Alexei Navalny’s meeting with voters in Moscow’s Pechatniki District

No one is going to come to this meeting! And what

kind of nonsense is this, anyway?

To run an election campaign and meet with voters?

Nobody ever does it that way,

and no one is used to it. But from the very beginning

we simply tried to imagine for

ourselves what the ideal candidate would be. I

asked myself what my ideal candidate looks like.

My ideal candidate would come to my building and speak

in front of me, answer my questions

pleasant and unpleasant alike. And then I would decide

whether I’m going to vote for him or not

vote for him. So I became that kind of

candidate myself. I hold a lot of meetings like this.

Three meetings every weekday and five

meetings every weekend. But on the other hand, when I

tell all of you that I want to build

an open government and be an open mayor,

well, right now I already am an open

candidate, and you can ask me any

questions. I’d structure our meeting like

this: first I’d tell you a little about

myself, and then I’d answer

your questions. Any objections to that

format? Great. My name is Alexei

Navalny. I’m 37 years old. I’m your neighbor; I live

in the Maryino district and spend an enormous

amount of time stuck in this traffic jam

together with all of you. I’ve lived there

for the past 17 years with my wife and two

children. In that sense, I have a

completely typical Moscow family.

My daughter is 11; she goes to school in

Maryino, to an ordinary neighborhood school. My son is 5

and goes to a regular kindergarten. I myself come from

a military town. My father was in the military, and

throughout my childhood and youth I moved from

one military town to another

military town. My parents still live in

the Moscow region, in a military town. By

profession I am a lawyer, and I have two higher

education degrees. I graduated from the law

faculty of the Peoples' Friendship University and

the Financial Academy under the Government of the

Russian Federation.

If you’ve been following my activities more or less

over the past couple of years, what

do you know about me?

You know everything.

I probably don’t even know everything about myself.

Sometimes I ask, what do you know about me?

People tell me: "You stole the entire

forest." We know that—we watch TV.

Yes, friends.

Most often, of course, what people hear about me is

that I’m some kind of scandalous minority

shareholder who makes claims

against various state corporations,

demands that something be returned to him,

and accuses them of having robbed him. And

most often, the first question I’m asked

at meetings like this, the one I’d

start with, goes like this: So,

Navalny, why are you telling fairy tales

that Gazprom could have stolen something from you?

Come on, nothing was stolen from you; you’re making

all this up. All these Gazprom, Rosneft,

all these corporations may be

good or bad, but you’re clearly

exaggerating when you say they personally stole something

from you, and so it’s completely unclear

why you’re suing them. I would

answer that question this way, and

then it will probably be clearer to you why I

ended up on this stage. I really do

believe that all these corporations I’m

suing,

stole from me personally. I mean not

in some abstract sense that they robbed all

Russians, but from me personally, because

there’s a very simple calculation. In general, how does

Russia make its money?

Oil and gas.

Oil and gas. Unfortunately, we’ve

turned into a kind of raw-material appendage.

We extract oil and gas from the ground, sell it, and

live off that money. Over the past 15 years, we

have sold about $3

trillion worth of oil and gas. Is that a large amount or

a small one? A large one. A very large one. And

somehow, for example, I don’t have the

feeling that I understand where those

$3 trillion went. We

remember that, for example, the Soviet Union

in the Brezhnev era (under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev) also received

a large amount of petrodollars. We

roughly know where that money went. There stand

all these apartment buildings, these residential districts

all across Moscow. All of that was built with

Brezhnev-era oil money. Apartments were given out

for free back then, right? Factories, plants,

all of it was built. Science,

the military-industrial complex. All of it

was built with Brezhnev-era

petrodollars: factories, railroads,

ordinary paved roads. Everything

was being built then. Remember, there were

countries of socialist orientation.

They were being supported all over the world. But now

you received $3 trillion during

the Putin years. That’s more than

the Brezhnev-era money. There are probably

about 250 people standing here already, maybe

even more. Please tell me,

who can name even one major

industrial enterprise built in

Russia over the past 15 years?

There isn’t one.

Nord Stream. A pipeline. It’s a pipeline,

an industrial enterprise. Nord,

there’s Nord Stream, there’s South Stream, and

what’s it called, Blue Stream, and all

the other streams they’re building. An industrial

enterprise.

You know, sometimes people mention

Skolkovo, sometimes they mention Rusnano,

sometimes they mention the Ozero dacha cooperative.

But so far no one has named a single industrial enterprise,

because the truth is that

we have not built a single major

industrial enterprise in the last

15 years. There is just a pipeline, and beyond that

there is nothing. So I go around, outraged, and

I say to all these Rosnefts and Gazproms:

"Guys, where did you put the money? After all, you

received it. You sold off my share of the oil dollars

and gas money. Explain

where you invested it. That money is supposed to

work for me, or at least for my

children, for my future. I do not have

another country, another oil supply, or

another life. I want it to work

for me now. And they look at me

with those eyes and say: "Listen,

what makes you think that anything here

belongs to you at all?" And it is not just,

you know, some random person looking at me.

For example, at Rosneft there is a

vice president for legal affairs.

What do you think, by the way, what

the official salary might be for a

senior employee of a state oil

company, a vice president for legal

affairs?

A million.

500,000.

200,000, 300,000.

What country, what planet are you from?

The correct answer is that her

official salary is 880 million rubles a year.

At a meeting in Zelenograd (a district of Moscow), when I

said all this, and this can be verified,

a man in the front row felt faint.

A state oil company: 880

million rubles a year. As of today, it was

announced that Sechin, the head of

Rosneft, who has been a state official

his entire life, bought Rosneft shares worth 2

billion rubles. Well, that is just how it happened, you know.

He was simply a government official

all his life. He spent his whole life in

public service, honestly drawing a salary, and

somehow, from somewhere, he ended up with 2 billion

rubles. And he bought shares with it.

Wow.

So

that is why

He took out a 2 billion ruble loan. Well, it would be nice

if all of us could take out loans like that

for 2 billion rubles. That is why I

believe they robbed me personally,

because, well, nothing has been built,

nothing has been done, yet there are

these absolutely colossal, gigantic

salaries, and I see no roads,

no railways, no education, no

healthcare, nothing. This is an entirely

practical problem for me, because I keep coming to

it again and again and bringing solutions.

Let us reduce corruption here. Let us

reduce corruption here. Let us create

more transparency so that we can

monitor your spending. They do not want

any of it. I will answer the question a little

later.

They do not want to do anything. They want

to pay themselves 2 billion and have

no oversight at all. That is why I am

fighting them. That is how it is. And let them come up with

whatever insult they like. I call them crooks,

and thieves, because I truly

believe they robbed me personally. And I

have reason to believe that many

of you also believe that you were robbed

personally. And here I come to you as

a candidate for mayor of Moscow, asking

for your support and very much in need of

your support, because I want

simply to solve the specific problems

that exist in our city, the ones

I encounter and that poison my

life throughout all 17 years I have lived here. I think

our problems are roughly the same. Do

you have problems with housing and коммунальные services (public utilities and building maintenance)?

Yes.

Do we pay a lot or a little for housing and utilities?

We pay a lot. But the Moscow government

for some reason tells me, and you as well,

that we pay too little, that we should

pay more, and that tariffs must be raised

constantly. But excuse me, I look at

my utility bill for an apartment in a prefabricated panel building: 9,500

rubles for an apartment in a panel building. And I

know that right now we already pay for

housing maintenance 25 rubles per square meter.

They tell me that is too little, but just a moment. In Kazan

it is 18 rubles, in Yaroslavl 15, in Astrakhan

12. We pay 25, and they tell us: "Pay,

pay, pay even more." As a shareholder,

I am constantly in court with these Mosenergos

and Mosvodokanal. I see their finances. I

see that Mosenergo transfers to United

Russia (the ruling political party) a 300 million ruble donation, and then

builds it into my tariff. Do you want

to pay for donations to United Russia

through your utility tariffs? I do not. I see that

Mosvodokanal, our state-owned

company, which exists for us,

makes a net profit off us

of 3 billion rubles. What it does with that net profit

is anyone's guess, and then it again

says: "Let us raise the tariff." And

the Moscow government says: "Let us

raise the tariff even more." And the question

arises: "Guys, where is all that money

going? You have already made 3 billion and yet you are

raising the tariff again. It feels as if

there were no profit at all. And that is why I want

to become mayor, so that at last I can carry out

an audit of housing and utility tariffs, so that we can see what

we are paying for, and so that everything we should not

be paying for, starting with these

departmental

sanatoriums and ending with cross-

subsidization, can be thrown out.

from the tariff, and we will do it. There are

a huge number of nonexistent

investment programs. If you look

at the paperwork, you might think that across

all of Moscow they built new

power plants and replaced all the pipes everywhere.

But none of that actually exists. It is a complete

fabrication that we are paying for. And every

time they tell us: "Pay more, pay."

We already pay a great deal, more than

everyone else. I want to become the mayor

who will lower this both for myself and for

you. We will see that tariffs in Moscow not only

should not rise, they can actually

go down. Enormous sums are already being paid. I

came here because, well, I live

in the same part of Moscow as you, practically

next door, and I have the feeling that

migration is a problem. For you

migration is a problem,

right?

A huge one.

You see, that is an interesting thing. You see,

I am running for mayor because I know for certain

that migrants come here in such numbers

— hundreds of thousands, millions — not

because there are jobs, but

because it is easy to make money off them.

They are treated like slaves, exploited for profit, and so that

no one can say that I am manipulating

the numbers or bringing in planted

people, let me ask you directly.

How much does a migrant janitor

working in your courtyard earn? Who knows?

38

12

nine

They have not been paid for three months.

The highest is 15. You see what an

interesting thing this is.

3, 9. The highest is 15. But if we

look at the officially approved

minimum pay standard for a Moscow

janitor, we find out that there cannot

be janitors in Moscow who

earn less than 31,000 rubles.

Amazing, isn't it? Because all the real

live janitors we

spoke with gave us different

amounts. Where does the difference go? These people are

brought here and housed in buildings slated for demolition, in these

five-story apartment blocks awaiting demolition, in basements,

apartments with 30 people in them, because they

kick back 10,000 to 20,000 rubles. They live

in conditions of near slavery, and it is profitable to bring them

here in endless numbers. And they

will keep coming here forever until this

is stopped.

And this is simply a river of cash. Hundreds

of millions of rubles every month that

remain in management companies,

that remain in district administrations and prefectures.

But you and I, my friends, see

the other side of this river. When

I was preparing to speak in your district,

I checked whether crime in your district had risen

or fallen. So what do

you think — has it gone up or down?

No,

It has gone up. Seriously, you think? We

know that half of the crimes in

Moscow are committed by newcomers. I want

to tell you: in your district, especially serious

crimes are up 158%.

Murder up 100%, hooliganism 200%, drug

trafficking 207%.

Over the last six months. Official data

from the police precinct website.

In practice, it is probably even higher.

You see, I am running for mayor because

two years ago I did not have a single

acquaintance whose handbag had been snatched.

I simply did not know a single

person like that. Now in my building there are three

women whose handbags were snatched by these migrants.

And I know janitors, migrants,

who come here. I do not know

whether they are janitors or not. I simply know

that Moscow ranks first in the

world in the number of illegal

migrants. Do you like that?

I do not like it either. I want to change

this now, because I do not want to see

this crime. I want to change it

now, because I, like you, know

Moscow schools where there have begun to appear

classes in which already more than

half the children do not speak

Russian. You know about these

classes, don't you? I know about them too, and I want to solve this problem

now, because in 10 years

for my children and your children and grandchildren it

will already be impossible to solve, because

hundreds of thousands of people will be living in Moscow

who were born and raised here. They

have never even seen Uzbekistan or Tajikistan

in their lives. They will not want to

go back anywhere, or there will be nowhere for them to return to.

They will not want to work as janitors,

because why would they work

as janitors? They grew up in Moscow, but

even so, they do not know Russian

or know it poorly. They cannot

get into university, they cannot

get into a decent vocational college. They

have no prospects at all. How

will they earn a living? What kind of

life will they have? But we saw this in

France five years ago. I want to solve these

problems now, because later they

will be impossible to solve. I came here to you

because I really love

working with numbers and I know the exact size of

Moscow's budget. It is 1.6 trillion

rubles. Moscow's budget is second only

to the budgets of New York and Shanghai. You and I

live in one of the richest cities

in the world. The richest cities of Europe and the United States,

they can't even come close to comparing.

But I have a question for the audience. Tell me,

please, if we rank third in terms of

budget, then in your opinion, what place do we hold

when it comes to quality of

life among the world's largest cities?

163

Those are not very optimistic

predictions.

154

Last place. Why? Why isn't anyone saying

third place too? After all, we're spending money as if for

third place,

seventy-fifth,

thirty-seventh.

Correct answer. You were close. 154th

place. In terms of quality of life among

the largest cities, we rank 154th

place. A bit of a disproportion there, right,

third in budget, 154th in quality of life.

After all, we have everything we need for

a normal life. We have a city, we have

a large budget, we have

infrastructure, we have very

well-educated residents. We have everything,

it would seem, except the most important thing.

We have no faith in ourselves. For some reason, we

think that nothing can be changed. All these

things I'm telling you about

you already know better than

I do. Well, at the very least, no worse.

But we really do think that nothing

can be changed. That's just how life is arranged,

somehow unfairly and badly, so that we

live much more poorly than we should.

Russia ranks first in the world in oil and gas sales,

but only

69th in standard of living; Moscow is

third by budget, but in terms of quality

of life it is 154th. Take any

construction project here, any major

building site. Take the North-Western Chord

highway. It costs 70 billion rubles.

All the builders say in unison: this is

twice as expensive as it should be. They talk about it on

television, they write about it in newspapers, everyone

admits it. I don't accept it.

We know that just on the

construction of the North-Western Chord

30 billion rubles will be stolen from us, which

would be enough to build

additional outpatient clinics all across Moscow

instead. But somehow we just shrug

our shoulders and say: "Well, what can you do,

they'll steal it, it's outrageous, they're scoundrels. But

there's nothing you can do." In elections

they rig everything against us, and on television

they'll fool us anyway.

The district administration will chase us away too. To do

anything is impossible.

And so we keep shrugging our shoulders

and thinking that somehow we really are

doomed. The main idea I came here with

is that I believe

we are not doomed. What are we, the stupidest,

the most helpless people, is there some kind of

black cloud hanging over Moscow? We can do

everything. A lot of people mock me

for going to meetings like this, but I believe

in the most important thing: this is

the source of power. The people are

the source of power, and they can change everything.

Just think for yourselves: who is forcing us,

all of us sitting and standing

here, for example, to hand over to some crooks

30 billion rubles on the construction of

the North-Western Chord? Who? Look,

the police officers there, those four people,

standing here, they agree with

everything I'm saying. Where are those terrible villains

who are forcing us or

coercing us? They aren't there. They don't exist. And

what do you mean, in the Kremlin? Maybe there are

villains sitting in the Kremlin, but those villains

rule us not with the help of the police, not

even with the help of television, but through

the fact that we ourselves shrug our shoulders and

say that nothing can be changed. Everything

can be changed. I calculated

that if I hold 100 such meetings before the eighth,

and this is my seventy-sixth,

and I will manage to hold 100. That is, if

I hold 100 meetings and still don't go

crazy by the end,

I will have spoken more or less personally, as I am with

you, to 1% of the voters. That's a lot.

Show me another politician who has

spoken with 1 million voters, with 1%

of the electorate. In order to win

the Moscow mayoral election. For me

simply to win in the first round, I need

only half a million people in a city

where 15 million live. There are absolutely

definitely those half a million people in Moscow who

are needed, who know everything, understand everything,

have read everything, each of whom

can come out onto this stage and

say exactly the same things I'm saying,

each of whom can read

the program and see that there are solutions

to these problems. Because these problems are

not unique to Moscow. Other

cities have solved traffic jams,

migration issues, and so on. These

people exist. We simply have to believe in

ourselves, believe what a powerful

force we are, that everyone has friends,

acquaintances, neighbors on the same landing.

We can elect any government,

re-elect it, and throw it out again if we

don't like it. Any candidate and

any politician can be made to come

to our courtyards like this and speak,

the way I am speaking now, because we are

the source of power. I believe that. I came

here so that you yourselves would remember

it. Remember how important you are, how

much your votes mean, how much

people you can actually bring

to the polling stations. There may

already be, probably, around 300

people here now. You alone can bring

20,000 people to the polling stations,

just those present here. And you can do

it very easily. It will take each of you

15 minutes. I believe that, by relying on you,

through you, I will be able

to speak to hundreds of thousands, to

millions. I believe that we will be able

to change this government. I believe that on the eighth

we will win and begin building

a normal city for us and for our

children. Thank you very much. Now I am ready

to answer questions.

Yes, please.

I’ll repeat it for everyone afterward. Just

speak up so I can hear.

The microphone

is far away.

The question

should go to the organizer.

He can rephrase it however he

likes. The micropho-

a question about social policy in Moscow

and

economic policy. And the question

next is about my court case. As for

social policy, our

approach here is very simple, and it

is based on the numbers. Moscow’s budget

is so large that we can pursue

a normal social policy. When

Moscow City Hall tells me that my

program is populism and that it is impossible to raise

the Moscow portion of the pension twofold, I

say that’s nonsense. In our program

right now—just a second, I’ll finish answering.

How much is the Moscow portion

of the pension now?

One moment. The Moscow portion of the pension

is approximately 4,000–4,500 rubles. In order to raise it,

so that the overall pension standard would be 12,000

rubles. Right? We need 138 billion rubles

to raise the Moscow portion

of the pension twofold and make the minimum

standard 16,000 rubles. That money exists

in the Moscow budget, absolutely

for sure. Listen, by the

city administration’s own official admission, they steal

150 billion rubles a year just through state procurement

alone. That’s 30,000 rubles per Muscovite. I

know exactly how to save that

money. Our Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) has already

had corrupt contracts canceled worth

59 billion rubles. And I’m not even an official, I

have no formal powers at all. Nevertheless,

we achieved that, and we will do it again.

So when I am asked about

the social priorities of the Moscow

budget, we can pay more money

to pensioners, we can increase benefits

for large families, we can, finally,

provide plots of land to large families

as required by law. We can,

finally, put an end to the disgraceful

situation in which people with disabilities cannot buy

the medicine they need.

We can introduce a proper insurance-based

prescription drug system, where you

receive the medicines you need. This

is paid for by the insurance company, and I will introduce

this when I become mayor. As for

the court cases, well, you know,

all these people are unhappy, all these

Gazproms and Rosnefts are unhappy that I

go after them, unhappy that I

hold them to account. That is why

court cases against me regularly

appear. Regularly they shout

that they’re going to jail me. You know

that they already jailed me once, and were

forced to release me because people

were outraged. I know one thing: if I become

a mayor who truly relies

on Muscovites, if I become a mayor

who serves Muscovites, and Muscovites

know that this mayor serves them, then they

won’t be able to do anything to me. If I

rely on the people, there will be no

court case, no one will

put me in jail. On the contrary, you and I will put them all

behind bars ourselves. Please,

How many bank cards do I have? Two.

How many bank cards? How much is in

the accounts? Please, you can go to

the election commission website and see there

what has been published: how much I have in my accounts,

how much my wife has in hers. I’ll answer you: I have

2 million rubles, and my wife has about 1.5 million rubles.

But

No, that’s all the money I have, and my wife has

about that much in total.

Great question.

No, no, don’t dismiss it, this is an important question.

Look, the question of property is very

important. At my previous

meeting in Tekstilshchiki, a man came

from United Russia and said, "So,

Navalny, you have a large income."

"Explain where your large income comes from." My

answer is this: "Guys, my income is

what it is, and all of you can

look at it. You all know roughly where I

live. You all know roughly,

probably, something about my family." Out of

curiosity, raise your hand if you have seen

a photograph of my wife, for example. There.

Thank you. And who has seen a photograph of

Sobyanin’s wife?

There, only two people have seen one. Well,

he showed her once, so everything about me

is clear enough. My declaration makes

more or less everything visible. I only have one question:

why didn’t Sobyanin include in his

declaration the 380-square-meter apartment

that he put in his underage daughter’s name

declare it? Why is it impossible to tell from Sobyanin’s

financial disclosure how he

having earned only 20 million rubles over the last 10 years,

bought two additional apartments for his daughters

each of which costs

more than 100 million rubles. These are the things we

must do. I want to become a mayor about whom

it will be absolutely clear

where his income comes from. I want to become

a mayor for whom, both for himself and for

members of his team, it will be

mandatory to explain where the

money came from. Right now, take, uh, the same

Sechin, whom I mentioned—he bought

2 billion rubles’ worth of Rosneft shares. Well, he bought them

and that’s that. He doesn’t have to explain anything.

I will introduce rules under which all of you

will be able to understand where the money

came from, how it is spent, and why certain

strange things do or do not

happen. Please, your question.

I can pass this microphone over if you keep it brief.

Hello, I’m district council deputy Maxim

Motin. Dear residents, I can inform you

that literally five days

ago, at 23 Yuzhnoportovaya Street,

opposite the cement elevator that

we fought against together, a new

illegal asphalt-concrete plant was opened.

And now, five days ago, they connected

gas to it, and it has already started operating.

There are no documents at all. This is an election-season

gift from Mr. Sobyanin to all

the residents of our district, for which

many thanks to him. They’ll be poisoning us

for a long time. Emissions from the Kuryanovo wastewater treatment

facilities. Every day there are

hydrogen sulfide emissions. Since 2006, we have

been fighting to get an air-monitoring station

installed. They did install one for us

recently—they installed the station last week.

The only thing they forgot to install there

was a hydrogen sulfide sensor. It

measures just about everything so far except

hydrogen sulfide. We’ll keep fighting.

I hope it won’t take another seven years. So

vote with both your heart and your head.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Maxim. And I also wanted

to thank Maxim. He was one of the

first deputies to sign

in support of me as a

municipal deputy, back when

in fact no one believed I would be able to

run. That really is

important. When I was preparing to speak

here, I simply read about how every

time some enterprise is supposed to be moved out, or before every election

you are promised that an enterprise will be relocated,

you are told

that 70% of your district is industrial land,

so the industrial zone will be

reduced. But instead, they opened it.

and the land area will be repurposed for other

uses. Every time they promise it,

does it happen?

No, it doesn’t—they lie every time.

Why is all this happening? Well, you know

all about Biryukov. Why are construction projects being lobbied here?

Because Biryukov’s brother is the one building them.

Do you know why things like this

happen with your district head? Because

who is he connected to now, again?

Who?

Shu...

Yes, Shilukhin. He had them bring in this Tsybin,

who sits in the Housing and Utilities Department. So

this has literally all

turned into a mafia. It’s a mafia that

has already become interrelated among itself. So

that is exactly why the authorities must be changed,

so that all this stops, so that we

understand why this person became

head of the district administration. And if the only explanation for us

is, you know, that he brought one

person into the government, well, that kind of thing—

should that really be acceptable?

It should not. That’s why I’m running. I want to become

the mayor who finally changes everything.

Miss, please.

Let me give them the microphone there, but only

briefly.

A question about education.

First of all, I’m very concerned about children

of migrants in our schools who

come in and do not speak

Russian at all. And the problem of corruption in universities,

where it is impossible to get in, even if you have

top scores, honors diplomas, and

gold medals—it is impossible to get into

a prestigious university. And one more question about

housing. Uh, I work at a school,

I’m a teacher myself. In my class there are two

children who do not speak

Russian at all. I am supposed to

teach them. And the housing issue: that is, I

work as a teacher, and just to have at least

a chance of buying an apartment in my

city, where I was born, I have to either

change jobs or put my entire salary

into a mortgage. Something is clearly wrong with

that, specifically with...

We asked you to keep it brief.

Go ahead. And what will Navalny do?

Excellent question. Look,

We’re quiet here.

We started talking about, for example,

getting apartments in Moscow. Right. And

teachers, in principle, should be given them under

a special program. How many people are on the waiting list

in Moscow? Who remembers how many

people are waiting for apartments in Moscow?

90,000 families, almost 400,000 people. And

now a question for all of you. You

surely know there are many people on the waiting list; everyone

suffers and worries, and getting an apartment

is impossible. Is there any place on the internet

or in some public list where you can go and check?

and look at this queue? Well, who is in it,

who is first, who is second, who is thirty-

first, who is four hundred thousandth? There is

such a list. You should be able to see the queue.

No, it's impossible. Why?

So that, as it turned out

now, all these people from Tyumen brought in by Sobyanin

arrived and have all already received apartments.

All of them, you see, were supposedly on the waiting list. And

amazingly, within a year they all received

200-square-meter apartments in the city center. That is what

Navalny will do. Navalny

will finally make this queue public so that

we could see, so that you could see, that I, as

Navalny, did not worm my way into this queue, because

Navalny wants, at long last, to become

the first mayor who will come to Tverskaya 13

from his apartment in Maryino and

go back to that apartment in Maryino for one

simple reason: because Navalny is not

entitled to an apartment. I have four

family members and a three-room apartment. Am I

entitled to an apartment as someone on the waiting list? No.

Should I be put on the waiting list? No. I am

dissatisfied and furious about what

is happening now, when Sobyanin

privatized a 170-square-meter apartment in Tyumen.

Then he bought and privatized here in

Moscow a 300-square-meter apartment in his daughter's name. We all

know how many times in a lifetime the right

to privatize is granted.

Once.

Once. So why do they privatize everything 30 times over?

I don't like it. I

will make sure that I myself cannot

do this, and you will all see it. There will be

a transparent system. I will not allow anyone

to do this. As for the situation in

schools in general—well, universities, I just won't

talk about universities; universities are

a federal issue. As for schools,

you know that right now one of the most

enormous problems facing Moscow schools is

what? Consolidation. Have you heard about

the consolidation of schools? Yes, it's happening constantly. I myself

have

the school where my daughter studies is being merged

with a neighboring school and kindergarten. No one

understands why this is happening. My

wife is on the parents' committee, and she

doesn't understand,

the teachers don't understand, the local deputies don't

understand, even though enormous amounts of money are being allocated

to schools. Who can

tell me? Who can tell me what the current

salary of a school principal in Moscow is?

150.

200. You say 150–200. Exactly.

That's right, from 150,000 to 300,000 rubles.

That's the salary of a school principal in Moscow. And a

teacher,

a deputy gets 150. And you, as a teacher,

how much do you earn? 20,000.

30,000 is what the teacher sitting in

the front row earns. You see, we have some kind of

strange thing going on here. And then there are

these incomprehensible merger processes

whose underlying logic is

as follows: there is a bad school and a good

school. Let's attach two bad schools

to one good school, and

we'll get one big good school.

Well, you know, it's like taking a Mercedes

and two carts, tying them together with tape, and

getting one big beautiful Mercedes.

But that's nonsense. We know how

schools work. We know that this is a working

collective. If there is a good principal,

it works better. If there are good

teachers, it works well. If a good teacher leaves,

it works worse. Therefore

all these mechanical processes are not

needed. And the enormous sums of money that

we allocate should be spent under the oversight of

parents' committees,

local deputies, and local residents.

Because schools are a classic matter

of local concern. You cannot merge

schools from Tverskaya 13 (Moscow City Hall). I do not want anyone from

Tverskaya 13 meddling in my school in Maryino.

That is not how these issues are resolved.

All of this should be decided here. And my

program says exactly that. We allocate a lot of money.

And that is exactly how all of this should

be done. Please.

Go ahead.

Maybe I don't so much want to ask you a question

as ask for your advice. We have

a problem. We have the Ulyanovsky microdistrict.

All our migrant workers there have gone on strike. They have not been

paid their wages. The district is buried in garbage.

I, Anna Grigoryevna Bolkova, every

day go to Moscow Mayor Sobyanin's website

with photos, dates, times,

with everything documented. Would you believe it? Not once has anyone

responded. The district is drowning in trash, and people

are outraged beyond words.

We don't need migrants. Alexei

Anatolyevich, I'm asking you, here on this

flash drive I recorded everything. If you have

any way to get this across, please

be so kind and help us, please.

Thank you very much. I'm glad that you are so

optimistic that you are already handing flash drives to me as if I were

the sitting mayor. Well,

listen, people often reproach me, saying,

"Navalny, you're like a parrot:

corruption, corruption, corruption." But what

happened in your case is a typical

case. Money was allocated, then some

people took the money. I studied this situation.

No criminal case has been opened.

There really are people running around who

haven't been paid for several months,

the garbage is not being collected. This is simply

a criminal offense. And the person in

the management company or the district maintenance office should already

be in prison over this, but is not.

is in jail, because that's how everything is set up here.

That's how it works. Here, they can't jail the head of the

department. It's obvious why here

no one can put Serdyukov in jail.

So until we start taking basic measures

to fight corruption,

nothing will work properly. Until

we bring the management company under

the residents' control, nothing will

happen.

We'll wake up and not go outside. That's how it

will be.

Oh, the whole district. Yes, yes, yes.

Listen, this is also one of those open secrets

that everyone in the Southeastern District knows.

We have Prefect Zotov, and we have

the prefect's son, who

really is a shareholder in all the

management companies. Once again, this is

just a kind of family mafia that

operates completely openly. They

make money off our housing and utilities sector, they

make money off the management companies and

pretend that we just, well, that we

don't know anything. When Zotov is

asked about it, he says: "That's not

true." But we just look at the Yagula database and

see his son there. Do you understand? He really

thinks a million people are idiots,

incapable of figuring out

what is written in the registry. That's why I'm running in

the election. This government must be made accountable

to the people. It exists with such brazen arrogance,

it shows such open contempt,

you understand? It would seem, excuse me,

that maybe I'm taking too long to answer this

question. But this is important. It would seem that

Sobyanin is interested, and Luzhkov was interested,

in making sure people were not

outraged by the obvious corruption that

Zotov is carrying out in relation to

the management companies. And in theory he

should have fired him, because

his ratings would go up. But they care so little,

they simply don't care at all. They care so little

about the residents. They

really believe that everything will be decided by

television, and by the people who will simply

sit on the election commission

and rig things at the polling station. So that's the first, the second

part of the program. We have one task: to come to

this election and show that not everything here

is decided by television. Yes, please.

Medical workers

get practically nothing at all.

It's an absolute nightmare.

And they're the ones treating people.

How can they treat people if they have no money

to live on?

Excellent question. Is there money for

Moscow's medical workers?

Let me tell you, my dear residents

of Pechatniki, that for healthcare

for every Muscovite, for your

healthcare, mine, and the healthcare of

your neighbors, four times more money is allocated

than for any other

citizen of Russia. For outpatient clinics alone,

for each Muscovite

20,000 rubles a year are allocated. For my

family of four, that means

80,000 rubles are allocated. Just for

outpatient clinics. Is that a lot or a little? It is

enough. Just out of curiosity, please raise your hands,

those of you who have been to your

local outpatient clinic in the past year.

Everyone's sick. All right then. And those who

haven't been to their local outpatient clinic,

there you see, but 20,000 rubles are written off for every person

for each one. For every single person.

I want to become mayor because at my

outpatient clinic, I assume there are the same

enormous lines as at your

clinic. Do you have lines at your

clinic?

At mine they're absolutely huge.

You have to stand there for an hour and a half.

I want to become the kind of mayor who

will finally, instead of endless capital

investments, invest in doctors. I

want to become the kind of mayor who, with the

huge sums already available, will finally

hire internists, general practitioners,

and the other doctors who are needed

by Muscovites in 90% of cases. Tell me,

please, at your clinic is it easy to get an

ultrasound exam?

Not easy. Very strange. You know, your answer

surprises me, because

on Sobyanin's campaign billboard

it says that Sobyanin is such a

great guy, he bought 1,200 ultrasound machines for Muscovites

So that means every district should have

10 ultrasound machines.

He bought them. That's true.

Next question. Is it easy to get an MRI

where you are? Is it easy to get a scan?

Right. And at every meeting—this is the seventy-

sixth meeting—every time I

ask whether it's easy to get a scan,

people wave their hands and say, "Are you

out of your mind?"

But go ahead, look at Sobyanin's

interview. In the number of scanners per

capita, we've surpassed every

European country. We have more

scanners than anyone. I know why this

is happening. Because my Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF)

analyzed this

program for modernizing Moscow's

healthcare system. They spent 100 billion rubles.

You say there's no money. 100

billion rubles were spent buying all this

equipment at twice the price, and now it

is sitting there now, covered with a cloth in the

hallway, and we can't get either

a scan or an ultrasound. What we need are doctors.

It would have been better if that money had been used to hire

doctors by the thousands and send them abroad to study,

so that in five years they could at least

treat our children, if they cannot treat us.

These endless capital

investments need to be stopped, because

they are only investing in

the enrichment of chief physicians. We need doctors,

we need to hire doctors, because if, God forbid,

someone faces the situation where a

relative has cancer,

well, we all know

detection rates have not increased,

prevention has not improved,

survival and recovery rates for cancer

have not improved, getting an MRI

is impossible, and getting treatment without bribes

is impossible. But they spent 100 billion rubles

on modernization. I am running in order

to become mayor, because I go to the same

public clinics as you do. I do not go to

a clinic on Rublyovka (an elite Moscow suburb), but to my own, in

an ordinary Maryino clinic, where first you have to

go to that electronic registration desk,

which does not work and through which

it is impossible to make an appointment. Then you have to go

to a general practitioner whose schedule is completely full,

just to get referred to another doctor.

That is what needs to change. That is where

the money should be invested. That is why I am running for city hall.

Please, you've had your hand raised for a while.

idiot, to change it.

I see. A question about guarantees.

Indeed, why does your program not have

a guarantee? Tell me, what kind of plan

can come with a guarantee? I can tell you

right here, folks, on my word of honor—would that

satisfy you?

No. I could say, like Yeltsin, "I will

lay down my head." He offered his head, and his hand

to be cut off, and everything else. Is that

a guarantee? No. So the main guarantee

you need, it seems to me, is that you should

believe not in me, but in those changes to the

system of government that I will make immediately.

So that I do not become a crook after

six months, in those first six months I must

change the system of power in such a way that it becomes

very hard for me to become a crook. And if I do

become one, you must throw me out immediately.

That is why, for example, we included in our

program a clause stating that there will not be a

single project costing more than

1 billion rubles that I will be able to

sign off on myself. All such

projects will undergo international review. Right now

the mayor can hand out billions left

and right with ease. I will be the kind of mayor

who puts a stop to that. I will be the kind of mayor

who transfers powers, money, and land

to the district level here. I do not want

my deputies at Tverskaya 13 (Moscow City Hall) dealing with

your parks and squares being handed over for development in exchange for bribes.

All of this is your

land. Under the Land Code and the

Urban Planning Code, it belongs

to the residents. That is why I want to change the system

of government so that if I become a bad mayor

after six months, you will notice it immediately,

so that independent media will immediately tear into me for it,

so that opposition deputies,

elected because there is no vote rigging,

will impeach me, and you will

replace me at the next early

election if I have become a bad mayor. That

is the only guarantee that you

need. No solemn promises. Although

I do give you my word of honor as well.

hand

there is not enough money for us. Everyone comes here,

gives birth for free, and so on. There is indeed such a

problem; it is connected with

migration, and it is connected with so-called

medical tourism.

People come here. All right then, since

you asked about migration, let me

answer about migration. Why do they

come? Russia ranks first in the world

in the number of illegal

migrants. Moscow ranks first

in the world. Is that normal? Do we

like that? Do you like that?

I do not like it either. I have three

solutions for this.

There are three solutions. Before I

name them, I have a question for the audience.

Please raise your hand if you have been

to any European country. Any one.

Thank you. Now raise your hand if you

managed to slip into any European

country without a visa.

There you go.

How?

Well, once I asked that, and a man

raised his hand. I said, "How did you do it?" He

said, "I entered Germany." I

said, "Like when he was in the army and rolled in on a tank.

Those are not exactly the right

examples. We are, after all, ordinary

normal, law-abiding people, but even so

neither Germany, nor France,

nor America will let us in without a visa.

Then please explain to me why

any resident of Uzbekistan or

Tajikistan, even without an international passport,

can come here with a one-way

ticket and stay for any length

of time. Is that a normal system?

It is not normal. So the first thing I

will push for is the introduction of a visa

regime with the countries of Central Asia and

the South Caucasus. Without this basic measure, nothing

will work. Second, we must introduce

disqualification for contractors who

hire illegal migrants. Not just a fine, but

a permanent ban from any

government contract. No more

major repairs, no beautification contracts for you. And

third, within a year we will make sure that

so that enterprises that receive

municipal money, our money, do not

have the right to use that money to hire

foreigners. If it is a private

company, let it hire whoever it wants. That is their

business. The main thing is that it be legal. But

if our money is being used, then let them

use that money to hire Muscovites and

Russian citizens. There is enough money. A lot

of it. There are a great many myths on this subject.

Thank you. You must have heard that at

the previous meeting, a woman came and

repeated this famous phrase: "You

are all against migrants here, but if the

Tajiks leave, you will all be buried in filth."

Have you heard that one?

But is it true or not? Well, it is nonsense,

because we know that before 2003, in

Moscow there were no migrants. We know that

in most Russian cities there are no

migrants. In no city with a

population under 500,000 are there any migrants.

There are no migrants in Belarus. These are all

myths. People come here because,

as we said at the beginning, people make money

off them as if they were slaves. And secondly,

because in Uzbekistan and in Tajikistan

there is poverty. Sooner or later, the whole country will move here.

It is simply very hard

to live there. There is neither education nor

healthcare, and there are no jobs at all.

That is why they will always keep coming here.

These three measures I am talking about, we will

introduce them, and we will reduce the number of migrants

by 70% over the next 2 years. Please,

public procurement. May I have the microphone?

Public procurement. I just want

everyone to hear. The Mayor's New Year tree 2013. I do not

know whether the mayor knew about this event. We

took part in this public

procurement. The winning company

did not lower its bid even a little: 40 million

rubles. The Mayor's New Year tree. And tickets for the Mayor's New Year tree

were being sold. Any show at all,

even on a large scale, would cost, well, no

more than a million.

40 million rubles. Where it went, I do not know.

Of course, the company that won was the one that had been working with

Moscow City Hall since 1998.

Later we analyzed it.

Thank you very much for this information. There is only

one mistake. You said, where it

went, I do not know. Yes, we do know where it

went. We know everything. Listen, the Mayor's New Year tree,

39 million was stolen from it, in your view? Yes. As I already said,

less, a little less.

All right, a little less. Look at how

the Moscow metro is being built after

last year the main contractor

for the construction of the Moscow metro became

Timchenko, Putin's friend...