will direct that money where

it is actually needed, including here, for example.

Question. I promised this young man.

Just speak louder. I’m passing along a question

from the blogger Ruslan Negomatyanov. He

asked: "Do you plan to do

anything with rallies, promote a new

agenda to attract a larger

number of people, since

the anti-corruption agenda no longer

draws people in as much?"

The question is whether I plan to hold

some rallies, spread information, look for

new ways of getting information out on

different topics, not just corruption, because

people are a little tired of corruption. Well,

I’m not tired of it, to be honest. That is,

I am tired of it, but I am not tired of

writing about it. But of course, there are

many different topics that need

to be discussed, and that is exactly the search for new

channels of communication. I live in a simple

situation. I mean, do you think

I’m shown on television? Do you think you

have seen me on TV?

Well, maybe you’ve seen me in programs saying that

I’m a foreign agent or that I stole all the timber.

But in recent years, even in programs like that

they don’t show me. The newspapers are closed,

radio is closed, television is closed.

So all I have is

the internet, primarily limited to YouTube,

first and foremost. And also the opportunity to speak

in front of people. That is why I travel. That is

my system for spreading information.

I come to a city, climb onto a stage, and start

telling people things. If I managed to convince any of you

today, convince you that

when you leave here, you should spend 5 minutes a

day spreading

information, then that means I have already

achieved something, I have already won in some way. But

the truth is that there is no

perfect, clever trick. I

am not going to invent one. It simply does not exist. The most

important thing you can do for campaigning

is work with people, persuade them. If I speak well,

then I get more

support. If I speak badly, then it is

my own fault, and next time I need to do

better. That is my

election campaign, and I

think it is quite honest. Question. Yes, the one with

the two signs.

They asked about Sobchak,

they asked about 228. By the way, every time

I get a question now about marijuana, when

I answer a question about 228, I think, I’d better not

mix it up with 282, because otherwise

I’ll end up saying: "I’ll release everyone serving time under

282." So, as for marijuana—the legalization

of any drugs: in no country has full legalization yet

taken place. There is only

decriminalization.

Yes, absolutely. In many ways, Russia needs

decriminalization in this area, because

what are Russian prisons now? They are

hundreds of thousands of foolish young people who

were caught with some small amount of

drugs, sentenced to 5 years, and had their

lives and futures broken. They will remain

hardened criminals, because

once you get out, you just keep going down

that road. So of course,

the state should not devour its own

citizens. We must fight

drugs. Drugs are evil. But what

is happening now is not a fight against

drugs. It is the police

effectively protecting all serious drug trafficking

while imprisoning, basically, those

who got caught out of stupidity. We must

to move in this sense along the European path

and decriminalize

a significant share of such minor

offenses. Yes. Your question is answered.

Let's imagine that surely I am talking about

they won't stop you. If we don't go,

who will go? Well, even if no one

goes, they'll still rig the numbers for you.

this is pointless, you know, and what

are we supposed to do then—gather and not disperse?

You see, all of it is useless.

All right, I'll repeat the question: you say

that the elections should be boycotted if you

aren't allowed to run, that people shouldn't go. But they will still

send someone anyway, and they will still

fake the results, right? Someone will go, they'll fake them, and

therefore all of this is meaningless, so we

should gather, not disperse, and so

on. In other words, your local newspapers can

plainly write that at the rally in Tambov

people in the crowd were calling for a Maidan (a mass protest uprising, referring to Ukraine's Maidan). Right?

Because what are you proposing—gather,

and not disperse? Listen, but I understand perfectly well

that someone will go anyway and

they'll fake it anyway. And of course I

will urge you

to gather now and later. But we have

the peaceful right to take to the streets. If candidates are not

registered, then of course I will call on

people to support me, including by

peacefully going out into the streets, without threatening

anyone at all. But here, you know, there's another

line of reasoning you often hear: "Well, we didn't

go, and they faked it. So we

might as well go anyway, because

there's some point in going."

There is no point at all in simply

going and voting, or spoiling

your ballot." Guys, this is not even a matter of,

well, rational choice, but rather

a moral one. If they spit in our faces,

are we supposed to go there anyway

and look for some clever strategy? If they, well,

show such disrespect toward their own

people, just brazenly laugh,

and say, "Well, he beat us in the

European Court, and we'll slap him with a new case

anyway." Ha-ha, that fool Navalny,

who does he think he is, going up against us? If we

agree to play along with this, then it

will never end. So yes,

of course, we need to defend our rights,

including by taking to the streets, and as for

the elections, there is no need to go. A question, yes, from

the person with the two signs.

How will—how will the money

be allocated to the army and the police?

How will money be allocated to the army

and the police? Good question. How is it allocated now

to the army and the police now?

Right now, a third of our budget is

a military-and-police budget. At the same time, well,

I myself come from a military town. My father was

in the military, well, he was. All my classmates were

military people. Is it easy for a serviceman to get an apartment?

You serve and serve in order to

get your housing certificate, and in the end

you get nothing. So right now, if we

even cut this military-and-police

budget and shift part of the money

to education,

and healthcare, there will still be enough

money, first of all,

to help personnel so that they can

have decent housing and receive

a decent salary. There is enough

money for that. So why is there not enough now?

And here it is not Alexei Navalny who answers,

but the Accounts Chamber

of the Russian Federation, which calculated

and tells us that every fourth,

or so, ruble allocated to the

state defense order,

is cashed out within six months. That

is, we allocate trillions, and those

trillions are literally

hauled away in little carts on wheels

to various corners. So once again, there is enough money.

We can absolutely

provide housing both for the police and for the military; we can definitely

pay decent salaries.

We just need to stop stealing. It's just that

these trillions would turn into

apartments somewhere in Tambov for

police officers and military personnel. Instead, they become villas on the

French Riviera. Your question, miss. Well,

damn, look to the left or to the right. And what

will be done about the oligarchs?

I can't hear. Louder.

Look to the right, damn it.

In a moment, then to the right.

To the right. Yes.

A question about the church. Insulting the feelings

of believers. Seizure. Wait, wasn't it here in your city

your

that there was that famous letter

with twenty-four points,

saying that the church wants everything

under the sun returned to it?

So, my position here is very

simple and clear.

The church is separate from the state.

We love

them, we respect them, I myself am Orthodox,

but we will not let them run the state,

},{

so that they decide whom to jail,

whom to punish. Or, say, to kick out this school,

this music school, and hand it back

to the diocese. Yes, at one time it belonged to the diocese,

but that was 100 years ago. We cannot

just throw everyone out right now and decide

that it's yours, because, well, we are all on equal

terms; we didn't invent this. Therefore I

separate the church from the state. I

treat everyone with respect, but they will not

meddle in my affairs, and they will not

be jailing people. And it seems to me that the whole country

already wants that, because there still hasn't been

a city where I wasn't asked this question.

So, there was swearing over here, I'm not coming over

to the right, okay? Question.

What am I going to do about the oligarchs?

Well, you know that I love many of them very

much. Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov,

his famous "Ptooey on you. Shame on you

once again."

I'd like to say I'll eat them alive, yes, but I will

simply make them pay taxes. Like

you remember, in The Diamond Arm (a famous Soviet comedy),

I think, when they said, "I'll make you

be honest people again." How do

Russian oligarchs make their money?

Take Usmanov, for example. Well, have you seen my film about

Usmanov? Who's seen it? Yes. Yes, everyone

excellent. So YouTube works

here.

They underpay wages, they don't pay

enough in taxes, and that's why they're so

rich. The owner of mining and metallurgical

plants abroad would not be as

rich as Usmanov, because his

government would tell him, "Hey, pay

your taxes here." And his workers, his

union, would say, "Hey, pay wages properly."

And a worker at the same kind of plant in

America earns $5,000, while at

Usmanov's he gets 38,000 rubles. And you

saw it, he replied to me in a video:

"Alexei Navalny, this isn't

America here."

And why isn't it? Precisely because

it's not America here because you don't pay

proper wages." So we will make them pay

decent salaries, pay taxes, and

that's it. I'm not going to throw them in jail

just for the sake of it, if they are not involved in

corruption, or persecute them. Just

let them pay up, that's all.

What will you do about Crimea? Crimea considers

Crimea ours.

What am I going to do about Crimea? Well,

to consider that

what will I do about Crimea? I will

understand that this is a complicated problem. And

the key to solving this complicated

problem lies in Crimea. There are 3

million people there. They now have

Russian passports. So I will go

there and say: "Folks, however you decide,

that's how it will be. I will hold a fair

referendum. Everyone will be able to campaign there.

I will release everyone who was unlawfully imprisoned

because they were against Crimea's

accession to Russia. That's their opinion. They have the right

not to want it. They all need to be released from

prison, and everyone must be given the chance

to campaign, to hold an honest,

super-honest referendum with

a million observers, and to recognize

the results of that referendum. Unfortunately,

we understand that most likely

Ukraine will not recognize it, the world

will not recognize it, and it will remain an unsolvable

issue. I would be lying to you,

if I said that I, Alexei

Navalny, have a solution to the Crimean

problem. I'm telling you honestly that neither I

nor anyone else has a solution to this

problem yet. Like all territorial

conflicts in the world, it is simply unsolvable.

Everyone will suffer for many more years. And when

a presidential candidate comes here in

30 years, they will be asked the same

question. Yes.

What policy will you pursue?

My attitude toward LGBT people

and...?

Right, we've got the full set today.

So: Article 228, Article 282, LGBT. So, all people are

equal. I don't care what you do

at home. It doesn't interest me. I'm not interested

in that at all. I'm not going to stick my nose into

other people's private business. There are people. What matters to me is that

they work, earn money, and pay taxes.

Taxes. What they do behind

closed doors, everyone is absolutely equal. And

it cannot be any other way in that

respect. Next question. You're probably

freezing by now, I can see that.

What about propaganda?

someone's shouting. Well, mostly I see

people talking, yes. Question.

Your attitude toward mandatory military service.

This is a very easy question for me to answer,

because I will abolish conscription. Oh,

I will abolish conscription. I support a professional

contract army, because I understand

the numbers, and I know that since 2005 Russia's budget

has been able to support

a professional army. We can afford

it. Even Putin now—well, there's pressure from below—

says, "We will switch

at some point in the future." And I say, "What

future? Here are the people right

now. Why should I grab them and

drag them into the army if they don't want to serve?"

Let professional soldiers serve

for decent pay. Because what is happening

now? Right now, military service by

conscription is a tax on the poor. From which

region? Which regions don't get drafted

into the army? Moscow.

St. Petersburg. Moscow.

Chechnya? Moscow. Chechnya. It's clear

why. But Moscow? Because in Moscow

there are rich people, and they simply buy their way out. But if in

Tambov there aren't that many rich people,

they can't buy their way out, so they go

to serve. It's an absurd system, it's

a tax on the poor. We can support

a professional army, and we will support it.

So, guys, this is an important issue. I'm going

to wrap up, because I don't want

all my supporters in Tambov to come down tomorrow

with pneumonia.

You see, we have

a huge number

of points of agreement across every part of the program. And

if, on any of these points

in the program—corruption, military service,

utility rates, whatever it may be, all the issues

I’ve discussed—if you go up to

any person, they’ll say: "Yes, I’m for

you, I support you." The truth is,

that every point in our program

is supported by no less than 80% of the people.

Our program is truly a winning

program. We just must not be afraid.

We simply need to go out and win. We need

to believe that, well, Russia can live

better, that we can build

a normal Russia not just for our grandchildren,

but for ourselves. Sooner or later, Russia must

have an honest

president. It must.

Yes.

And I want to become that kind of president. And I

will become one if you support me

as a normal person who is focused on

the country, not his own family, enriching it,

not his friends. It can be done.

We are not lost. We are a great,

wonderful country and a great,

capable, hardworking people who

have a wonderful future ahead, and we

will achieve it. Thank you, guys.

Thank you so much for coming.

Thank you so much for standing out here in the freezing cold.

I’ll come here many times again. By the way, we

have an experimental rally today.

It’s the first time, because we’re holding it

on private property. So let’s give

a round of applause to the person who wasn’t

afraid and gave us this space.

Thank you very much. Right now, we’re being

refused venues everywhere for

holding events. And all further campaigning

depends only on brave

people like this, who will simply provide

private land somewhere where we can

hold rallies. Thank you very much.

I’ll come again more than once. You’re the best, well done. We

will win this election. We will win.

Thank you. Tambov

has gathered