Alexei Navalny’s meeting in Novosibirsk as part of campaigning for the Democratic Coalition slate

We’re starting without any special

warm-up. The weather has taken care of that for us.

Let’s just begin.

The Democratic Coalition is holding primaries.

The main parties that

organized it are the RPR-PARNAS party and

the Progress Party. So, here with us today we have

one of the leaders of RPR-PARNAS, Ilya Yashin,

here in Novosibirsk today, and the leader of the

Progress Party, Alexei Navalny. Now I’d like to

invite Ilya to the stage for a few words, and

then Alexei.

He hasn’t come yet.

Hello, Novosibirsk.

I’ve brought you good news.

For the first time in a long while,

there is a chance for real

meaningful change in the Novosibirsk Region.

For the first time in a long while,

we have managed to form a truly

strong, substantive democratic coalition.

We are often accused of this: you want

a Maidan (mass uprising), a revolution, a riot. In fact,

the main revolutionaries are sitting in the Kremlin,

because they are the ones who keep

provoking civil clashes,

confrontation, setting us against one another. But we

want the country, want the regions

to change in a civilized way, through elections.

That is exactly why we are going into these elections.

That’s right.

We are going into these elections in order to

the parliament of the Novosibirsk Region becomes

a real parliament, where the interests of

all citizens would be represented, and not just

those of a narrow group of officials and

oligarchs, whose interests are defended by

paid crowds. That’s right.

We are going into these elections in order to

adopt a program and carry out a program

that works in the interests of the majority of

residents of the Novosibirsk Region. We want

through transformation, through reforms,

to significantly raise the standard of living

of the people of Novosibirsk. That is why we are seeking power.

Our task is to form a people’s

list of the democratic opposition

that will enjoy the trust and

support of voters.

We know how to work in the regions, we

know how to win elections. You

remember very well how our

comrade Boris Nemtsov did it. Today, by the way,

marks 100 days since his murder. You saw how he

worked in the Yaroslavl Region, didn’t you? Everyone there also

said: why have you come here, what do you

want? Nemtsov went through every courtyard in

Yaroslavl, shook hands with dozens, hundreds,

thousands of voters, won them over, and became

a deputy. Nemtsov worked in such a way that

he managed, even against the majority of

United Russia, to get laws passed in the

interests of the people of Yaroslavl. Nemtsov secured

the resignation of a corrupt

deputy governor. And we will do the same.

We will get our deputies elected, and we

will push for changes in the

interests of the majority of residents of the

Novosibirsk Region.

Friends, only in this way—through elections, through

raising civic awareness,

through engagement,

through cooperation—will we be able to change

our country. No one is going to do this for us.

That is why I am very grateful

that you came. I am very glad that,

despite all this pressure, all this

intimidation, despite the murder,

the imprisonments, the bans, we continue to fight

for our country, because you and I

are patriots of Russia.

Now I want to give the floor to our

comrade, a visiting Moscow

touring act, convicted three times, our

friend, our comrade Alexei

Navalny. Please welcome him. [cheering]

Hello, Siberia.

I’m incredibly happy to be here with you. You know,

this is actually my first trip in three years,

guys. Now let me just ask you

for your attention for a second. You do

respect your Siberian friends, don’t you?

For three years I couldn’t go anywhere. This is

my first trip. My wife kept saying,

“Lyosha, once all these

house arrests and travel restrictions are over...”

“We’ll go somewhere hot together.”

Yulia, are you happy? We’ve come to

a genuinely hot place. I

I really do love this kind of thing. It shows that

there is real

political life in Novosibirsk. And the first

taste of it came today, when three

guys ran out and threw eggs. It was

actually pretty interesting. We wanted to ask them

whether they were imported or whether it was

import substitution, but the guys quickly

ran off. And you have to look for the upside in everything.

You have to look for the upside in everything. Before I changed my shirt,

it was funny—I

walked around in the heat with this egg mess on my side,

and on the metro. And on the metro I started

to imagine that some

Siberians would come up to me and say, “Alexei,

I don’t really like your views, but

I’m going to vote for you because you

smell so wonderfully like fried eggs.”

You just need a little bacon added to you.

Guys, as I understand it, you are

Cossacks and so on. Well, if you have

a Cossack community and all that, then I

am officially proposing to you—listen to me—

you standing over there, over there. We are ready

for an open discussion, unlike your

bosses from United Russia. Authorize,

choose at your Cossack assembly

a person right now. I give them the right

to ask the first question. If you respect those

who have gathered here, people living in the same

city, then if you have something to say,

choose one person, let him come up here,

stand here next to me and ask his

question. And everyone will be interested

to listen. Both you and those who have gathered here.

I think they’re just not very

sober. Well, all right, that’s always interesting.

You know, the thing is that I and my

colleagues are in a strange, in a

strange position as people

who advocate things that

everyone already supports. But who, who in

their right mind would support

corruption? Who here is in favor of corruption?

Raise your hands.

I’m in favor of corruption.

Who here is against having

elections? Against the mayor being elected by direct vote?

There’s no one. Who here is against

the money paid in taxes

here in Novosibirsk not being sent

to Moscow, but staying in Novosibirsk? Anyone?

And so it really is a strange

situation that I go around everywhere saying things

that everyone already supports.

Even they support them, and they

do support them, if you talk to each of them individually.

The problem is that despite the fact that

our majority of political

representation we do not have, we have not

been able to unite, we have not been able to consolidate.

I am absolutely sure that

we have something to say to the city’s residents.

Yes, we have specific

problems to discuss. And those who came here, uh,

are shouting, throwing things, but they are not

ready to discuss with me your specific

Novosibirsk problems. Where is the

Bugrinsky Bridge? Show me. It’s

over there, in that direction.

How much did it cost? Who knows?

17 billion rubles were paid for

the Bugrinsky Bridge, entirely from budget

funds. On my way here, I prepared

for this specifically and found that in China, at the same

time, a bridge across the Yangtze River was built.

Converted into rubles, it was built

for 10 billion rubles in 3 years. The bridge is

one and a half times longer and twice as tall.

Why is it, in Novosibirsk, I don’t understand,

that this bridge costs 17, while there it costs

10? Do we support this or not?

Are we dumber than the Chinese or not? That’s my

question here, in Siberia. Are we really unable

to use the same technologies that

they use in China? They tell us that in

China labor is— remind me, labor is

cheap. Remind me, please,

what is the average salary in the city of Novosibirsk?

25,000 rubles.

27,000 rubles. Let’s say the average salary in

China, according to the latest statistics, is $620

or more than 30,000 rubles. Why is it that in

China, with more expensive labor,

they build a bridge that is bigger, taller, and longer, but

cheaper? Explain to me why.

Because they steal?

That’s why I go around saying that I am against

corruption. Guys, you can tell me

anything you want, show me

any flags you like, but if this goal leads to

thieves remaining in power

like the ones in power now,

then no. I am against that, and I am sure that

here in Novosibirsk, there will be people against it.

Tell me, please,

what percentage of the value-added tax

that

is collected here, in Novosibirsk

Region, stays here?

Zero.

It all goes to Moscow.

We are going into this election with a very simple,

clear agenda. We want money

and authority to remain in the regions.

We want the money that

is collected here—excise taxes, value-added

tax, mineral extraction tax—

at least in proportions of

15%, 40%, to stay here.

Listen to me, Novosibirsk has one and a half

million people, right?

This is not just some city. If

we take European cities,

Novosibirsk would rank among the ten largest

cities in Europe.

How is it that Novosibirsk Region

is a deficit region, receiving transfers?

Is that a normal situation or not? I do not

consider this situation normal. You

have industry here, you

have education here, you have everything. You

collect taxes here. That is why I came

with a very simple idea that

we know 85% of Novosibirsk residents support:

keep the money and the authority here.

Despite the fact that I am from Moscow, the city of Moscow

itself does not receive this money.

This money is received by the federal authorities,

who send it to Chechnya or somewhere else

or use it to feed some dubious

political movements. I am sure that in

this election we can, we are capable of

offering an entire agenda that

80% of people will support. That is exactly why they are

so afraid of us. Just look: United

Russia is huge. What is Putin’s approval rating?

80–86%

and so on. Well then why, if they are

so powerful and we are so weak? Then

why all this?

Why does that whole 86% end up

throwing eggs from around the corner? Because

in reality there is no support there at all.

It is a rating of emptiness. Navalny,

Don't pour any. That's a good slogan. Guys,

I definitely won't be drinking with you. And it seems to me

you've already had some poured for you.

Can everyone hear me clearly?

Look, this is important. And this is

Novosibirsk, right? Akademgorodok (a major Soviet-era scientific and academic district) is here, but

people still can't grasp that I have

a microphone and they can't shout over me, yet

they're shouting.

That just shows that, well, there are all kinds of people

in Novosibirsk. Some understand

how sound waves propagate and how strong they are,

some don't, but those who do

are clearly in the majority. As I already said, this

86% approval rating is a rating of emptiness, but also

a rating of our own inaction.

When was the last time you went to an election and

saw a party you actually felt good

about voting for?

A long time ago.

A long time ago. The last genuinely free elections were back

in 1995. Today

I was at a press conference, and your

journalists told me: "Well, here in

Novosibirsk, the last real elections were in

1990." Is that normal or not?

It isn't. But I'm not going to simply dump

all the responsibility onto some guy

out there. I've been involved

in politics for quite a long time. I'm part of that very

opposition that, well, hasn't been very

successful, if all sorts of thieves have managed to seize

power. Obviously, yes, if we're allowing

them to steal on such a

massive scale, that means we're not acting very

effectively. Here, in

Novosibirsk, I'm sure people are ready for this.

We need to rebuild the opposition. That's why

we are holding our democratic opposition

primaries. I'm here

first and foremost to convince

you that we should believe in democracy.

Democracy really works. I don't know

who will head the opposition list in the

Novosibirsk Region elections. And I am

happy to tell you that today—

that I don't know. When was the last time

you ever saw

a party leader standing somewhere and saying, "Guys,

sorry, but I don't know who will head

your list"? That has never happened,

because everything is always appointed from

Moscow. We're tired of it, and you don't like it

either, because you're not going to

vote for such people, because you

here are all special—you think of yourselves as

special, and you are special.

So this time we've decided to do everything

completely differently. Here are your candidates,

local people, saying that they are ready to

run in the elections. And here are the residents of

Novosibirsk Region, who look

at these candidates and decide who will be

first, who will be second, who will be third.

If you want someone younger, fine. If you

want someone more experienced, fine. If you want

some radical opposition figure,

vote for them. If you want a moderate,

support the moderate. But the main thing,

I want to achieve is that

you truly believe, and that it really happens

that the opposition list—the opposition in general,

this label, this badge,

this badge—"opposition figure,"

representing the Novosibirsk opposition—

is not handed out by me, or by Kayanov, or by some

people from Moscow. You are the ones who give it. And I'm sure that

when that happens, when in all

regions opposition figures are chosen

by the people themselves, then we will get into parliament,

we will gain political

representation and, finally,

the official position expressed in

your parliament will be our demands.

Now tell me this: if 90%

of Novosibirsk residents support the idea that money

should stay here, then what party or

which of your deputies represents that

point of view? Who speaks about it?

The official position of the Novosibirsk parliament

is essentially: Moscow, take

everything for yourself. We don't need anything—take it.

That's what we have, you see? The people say:

"We want the money to stay here,

to work for us." But your representatives

in parliament say: "Moscow, take

everything." We want to change all of this. We

want people in parliament

—your people—who will stand up and say:

"We are not okay with illicit enrichment.

We do not understand, dear friends

from NOD (National Liberation Movement), how the head of the FSB (Russia's security service)

could buy himself a dacha for half a billion

rubles. We do not understand it, and we will never

accept it. Will you accept it or not? No.

Do you like the fact that former Minister of

Social Development Golikova spent her entire

life in public service

and bought herself a dacha worth 10 times

more than all her income combined? Do you like that or not?

Well, where did they get that money? Removed.

Right now, this isn't even considered a criminal

offense, you understand, when I now

talk about where, well, where the

head of the pension fund got an apartment in

the most expensive building in Moscow, also worth

a billion rubles. Where did it come from? They tell me:

"All right, Navalny, if you keep talking,

we'll sue you, we'll charge you with

defamation." But where did they get their billions?

That's none of your business.

"It's nobody's business." There you have it, they

confirm it themselves, you see? It's forbidden to

talk about it. You're not allowed to ask where they got

a billion. But I want there to be people in your

parliament who will push through

this initiative. And we will know that

this is a criminal offense. And that

it doesn't matter whether this is accepted quickly or after

some time, there will be people who

call things by their proper names. If all

these people—your United Russia members, Volozhins,

Neverovs, and so on—with salaries of

a million, dachas worth 20 million rubles, they come out and

say it plainly: "These people are thieves,

crooks, and swindlers." And we will

fight them and treat them like thieves.

Because that's what it all comes down to. In

fact, all this filth, all this

propaganda, this whole war, it exists

for one reason only: simply

to plunder our national wealth.

Do you understand? Some are just more foolish, while

others are more cunning. And those who are more cunning

use those who are more foolish in order

to keep things the way they are. I,

you see, often talk about this at rallies.

And in Novosibirsk, it's probably

especially important to say that in

the Brezhnev era in the Soviet Union,

which you are fond of,

we received roughly

$3 trillion from oil and gas sales as well. And in

the Putin era, from the sale of oil and

gas, we received $3 trillion. What

was created in Novosibirsk with that money? How many

metro stations do you have?

11 or 12?

I looked into it, studied the nuts and bolts. You had

a plan from 1968–1981,

which called for 60 metro stations.

And you still have only 11 or 12. And

the last station took 18 years to build. At

that same pace of construction, your

metro system will be completed in 11,100 years.

In 11,100 years, Carl. That's simply impossible.

So where is the money going? Please

forgive me, perhaps, for being so

emotional. It infuriates me all the time.

Tell me, please: if in the Brezhnev era

there was less money, but the metro

was being built, now there is more money, but in

Novosibirsk there is no metro expansion. And some louts stand there

and shout: "We don't need a metro, let everything

stay as it is. Let the Rotenbergs and

Timchenkos keep stealing." Just

look at the citizenship of the people

you support. Rotenberg,

who builds all the bridges, is a citizen of

Finland; Timchenko is a citizen of

Switzerland. All these people have offshore companies on top of

offshore companies. Our Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF),

forgive me, all my staff have already

switched to English, because

digging through all the documentation of our

officials means dealing with offshore schemes, it's all

in English; these are genuine

traitors to the nation. Do you understand? I

was in Moscow yesterday at a rally in defense of

education and science.

Those people were not there. I don't

understand how it could even happen in

Russia, a country that was absolutely

obsessed with education and science—and in

Novosibirsk you know very well why—that

I should have to see at a rally

some elderly old men there,

great academicians and physicists,

people who should be carried in our arms. They

stood there and sadly said: "Please,

don't destroy all of us. Please, don't

destroy the Academy of Sciences." How did we

come to this? Is this a normal situation

or not? No. We must not stay silent. We must not

stay silent. We need to speak about it, but

we also need to act. So, our plan is

completely clear. Our program is

clear. We want, ask for, and demand the

things that people are demanding alongside us. 80% of

the Novosibirsk region's money should stay

here; the budget should be reallocated from defense

to science and education; criminal liability should be introduced

for illicit

enrichment. All these things will be supported

together with us. And I hope that all of you

will believe in democracy, register

for these primaries, support those

candidates who are saying things that resonate

with you. We will go to the elections and

wipe out all these crooks and thieves and

make sure that the democratic

traditions of the Novosibirsk region

are realized. Thank you very much, friends.

I'm ready to answer your questions.

Cossack community, do you have a spokesperson or not?

All right, let's look at the problems of

self-organization among our Cossacks. Over there at your

circle, have you decided among yourselves, chosen a person

who will ask the question? Or

do you have nothing to ask?

You know, as they say in a famous film,

a real man always has something to say?

A question. Come on, let someone from your side

who is authorized come up here and

ask the question.

How will you address economic issues?

How will I address economic issues? Are you

a representative of NOD?

No, I'm on my own.

How will we address economic issues?

We will address economic issues

splendidly. What is the consolidated budget of the Novosibirsk

region?

134 billion rubles. Of that, 16% consists of

transfers from the federal center. But

you pay far more in taxes.

Our first demand is that 40% of VAT

collected in the regions—not just in

Novosibirsk, but in Kaluga,

Kostroma, anywhere at all—should

remain where that VAT is collected. In other

words, you pay it; that money is built into

the goods for which you pay that

money. Next, excise taxes. Excise duties

on alcohol, tobacco, on everything under the sun.

That alcohol is drunk and that tobacco is smoked,

is consumed here. It falls on your

healthcare system. Your healthcare system

costs more. Right now, 40% stays here, 60%

goes to the federal authorities. We simply want

to change that ratio.

And 60% of the excise tax will remain here. The tax on

mineral extraction. We do not want,

we do not want to take 100% away from the federal authorities,

we want to keep 50% here. That would give

an additional up to 8 billion rubles to the budget

of the Novosibirsk Region. In addition,

my favorite topic: fighting corruption.

Everything is built at twice the real cost. If you

dig into it, just take

the regional budget and what is carried on

the books, there are some astonishing things. For

example, did you know that on the books of

the regional budget there is a cottage

compound with fifteen cottages and

vegetable storage facilities. Or maybe that is

just what they are calling a fur vault. I am trying

to understand, and I have already asked many people: "Who

lives in those cottages, which are worth 110

million rubles? Annual maintenance is 35 million

rubles. Nobody knows."

Nobody knows. And you are the ones paying for all of it.

Nobody knows. There is plenty of room to save on

corruption. When your bridge is

built at the kind of price they have in China, not for 17

billion rubles but for 10, that is an extra 7

billion. Your new bridge, did you know that

your fourth bridge here will be

built here. Do you know,

how much it will cost?

A billion

24 billion rubles. It is supposedly a private

public-private partnership, but already 500

million rubles have been allocated for design work. And yet

it is being announced that it will be a toll bridge for you.

You do not even need to analyze much

to understand that all of this will still

be built with budget money.

This bridge will not pay for itself, because

Avtodor (Russia's state road company) last year

made a total profit of 1.6 billion rubles with

operating costs of 1.4 billion. That

is, this model simply does not work, and those are

toll roads in Moscow. It is obvious that here

it will not work, but all of you will still

be charged for using it, and they will build

yet another outrageously expensive bridge

for 25 billion rubles. Our deputies, your

deputies, will at the very least be, well,

guardians of the budget. They will force

the publication of all cost estimates, they will force everything

to be rechecked, and so on. And I am sure

that two or three people in your region

can make sure that additional

billions come your way. The moderator has arrived.

Excellent. Thank you. A question.

Please introduce yourself first. No, well, I do not really have a

question. Basically, how should I put it,

I would like to remind everyone of one thing.

Introduce yourself, Alexander,

look, you have a three-minute time limit.

All right, make sure you say it in time.

All right.

First of all, I would like to remind everyone

who is here about who

goes to the U.S. ambassador to report.

Remember now? No.

And do you remember the 1990s, when

Russia was sold off? Yes. And that kind of rule

was carried out with the help of people just like that.

Do you remember where that leads? Do you think so? No.

A question. And the question is simple.

You know, today I was at Lev Yashin's presentation

Ilya Yashin's, well, I did not remember the name.

It was called something like Putin. War., right?

Everything written there was

written by a person who was not there. I

was there. I remember the lies. And believe me,

my question is this: what kind of

data was the State Department using?

Ah, all right, thank you very much, Alexander.

First of all, I should mention that

please note that this is exactly the kind of thing

stylish people in dark glasses do. Thank you

very much for your, for your question, actually.

And whom do you represent?

Whom do I represent? A public

patriotic organization, Dobrovolets ("Volunteer").

A public patriotic organization.

Right. Let us look at a few facts.

Please tell me: Crimea is ours, right?

Crimea is ours. Excellent. And who is building the bridge to Crimea?

Why? Explain it to me. Since they have already found someone,

you do not need to look any further, they already have. The bridge to Crimea

is being built without a tender for 224

billion rubles by Arkady Rotenberg, who is

a Finnish citizen, and whose children are even

Finnish citizens. Is that normal

or not?

Well, tell me, is that normal, or is it

betrayal or not?

And who will be paid the wages? Which

Russian citizens will be paid, correctly,

who will be paid? I know who will be paid

the wages. Quite possibly, just as at

Transneft construction sites, they will bring

in Chinese workers here. And this bridge, this

bridge, will it be built using technology such that

that this is good? I believe that the one who should build

the bridge is the one who can

build it better than anyone else, no doubt about it.

Excellent. And that is Rotenberg. And the people who build the best bridges

in Russia are, apparently, him, you see? No, no,

no, wait, wait. We are having an interesting

dialogue.

And somehow the people who build the best bridges in Russia

turn out to be Rotenberg, who used to be a coach

in judo. And that is supposedly patriotic. And tell

me then, and this is a question for everyone, how

did it happen that Russia, a country

that ranks first in sales of

oil and gas, ended up with its main seller of

Russian oil being a man who is a citizen

Timchenko, a resident of Switzerland and a citizen

Finland. Do you consider that patriotic,

or not? Why is our oil, yours and mine,

being sold, Alexander, by some nobody,

who pays taxes in Switzerland? Why?

Explain that to me.

I can answer that. You know, in 2009

I was dealing with oil and gas issues. So

the share of volume, the share of sales, the share

of sales handled by Timchenko out of Russia’s total

sales amounted to roughly

about 7% at that time. Right. And now

what is it now? Back then,

the main seller for Rosneft and

Surgutneftegaz

the main seller for Rosneft and

Surgutneftegaz. I asked you a very clear

question. The fact that a citizen of Finland is sitting on

top of this — is that good or not?

So that’s normal?

It’s normal, it’s patriotic. That

means we should just hand it over to Rotenberg. That’s

Alexander, forgive me, of course, but

it seems to me that you are selling out the motherland right

now,

because that is exactly what is happening. How

can that even be? I don’t understand.

Now let me say the following. You

know,

for the ideals that I, that I came here for,

for which I came here,

I am ready to die.

Are you ready to die for Rotenberg’s kind of dealings

or not?

But he isn’t. I am ready to die for this land. I

understand that right now people like

Navalny, are simply trying

to sow division in our society. And that

is precisely the greatest, the biggest

danger. Why? Because first

come the ideologues, right, and they set people against each other, they

they sow,

and then comes the split, comes the actual

clash between

those who disagree. Thank you.

And he, in fact, is the traitor to the

motherland. I

am a patriot. Or

proved it.

Thank you very much. What was just

said is very important. Very important.

Because they are trying to sell us this

as the viewpoint of all Russian citizens.

What are we told? Let’s not

stir up trouble. What Rotenberg? Why

talk about Rotenberg? That’s causing unrest.

Why talk about these dachas? That’s causing unrest.

Why talk about corruption? That’s causing unrest.

Then what does the country even

exist for? I don’t understand. For me,

the national idea is this:

that Russian people, the citizens of Russia, should live

well and prosperously. I believe that we

deserve for citizens

to become better off and live normally. But if

the average Chinese salary is already higher than

that of residents of Novosibirsk Region, well, is that

normal or not?

It’s betrayal, real

betrayal. Let’s unite

around all these people. In your

Novosibirsk Region they are canceling

commuter trains.

The head of Russian Railways has a mansion worth 1 billion rubles.

They tell us: "Guys, in these

difficult times, let’s clench our fists, tighten

our belts, and instead of taking the commuter train, let’s walk

along the railroad ties, because it’s important

to unite." For what? Both of Yakunin’s sons

live abroad. His grandchildren live

abroad. They all studied abroad. All

his money is invested in Panamanian

offshores and Cypriot offshores. I do not want

to unite around that. Do you or don’t you?

No.

We don’t. And do you have the sense that

most residents of the region want

to unite for that?

I don’t want to unite around that. How can I

rally around Gazprom when in

Novosibirsk Region, in the region, not

counting the cities, the gasification rate is

18%.

And everything else has no gas supply. And

at the same time Gazprom buys a football player for

20 million euros. And they tell me: "Unite

around this. To hell with

your Gazprom and your football players."

I am going to unite around

gasifying Novosibirsk Region. I

am going to unite around housing and public utilities.

The overwhelming majority of people here

now, in 2015, live in the region

without hot water supply. Do you understand?

A little girl and her grandmother say: "Let’s heat some water here

on the wood-burning stove so we can

wash ourselves, and then we’ll unite around

Gazprom."

You were given our little brochure, which we

just prepared, listing the salaries of all these

people. How is it possible that in

the state company Rosneft

a person earns 5 million rubles a day?

Listen, today I was walking along one of

your central streets, and there was a hole in the sidewalk

a meter deep. This is in

one of the largest cities

in Europe, the third-largest in

Russia, and economically one of the

richest cities. How is that possible? I am not

going to unite around this

hole. I don’t want to dance

around it in circles. I know you have enough

money for housing and utilities.

Already now, with an average salary of

27,000 rubles, your average bill for

utility services is somewhere around

2,500. That is 10% of a household’s

income — in fact, you’re telling me more than 10–12%.

households pay for housing and utility services. In Soviet

times, which you seem to be nostalgic for, they paid 1.5%.

Am I supposed to rally around

that and call on you to do the same?

Me? Why not? There you go, you see? That's it.

That's all. They think, well, I mean,

guys, I don't want to offend anyone, but

you need to read books, you need to be able to add two

and two, and you need to respect the people around you.

If your city has an Akademgorodok (a Soviet-era scientific research district),

then be proud of it, for heaven's sake.

Why are you putting down your own

city? You can't do that. I am not going to unite around

that. I am going to unite around

solving the problem.

That's what I'm calling on you to do. I see a question there.

Go ahead.

The Trade Union of Citizens of Russia, and NOD, I think,

want to ask me a question. Excellent. Go ahead,

please tell me: this

corruption, oligarchy, collapsing roads,

the flooding in Novosibirsk that happened

recently, which you probably don't

know about, and a huge number of other problems—

are these the result of the greed of officials and

the team you criticize, or are they

the result of the USSR's defeat in the Cold

War against the United States?

God's punishment.

Great question from NOD. So, in other words,

if I understand correctly, our current problems,

including

the flooding in Novosibirsk Region,

are connected to the authorities being bad, or to

the U.S. being bad? Well, I don't know—what do you

think?

I don't know. I've been to the U.S.—it's many thousands

of kilometers from here. Very few people there have been to

Novosibirsk Region. And no one there was certainly

causing a flood in

Novosibirsk Region. I know that it was hardly

Obama who made sure that money

was spent not on gas infrastructure, but on

some nonsense, like football players. And

as for you, let me ask you a question in return.

Just keep it brief, if you can.

Tell me: do you think it is

right that Gazprom buys

a football player for €20 million and pays

Miller 1.5 million rubles a day, while

most residents of

the small towns in the region have no hot

water? Do you think that's right?

We believe this is a huge problem

resulting from the USSR's defeat in

the Cold War.

Okay. All right. Fine. I understand your

point of view, even if I don't really understand it. But do you

seriously believe that

most people, most residents

of the region think the same way?

You don't? Then do you agree that

there should be fair elections, in which

you will run, and we will run,

and we will tell voters—you will tell them

that there is no hot water

because of the Cold War, and we will

say that there is no hot water

because everything was stolen—and each side

will get its votes. Right? That would be

the proper way. That's it. You see, with

the Trade Union of Citizens of Russia and NOD, we

have reached an agreement. They're giving the thumbs-up.

First victory. Next question.

Here's what I want to say:

when people calling themselves

democrats,

led by Yeltsin, came to power, in

Novosibirsk factories were shut down en masse, and in

the villages state farms were destroyed en masse, and

it was no longer the Soviet government trading oil, but

citizens of Finland and

other countries. Let's remember how

it all began.

Why are you pointing at me? Back then I was

going to school. Really. What we need

is government by the people.

You understand? Then citizens of Finland

won't be disposing of Russia's wealth. And

there's no point swapping one bad thing for another. Ukrainians replaced one

thief with another—what did they get?

Thank you very much. Judging by the questions,

I don't know, this is a rather specific

crowd that's gathered here. Are all of you asking

questions like this? Well, okay. So, my friends,

this is important. We need to get over ourselves. I mean,

of course, the people who went into

politics in the 1990s

deceived all of us in many ways, me included.

But we need to stop

agonizing over it endlessly.

In the 1990s, I was going to

school, then I went to university. I

didn't privatize anything,

I didn't, I don't know, hand over the nation's wealth.

I've lived here, in the same

apartment, for 17 years. My children go to

school and kindergarten near my

home. So I really don't understand

why I should be held responsible for the 1990s.

I am calling on you now, in 2015,

to say and do the right things. And there's

no need to argue that I should be debating Yeltsin.

Come on. Chubais

is challenging me to a debate because

he says I'm some kind of bad person,

that I've expelled him from the liberals, as it were. And in that

sense, you see, we do not have to

say that if we are for

democracy, then we are for Yeltsin. We are for

democracy. If we are for the market, then we are for

Chubais. No—we are for the market. If we are

against corruption, that doesn't mean we are for

some kind of revolution or Maidan (the Ukrainian protest movement). No,

we are simply against corruption. I just don't

understand—are you really, seriously

trying to convince us that it's impossible

for me to speak out against the fact that your bridge

built at twice the cost without

staging a Maidan (mass protest movement)? Yes, it can. There will be no

Maidan if we

build bridges at market prices instead of

letting some crooks steal just as much

again. Next question.

Hello, Alexei. Hello,

dear audience. I am the leader of the Free Citizens Party,

Zolyan Alexandrov. By profession,

I am a lawyer. So I have a question for

Alexei: "You are calling for taking away

certain taxes, moving them somewhere,

not sending them to Moscow? I don't know how well you

know the tax code, but there are

local taxes that stay here,

and there are regional taxes."

Are those taxes enough for you?

They stay here.

Let's agree on this, Alexei: if you

keep shouting like you're in a marketplace,

it will all turn into one big mess. As a

specialist, as a lawyer—lawyer—I am trying

to ask a question. I ask you not

to interrupt me, if you respect me

as a person asking a question. The question is this.

Alexei is proposing to take away taxes, not

pay them. Here in Novosibirsk, there is a huge

number of military personnel. All these military forces

are funded by taxes. The military protects

our security and our nuclear weapons.

If every region now

demands not to pay taxes, the country

will fall apart. Alexei, are you in favor of a confederation,

of the country's breakup?

And what did you say your party was called?

It is officially registered.

Officially registered.

Well, what a surprise. Excellent. Officially

registered, unlike the Party of Progress.

Does anyone here know

the Free Citizens Party?

No.

Has anyone ever come across it?

No.

The man came all the way from Moscow on purpose,

spent 15,000 rubles on a round-trip ticket,

assuming he didn't fly business class, just

to come here and talk about his party. And,

you know, I'm a little offended that

nobody knows anything about your party, yet it

was registered. Whereas people do know about my party,

but it was not registered.

As for your question, that means you,

your party, your United Russia,

and the rest of you, stop trying to confuse

people. Defense spending in

Russia is very high: 4.3% of GDP, more

than in most countries. That is enough

spending. We believe we can

spend a great deal on the army and still

fund science and

education at the same time. There is enough money for that. There is

a well-known saying that

the country that does not want to feed

its own army will end up feeding someone else's army.

Fair enough. That is true. But I want to

take that further. And the country that does not

support its science and education will

be forced to climb trees, you understand,

and sit there.

I am not accepting this false choice. Tanks or

Akademgorodok (the Novosibirsk science hub). That is not a real alternative.

Russia has enough money for everything. We just do not

need to steal it. As for taxes,

once again, stop trying to mislead people. VAT

is what we want to keep

15%, and in some regions 40%. Excise taxes

are currently split 60–40 from the federal center to the regions; we want

to change that so that 40% goes to the federal budget

and 60% stays here. In any case, all of this

comes back in the form of transfers anyway. I simply

want the regions to have an incentive

to develop. If you have a strong region and

you are working properly, I do not understand

why the money should go to Ramzan

Kadyrov

Let Ramzan Kadyrov, instead of building his dachas

or whatever else, build factories too. Let

VAT be paid there; let him

collect his own excise taxes. That's all. No one

is saying that we should stop

funding the federal center. But

when Moscow has taken everything for itself, and you

have to beg for it back—you know that

last year, 3 billion rubles were taken

from your city budget. And now your city hall,

your, by the way, relatively

independent opposition mayor, has to

go around for some reason and beg: "Give

me at least a little of it back. Give me

at least 700 million out of the 3 billion

you took." But why take it in the first place? I do not

understand. All power belongs

to whom?

To the people. Well, here the people are standing in

Novosibirsk Region. Let those

taxes stay here, and everything will be fine. We have

plenty of money, oil prices are still high,

so there is no need to steal, and then there will be enough

for everyone. Next question, please.

I want to

Hello. My name is Igor. I am

a person without any particular political

views. I was just walking down the street and heard

people here saying what seem like the right

things. And I wanted to ask: "What

guarantees can you give that these words are not just

empty talk?" And I mean, that's an excellent

Right, right, right—you said you walked around, rode

the metro all day. Well, honestly, I don't believe it.

That's just how it is.

I don't know how to prove it to you. Several

people here, locals, who

rode the metro with me—but I don't understand,

do you think that this is some kind of

extraordinary event, riding the metro? I

ride the metro in Moscow too. This is an

excellent question. I really

grateful for it. Photographic evidence

to the young man.

You see, this is, fundamentally, a perverse

system. When someone is walking along, hears

about a rally, hears some politician

speaking and saying: "I don't believe that

you ride the metro." What kind of country have we

built where no one believes that

politicians should ride the metro? And how else

am I supposed to get around? By plane or something?

That's not what I asked. I don't care.

I'll answer all the questions now. About

guarantees too.

It's fine. When the authorities are such that,

as long as the authorities are such that we simply

don't believe they fly

economy class or ride the metro.

But why is it that the prime minister of Sweden, whose

GDP is higher than Russia's,

GDP per capita is higher in

Russia, flies economy class, while here

it's treated like—what, a politician in

economy class? Then he's somehow not a real

politician; real ones don't go down into the metro

and so on. That's wrong. Politicians

should be close to you, and those

who don't want to leave economy class—

they should simply be marginalized and

get half a percent. As for

guarantees, that's an excellent question. I came here

precisely to say

that I am removing myself as any kind of guarantor, and I very much

want you to place these

guarantees on yourselves. I'm not drawing up a list for you,

I'm not forming it,

and I believe you are much smarter than I am when it comes to

putting together the Novosibirsk

list. In fact, I think many people are

smarter in general, but when it comes to the Novosibirsk

list, you will definitely put it together better than

I could. You don't need guarantees from some

guy who came from Moscow. You

have candidates, you ask them questions,

you see who seems decent,

look at their biographies and decide

who are the people who will say:

"We represent the people of Novosibirsk here at these

elections." Your guarantee—and it is your

guarantee that I believe in most of all. And I believe

that it will work. Thank you. Next

question.

Hello, Alexei.

Domestic policy is clear enough: you

believe that the taxes we already collect are enough,

and that if they stop stealing them,

life here will improve. But

how bad is foreign policy?

Specifically about Donbas. We have

a country that is always in confrontation with us,

or at least we are told that it is—namely

the United States. For them, there is no

problem in advancing their international interests

by using force

to go into Iraq, Syria, and Libya. Everyone

understands perfectly well that all these

numerous NATO bases are

there to protect U.S. interests.

Why do you condemn Russia's intervention

in Donbas?

By the way, what you just said was

something anti-state. It isn't me who

condemns it—President Putin

denies that we sent troops into Donbas.

So be careful. The Center

for Countering Extremism, which

is here, is not asleep. Which means,

before I answer your question, there was

some remark from over there. "Tell us,

how do you get two suspended sentences?" Guys,

ask Serdyukov how to get two

suspended sentences. You know, how to make it so

that you steal billions and get absolutely nothing

for it, and then get hired back into a

state unitary enterprise

of the Ministry of Defense. You have someone to

ask. Now, as for foreign

policy.

You see, here's the thing,

I can simply tell you that up until about

2013, I wasn't allowed on

television, and Solovyov and all the others

said I was some kind of Nazi-fascist,

because I said that we need to defend

the interests of Russians abroad. Now I've become

a lousy, sellout liberal, because

I say that what is happening is not the defense of Russians

abroad. But I

want to ask you, bearded young men,

where were you? When Russians were being driven out of

Chechnya, there were 450,000 of them there, now

only 20 people live there. Where were you with your

beards and everything else when your Putin

sold out Russians in Turkmenistan for a

gas contract? They were even stripped of their pensions

there. Where were all of you when it was necessary

to defend Russians in Uzbekistan,

who, by the way, many years ago

were forced in school, in the upper grades,

to study in Uzbek? That is, by the way,

a bit more difficult than the Ukrainian

language. And they fled from there. Where were all of you

then? Why was it that until you were being paid,

you never showed up anywhere and

had no intention of defending any Russians

at all?

Don't lecture me. So, our

party does far more to protect Russians,

and Russian speakers, than that. Because

Russians are not only in Donetsk—they are in

Smolensk and in Novosibirsk too. I do not

understand why Russians in Novosibirsk

should somehow be deprived or disadvantaged.

Protect them instead. Protect the old woman who

has no hot water. So, as for

foreign and domestic

policy. Of course, there is international

competition. Of course,

the United States and Europe compete with us for markets

and everything else. In order to

effectively stand up to, including

in a military arms race, a country

like the United States, whose military budget

is larger than our entire economy. We

what do we need to do? We need to

earn more here.

So, confronting the United States in Europe

is only possible through making our

citizens more prosperous. When the average salary in

the Novosibirsk Region is not 27,000

rubles, but 127,000 rubles,

then we will

the U.S., Europe, and so on. Then we will be able

to allocate more money from our budget

to armaments, without stealing it from

the Academy of Sciences, including the Siberian

Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Next question.

Alexei, I am an ordinary citizen, and I would like

to ask a question. A remark was made here,

about your attitude to the fact that Yashin,

that, uh, Nemtsov

fell 100 days ago, but 100 days ago

Mozgovoy fell even more recently. So, uh, for

me, Nemtsov is, is

a person beneath contempt, while Mozgovoy is for

me a hero.

Please tell me, why is that, please tell me,

please. I understand your question. Thank you.

Well, I don't know, man, why we keep

doing this all the time. Come on, guys, if you keep

asking questions, no problem, everyone

is interested in hearing the answers. But then show some respect,

you were given the chance to ask a question,

so please, at least quiet down. So,

I have nothing against your admiration for

Mozgovoy. I just have a question. As for

Nemtsov, why is it that we do not respect

a man who actually became a deputy

in the Yaroslavl Region, left Moscow and

became a deputy there and, by the way,

managed to ensure that cancer

patients were given the painkillers

they needed free of charge. Is that why you

despise him? Do you despise Nemtsov because

he got a corrupt

vice governor removed, and so on? I knew Borya (Boris Nemtsov)

well, maybe not extremely well,

but well enough. He was a man

who lived quite modestly. He had no

millions to speak of, and he was

a genuinely sincere politician who

said what he thought. He was shot in the

back in a cowardly way. By people whom you, in theory,

should hate as well. Chechen

gangsters, Islamists, you understand, acting on

orders, possibly from the Kremlin, kill

a man. Is that a good thing? Is that the kind of

Russia you want? Now, as for

Mozgovoy? I have a question. Mozgovoy

and Batman (callsigns of separatist commanders), who killed them? They were killed by

Kremlin puppets,

you know that yourselves.

And Strelkov says this himself. For God's sake, why are you

lying? Your own people are saying that

truly independent people who

operate there are being killed by whom? Kremlin

puppets. Strelkov, your idol,

says, "I left there because

Surkov is a crook and a thief." Yes,

and excuse me, those are not my words, but

Strelkov's words, when he says that

the current leadership of the country is a bunch of thieves

that has nothing whatsoever to do with

Russia's future. And I have a strong

feeling that he simply borrowed that phrase

from me. I do not claim

to be its author. But you guys

need to make up your minds among yourselves.

If Kremlin puppets are killing

people you respect, then maybe

the problem is in the Kremlin, not in me or in

those people. Thank you. Next question.

I am a resident of the Amur Region, and I came here to my

daughter's place, so to speak, for permanent

residence.

There is one question that interests me.

Yekaterinburg,

Mayor Roizman,

he

the same policy as

But they keep throwing some kind of obstacles in his way.

Zhenya (diminutive of Yevgeny) would be surprised to hear that now. Well, all right.

Yes. So that is what I find appealing about your

position, so to speak, and his as well. So how can this be done across all of

Russia?

That is exactly what we are discussing, guys. We need

to do this across all of Russia. Exactly

right. That's the whole point. Look,

the biggest cities are completely on

our side. Roizman won in Yekaterinburg.

You have Lokot in your city; I know opinions about him

vary now. Someone won in

Novosibirsk, and in Petrozavodsk a candidate

won as well. And I, in Moscow,

I understand that I may not be the

biggest figure, and that you are great admirers of mine, but

in Russia's largest city, where

15% of the country's population lives, I received one-third of

the vote. And if they had not cheated, I would have

made it to the second round. And in the second round

I would certainly have won. I do not

doubt it for a second. So, in all

major cities, people are ready to kick all these crooks

out. It's just that they are fighting us

in obvious ways. For example, I am

barred from participating in elections. Some man

in a suit from some

strange party can take part in elections,

but I cannot. As I understand it, I am barred from elections

until something like 2032,

from participating. So then, who

will run in my place? You will.

Step forward for yourselves and for that other guy.

Win. Let's do this across the whole country.

Because, once again, our agenda is the

agenda of the majority.

Of everyone who wants the country to develop.

There’s no need to be shy about it. We won in

Yekaterinburg, and we’ll win in

Novosibirsk. Come on, guys, one last

question, because honestly, I don’t

want tomorrow’s news to report that

all the Novosibirsk democrats

talked so much about democracy that

they were taken to the hospital with heatstroke,

where they’re being revived with cold water,

and made to watch television so they don’t

get dizzy.

Yes. Yes, yes. Okay, guys, who has the

microphone?

I have it right now.

One moment.

It’s just that everyone else can’t hear without the

microphone.

Good afternoon, Alexei. My name is Mikhail.

I’d like to ask a question. I

actually have more of a question about your party.

About the fight

against corruption in the courts.

Fighting corruption among judges. I’ll answer. I’ll

answer. Excellent question. Yes, sorry.

Uh-huh.

So, I have a question about your party,

because as for the current situation, I already

understand everything. But what kind of work are you

planning to do with young people? Because

it’s no secret that young people are the driving force

behind any opposition movement in general; young people

have a more constructive outlook.

So what kind of policy will your party pursue

toward young people?

Listen, yesterday I was at that very

rally in support of science and education.

There were both young people and older people there. So

you see, there really is no such thing as

specifically youth problems. I don’t

understand. Do young people have a different attitude toward

corruption? No. Do young people have a different

attitude toward education? No. And

education is still necessary. We have the same

problems. At the same time, you’ll probably see more

young people at our street-campaign events and information stands

than anyone else. We conducted

an analysis of who voted for me in the

mayoral election. Mostly older people. We are

citizens of Russia, and that is what unites

all of us. Our basic problems are the same;

it’s just that the authorities don’t want to

listen to us. The authorities don’t let us run in

elections. The authorities steal all our money.

It’s the same for young people and for the elderly alike,

the very same thing.

And as for corruption in the courts—well,

Yuri, standing before you is a man who,

well, just two years ago was being described as

some kind of respected lawyer, and now I’m a

three-times-convicted repeat offender. There’s your

corruption in the courts. “Telephone justice” (informal political pressure on courts) doesn’t

work on its own. The fight is very simple, just like the fight against

all other corruption. To fight

corruption in general, you need two things. You need

political competition and free

media, so that corrupt politicians

are pushed out by honest ones, and so that

independent newspapers go after all the

corrupt officials. Then there won’t be—there won’t be

people like me. I’ll simply lose

my job, because everything I’m saying,

all these supposedly forbidden topics—people will

simply talk about them on television, and

all these Sechins, Yakunins, and so on

will be kicked out just like that. The

same thing will happen with judges too. Judges

must be independent. They should

be selected by independent commissions. They should not

be appointed by the president. We

must expand the powers of trial by jury,

and then judges will rule properly,

traffic police will do their jobs properly

on the roads. After all, this happens in many

countries. If it happens in

Finland and New Zealand, are we somehow

a cursed nation, incapable of making it

happen here? Are we the stupidest of all? Even in China

there is a fight against corruption, while here it

isn’t happening. And we will succeed too. Come on,

last question.

Can you hear me? Hello, Alexei. Thank you very

much for coming. I have a question

not about the program, but more of a

personal one: you are regularly

subjected to smear campaigns,

provocations, fabricated

criminal cases. And I’m not even talking about some

strange characters in uniform, but about

federal television. Uh, and it doesn’t stop there.

By the walls of the Kremlin,

a true patriot and friend of

Russia, Boris Nemtsov, is murdered. Your brother is

effectively taken hostage. What gives you

the motivation and strength to endure all

of this and still continue what you’ve,

well, started—your political program and

your fight against corruption?

Well, you give it to me. I have nothing

else—nothing inspiring, nothing

motivating—nothing except you. Even

probably if I were completely alone and no one

supported me, I would still

be doing this, because I believe in

Russian classical literature and Russian thought. I

believe in Leo Tolstoy, who said

that a lie does not cease to be a lie, even

if millions of people repeat it. But I’m in a

better situation. You support me,

more or less, and you support my ideas,

and I don’t need anything else.

My brother writes the same thing from prison:

“Don’t stop, because

everyone understands everything. They imprisoned me

in order to stop you.” We must not

stop.

I’m not a lone politician, really,

and, well, it would be wrong to

pity me or anything like that. Not at all.

The truth is that I

always receive far more support.

Yes, I can speak with any of them one-on-one,

and it will all end the way it has many times

ended before. Well, Alexei, well done, good luck

to you. Here are several staff members

from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF). They can

confirm that they came to us with

search warrants. And all the operatives from the Center, uh,

as they were leaving after searching our office, they would sign some

papers for me, shake hands,

and say: "Come on, guys, well done, we

will, of course, get in your way, but keep

going." Most of my conversations with

officials who really hate me

end with, well, me

telling them some story, and they

say: "Alexei, wait a second,

I’ll tell you an even better one right now."

I have support. I thank you

for that support. Thank you very much,

my dear friends, for coming here. Thank you

everyone for the discussion. Even you guys,

thank you for coming and asking these

questions. I hope that if you are

honest with yourselves, you will recognize that we are

right. Let’s register for the primaries.

This is very important. Bring your friends,

acquaintances, look at the candidates,

choose our candidates, and go to

the elections. Long live Novosibirsk!

Russia will be free, we will win.

Thank you very much.

[cheering]

to the veteran.

Let me hand over the microphone after all. I want

everyone to hear this.

For a quarter of a century

in Novosibirsk

criminals have been in power. Everyone knows

it. Tolokonsky—what was his swan song?

He covered for

an organized criminal group.

He was replaced by Yurchenko.

He was there for three years, I think. Then they opened

a criminal case.

All right. Everyone in the center knows what kind of man

Gorodetsky is.

He’s a real gangster. And yet

they made him

governor. But where do we go from here,

Alexei? You say there will be elections now,

but it’s all one big mutual

criminal

group,

a thieving government, and the same goes for the

prosecutor’s office and the Interior Ministry. So how do we

break all of that? And if that kind of power, while those in

the center keep looking the other way at these outrages,

you won’t be able to do anything.

What is your name?

Vladimir Vladimirovich. Thank you very much,

for concluding our rally. And in

words,

why have criminals been in power for 25 years,

and where is the force that will come to

replace them? I have only one answer: that force

is standing right here, and it will change everything, and we need

to start not tomorrow, but right now. We

are tired of waiting. We have waited 25 years, and we

believe he needs to run in the elections now

and fight them. And we will win,

because the truth is on our side.

Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

You’re a good man, Vladimir Vladimirovich.