“Ricochet” from October 18, 2018. Navalny on the debate with Zolotov and the investigation into the property of the head of the National Guard (Rosgvardiya)

Good evening! Terribly glad to be on Echo of Moscow, even if only by phone. I listened to Echo, and specifically to you, Alexander, constantly in my cell when they gave me a radio receiver.

Thank you! And we are very much expecting Alexei Navalny on Monday on the program Full Albats after 8 p.m. I hope that, Alexei, you will come.

I’ll come, I’ll come.

You received a response from the National Guard. True, not from Zolotov himself, but from Valery Gribakin, who is their general for media relations. Here is what he said: “We are all busy with work: organizing operations in Kerch under heightened alert conditions. I generally consider such a performance shameful when the whole country has bowed its head in mourning. While we are donating blood, expressing condolences to the families of the dead, and taking measures to strengthen security, engaging in self-promotion is simply unworthy,” he told you, Alexei. What will you answer him?

Well, it’s a little funny for me to hear people from the National Guard talking about self-promotion against the backdrop of that rather funny thing they organized on Red Square with some supposed terrorist, who was then charged with hooliganism, who challenged Zolotov, and then, while under arrest, talked about how wonderful Zolotov is. Frankly speaking, I’m not very interested in what Gribakin says, because after all this was a personal address from Zolotov. I responded to that address, and I would like it to be without intermediaries in the person of some Gribakin. Khinshtein (a former journalist and now a State Duma deputy) comes up with all sorts of PR tricks for them. I would like Zolotov to answer just as clearly and plainly as he called for my response.

Well, I want to ask our radio listeners (we always have a vote in this program): what do you think, has Zolotov responded, will some kind of response come directly from Zolotov himself to this proposal from Navalny? If you think yes, that in some form a response from Zolotov himself will come — 660 06 64. If no such response comes, if he ignores it altogether — 660 06 65. A response from Zolotov will come — 660 06 64. No, it will not — 660 06 65. Well, what do you yourself think, Alexei?

What do you mean, will a response come… I mean, of course a response will come. Whether it will be a public response, whether Zolotov will record a video or some kind of written statement — I’m not sure that will happen. Well, I hope it will. But some kind of response from the authorities, from Zolotov, will come in the form of the arrest of another person or some criminal case, or a search, or some actions. As he himself said in the video, in my opinion — a “little comeback” or a “little reply.” So, of course, something like that will happen. It always happens after each of our major investigations: another escalation, criminal cases, searches, and all sorts of such things. I do not doubt that for a second, because, frankly speaking, they do not know how to do anything else. But as for in what form it will be and whether it will be public… That is, if it is public, maybe it will be something insane. Because I quite sincerely said in today’s video that Zolotov confirmed that there are now some crazy, deranged, sick people in power, and they are capable of doing all sorts of different, strange things now.

Didn’t you think that maybe today really was not the time, after what happened in Kerch, to release this video? Obviously it had been prepared earlier. It’s clear there was some post-production. But you could have released it tomorrow, for example, or the day after tomorrow.

I recorded it yesterday. And indeed I thought… Well, I wrote in the post that I didn’t know whether to release it today or not. But first of all, what made me release it today was precisely the discussion going on in the State Duma, the discussions being led by all these силовики and these Gribakins, like the one you quoted at the beginning of the program, about how it is necessary to give more money to the National Guard, more powers, that the wonderful National Guard will save us from something. And right now for me the words “more money for the National Guard” mean: more cash for the Zolotov family.

A. Navalny: A response, of course, will come. But will it be a public response, will Zolotov record a video? And I very much want that before we discuss some additional powers for the National Guard, we should nevertheless discuss Zolotov himself, the procurement of uniforms, cabbage, carrots, and in general how things are inside what is called law enforcement agencies and the security services, because it is simply a black hole where our money disappears forever, and we get no efficiency at all.

Look, we called our short dialogue with you “All Zolotov’s Gold.” And in general, in this program we usually talk about investigations and how they were done. Could you tell our radio listeners… There was an image in your video today that struck me, where, in my opinion, it was divided into 12 squares, and there was a portrait of Zolotov that changed into newer and newer houses. And they all changed, all 12, 12 houses or maybe even more in the end. How were the investigations done? How were they found? How was that Mikoyan dacha found?

Exactly right. One of the remarkable things about Zolotov, the astonishing things, is this kind of insatiability of his, and even an insatiability that he does not try to hide or disguise. Frankly speaking, you can find in my blog post — we specifically posted a folder where the extracts for all the properties are located. This is all registered directly in his name. We have no doubt that most likely maybe we didn’t find something (possibly foreign real estate). But since his grandchildren are in England, it is quite likely that something like that exists. But even the properties that we found, which are confirmed by registry extracts, amount to 3.5 billion rubles. We searched for this using open databases. That is, it is simply such long, painstaking work analyzing open databases and open information. And through that, everything can be found. And in such cases I am constantly once again perplexed by the role of the security services. If we found that an army general (his family) has real estate worth 3.5 billion rubles, then the FSB didn’t find it? Why didn’t the prosecutor’s office or Putin himself at least ask him a question, say: “Well, Vitya, have some conscience. All right, one dacha, a second one… But how much can you have?! How much of this real estate do you need?” But for some reason they do not ask him such questions.

As for the aerial filming, flights, and so on — was all that done as part of the same “daching” or what?

You know that right now they are using some special article to hold accountable people who film their dachas. Therefore, in this part I would not like to elaborate.

Understood. Let me remind you that we had a vote. Look, 20% of our radio listeners expect a public response from Zolotov (probably in the form of a video or an address). 80% say that he will not answer. How was it there, “will eat with satisfaction”… How was it said?

Will eat with satisfaction. Yes, yes, yes.

Yes. But you, as I understand it, in this sense are with the minority: you think that some kind of response will nevertheless follow.

I think some kind of response will follow. And I’m even almost sure, I want to hope, that after all this wild pathos with the golden peaked cap, with officer’s honor, and all these sorts of things, he must answer something, at least something: publicly, in writing, by video. I think the response will most likely be something like, “Ah, so you were too cowardly to fight me, well then to hell with you; ptooey on you for the third time after Usmanov the first and the second.” Probably something like that. Well, I will be disappointed three or four times over if after this super-pathos-filled address Zolotov somehow “eats with satisfaction.”

Thank you very much! Alexei Navalny, who today at 20:18 on his YouTube channel.

At 20:00.

At 20:00, right? All right, at 20:00. Otherwise everyone will come at 20:18 out of habit. And at 20:00 also on Monday with Yevgenia Albats in the program Full Albats, already live and not in the form of a picture, as we have on our YouTube broadcast. Thank you very much!

Thank you!

Alexander Plushev was with you. Goodbye!