A.B. Chubais

I am proud to know you, and I am flattered that during your Deputy Prime Minister I had the opportunity to help you lay the foundations of a market economy. Not being an expert in the electric power industry, I am sure that the reforms that are being carried out in this area under your leadership are vitally necessary for the country. Not being a member of the Union of Right Forces, I always sympathized and, if there were requests, helped the party, whose program I mainly share.

But now I would like to share with you my thoughts in connection with

in the latest issue of the newspaper “Zavtra” your interview with the editor-in-chief of this publication, Mr. Prokhanov. Why am I doing this publicly? It seems to me that this episode is extremely instructive for all of us - those who, in their naivety, continue to publicly proclaim themselves to be supporters of democracy and a market economy.

As for the text of the interview, Anatoly Borisovich, I agree with almost every thought you have. Moreover, I admire your courage (after all, you are the head of a structure that is completely controlled by the state) when you publicly declare: “You know, now very popular - both in your circles and in the circles of the official authorities - is such a PR concept that In the 90s there was collapse, but now there is creation. There was thoughtless following in the footsteps of the “Western masters,” loss of sovereignty, and so on. And now it's the other way around. This is a complete lie from beginning to end." And one more amazing quote from you, perpendicular to the current course: “What absolutely should not happen is anything that in any way violates or calls into question the state sovereignty of our neighbors. This is a fundamental thing. As soon as we neglect this, we immediately get exactly the opposite effect. We see this in Georgia, we saw it during the Ukrainian elections. The final result is exactly the opposite of what was desired.”

However, I want to draw your attention to something completely different: I am shocked that you, a person who, I repeat, largely expresses my thoughts about Russia and its future, gave an interview to Mr. Prokhanov. Once upon a time, even before the revolution of 1917, the concept of “a person who does not shake hands” was in use. You, of course, remember that for real Russian intellectuals they were all kinds of “Okhotnoryadtsy”. I don’t read the newspaper “Zavtra” and don’t follow the work of Mr. Prokhanov, but, looking on the Internet, right away, without much digging, I found these gems:

I understand that you have no time to read newspapers, especially ones like Zavtra, but did no one tell you who you are shaking hands with and paying such attention to, taking Mr. Prokhanov with you on a business trip to the Bureyskaya hydroelectric station? Everything turned upside down inside me when you began your interview with this person with the following passage: “Alexander Andreevich, your impressions were also extremely interesting for me. I’ll be honest, in my eight years of work in the energy industry, this is the first time I’ve come across a text of this class. With such richness, content, internal pressure...” Leni Riffenstahl was also an outstanding cultural figure...

One more point I would like to draw your attention to. Your SPS colleague Nikita Belykh refused to participate in the “Other Russia” conference because he did not want to be at the same table with Eduard Limonov and other radicals. To be honest, I, as a participant in this conference, also felt uneasy when for the first time in my life I observed the National Bolsheviks and Anpilovites from close range. I won’t discuss now whether it was necessary to invite these people to the event. But I’ll make a guess: Limonov and Anpilov are much more “handshake” than your interviewer. Are the situation influenced by some, to put it mildly, opportunistic considerations dictated to you and your party from the outside? Sorry if I asked the wrong question...

After reading everything written above, many will say: Gontmakher suspects everyone and everything of anti-Semitism, fueled by “California and Tel Aviv.” But, in fairness, I will say that the true patriot of Russia is still me, and not Mr. Prokhanov. It doesn’t cost me anything to go to the sunny places listed above by presenting evidence of my Jewish origin. I won't stay there without work. But my choice is clear: I will live here, in Russia, and do everything in my power so that our country can safely jump, to use your expression, from the current “tactics” into a successful “strategy”. I don’t need Mr. Prokhanov for this. I hope that you share this position.