Translated material
One-man theater
Alexander Ryklin
It is not enough for Krasnodar Governor Nikolai Kondratenko to simply win the elections. The all-Kuban “father” needs people on their knees to beg him to stay in office
It is not enough for Krasnodar Governor Nikolai Kondratenko to simply win the elections. The all-Kuban “father” needs people on their knees to beg him to stay in office
(Photo: Ruslan Yamalov )
The exact name of the socio-political movement that brought together supporters of the head of the Krasnodar region under its banner is “Fatherland” (Kondratenko). The movement absorbed dozens of left-wing parties with little different platforms. They all fight for socialist values and the interests of the working people. Rallies and meetings of the movement are held under slogans like: “No to the predatory course!” or "Lenin's cause is the cause of the people." However, the democratic gains of the last decade have also benefited the Kuban left - now they can openly declare: “Russia is for the Russians.” The nationalist seasoning for the communist brew fully suits the tastes of Kondratenko himself - he has long gained a reputation as the main fighter against the dominance of Jewish Freemasons and other foreigners in the Kuban and in Russia in general, in particular, Armenians or Meskhetian Turks.
The delegates of the Fatherland Conference (Kondratenko), who had gathered to elect their candidate in the gubernatorial elections (which will take place on December 3), tried their best to persuade Governor Kondratenko to join the race for two Sundays in a row. But so far no success. The hero did not come to his senses and did not change his decision to abandon the fight for the governor’s seat, which he, citing poor health, announced on September 1st.
Eternal resource
Everyone we were able to talk to at the conference firmly believes that Nikolai Kondratenko quite sincerely does not want to run for a high office. And the same people do not even admit that the next governor of Kuban will be someone other than “father” Kondrat. The governor's associates are confident that they will eventually be able to persuade their beloved leader to remain in power. “They write in the media that rallies in support of Kondratenko are paid for by someone,” a conference delegate, the leader of one of the regional Komsomol organizations (the girl flatly refused to introduce herself), shakes her head doubtfully. “All this is nonsense. Why pay someone?” ", when the overwhelming majority of residents of the region already support Kondratenko? They will come to support Nikolai Ignatovich without any money. You will see - he will not be able to refuse ordinary people." Indeed, no sociological surveys are needed, it is clear to the naked eye: Nikolai Kondratenko is the most popular politician in Kuban today, and if he goes to the polls, victory is guaranteed to him.
At the conference of the Kuban "Fatherland" there were delegates from both the Communists and the Cossacks. The once irreconcilable enemies were united by a common love for “father” Kondrat. This is how the governor of the region, Nikolai Kondratenko, is affectionately called in Kuban. (Photo: Ruslan Yamalov )
In the 1996 gubernatorial elections, Kondratenko won more than 57 percent of the vote. This result was perceived by many as a sensation - everyone bet on the then leader of the region, the former head of the presidential administration Nikolai Egorov, who as a result received only 25 percent. It is interesting that neither Nikolai Kondratenko nor his team conducted any election campaign at all at that time. A local journalist explained it as follows: “Yes, we’re all dense people here. We’ve had our fill of reforms and decided that it’s better to live as before, under Soviet rule, and Kondrat, after all, is the former secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU.”
Apparently, in four years the attitude of the Kuban residents has not changed much. They still want to go to a brighter past and Nikolai Kondratenko will certainly lead them there.
Over the years, its popularity has even increased. “Tell me,” I asked one Krasnodar businessman (in Kuban, as soon as the conversation turns to the governor, everyone asks not to indicate their name), “is this somehow connected with his nationalist statements?” “Of course,” he answered, “people like it when Kondrat says that Russians in Russia should live better than other nations. The majority here thinks so, and you won’t be able to do anything about it in the next fifty years.” The neighborhood with the Caucasus, of course, greatly aggravates national problems in Kuban. The number of refugees is steadily growing, which causes extreme irritation among the population. Whichever village resident you talk to, everyone repeats the same thing: the newcomers are seizing the most fertile lands, building the largest houses and getting the most profitable positions. The Russian authorities blame this primarily on the aliens themselves, as well as on local grabber bosses, but never on Kondratenko. Because, according to the Kuban residents, if it were his will, he would have kicked out all these “blacks” long ago. Only one person can cope with everyone.
At the same time, not only Russians support Kondratenko in Kuban. To my question, “Who will you vote for in the gubernatorial elections?” the owner of several kebab shops on the Tuapse city beach Suren Vaakyants, without hesitation, answered: “Of course, for Kondratenko.” And, catching my bewildered glance, he smiled: “You are in vain to be surprised. Not only me - the majority of Tuapse Armenians will support Kondratenko. What kind of bird he is is known, but he gives life. And a new one will come, who knows how he will turn?”
And, of course, Nikolai Kondratenko enjoys the unconditional support of local bosses. For example, the mayor of Tuapse Galina Dzhigun (before the 1996 elections, she ran a winery in the city and is considered a very authoritative person here) believes that “Kondratenko managed to unite all the leaders of the region.” It must be said that this unity did not require any special effort from Kondratenko. Local leaders quickly realized: in this region there is only one boss and it is more expensive for them to quarrel with him. The only exception is the mayor of Krasnodar Valery Samoilenko. His independence is determined by the position itself - in Russia, the head of a capital city almost always conflicts with the governor.
(Photo: Ruslan Yamalov )
In short, there is “popular support” and no doubt about the outcome of the vote. What made the “father” refuse to participate in the elections? Maybe he realized that he was not able to build socialism with a Russian face in a single Kuban?
Alone in the field
“You understand,” the member of the regional election commission with whom the Itogi correspondent spoke, did not hide the fact that he has a reserved attitude towards Kondratenko, “there are no visible successes. The region was subsidized and remains so. In the villages, people were sitting without money, so " renew." If the elections had been held, he would, of course, have won. And that’s all. And now the people are beating in hysterics: “Why have you abandoned us, dad!” Well, then, for him, these screams are like doping. man. Just look at it,” my interlocutor handed me a local newspaper and showed me a rather long poem printed on the front page. It ended with the following lines: “We don’t need other guides. / The ascent you have begun is dear. / Hand in hand, we are next to you / We will walk along the path of salvation. / We will say our word in your favor / In December, on that very third day / Agree. And we will only put down the ballot with your / Name." - Yes, Kondratenko will never voluntarily part with the governor’s chair. Look at our electoral law - he laid out such a straw for himself there."
Indeed, the new election law, adopted by the regional legislative assembly at the very end of summer, contains a provision that cannot be found in other normative acts of this kind. Article 69 states: “Based on the results of the repeat voting (that is, the second round - “Results”), the registered candidate who received more than 50 percent of the votes of voters who took part in the voting is considered elected to the position of head of administration (governor). For the current Kuban, this means the following: if Kondratenko really does not take part in the elections, then we can say with a high degree of confidence that re-elections in Kuban cannot be avoided. Since it is absolutely obvious that none of the possible candidates in the second round of elections will be able to gain more than half the votes, a huge part of the voters will vote against everyone. “We pointed out this fact to our legislators,” Chairman of the Regional Election Commission Viktor Pastarnak told an Itogi correspondent, “but they ignored our comments. Veshnyakov, when he arrived, was also surprised by this strange norm. After all, a paradox can turn out - elections seem to be took place, but there is still no governor.” If this happens, then until the next elections the current head will remain in charge of the region. That is, Nikolai Ignatovich Kondratenko. Needless to say, the regional parliament made such an important decision without any interference from the governor. Be that as it may, the “father” now has two options in reserve - either, under the pressure of people’s love, go to the December elections, or stretch out the whole performance for another three months and “give up” before the next vote.
The market in Tuapse is designed mainly for holidaymakers. Therefore, the prices on it are almost Moscow. Even in the capital of the region - Krasnodar, everything is much cheaper. (Photo: Ruslan Yamalov )
There is one significant detail in the campaign launched in Kuban in support of Kondratenko. It is accompanied by fierce criticism of the central authorities. Kondratenko had used this simple technique to channel popular discontent in the right direction before. But this time, the “father’s” associates seem to have crossed all possible boundaries. For example, the resolution of the Fatherland conference (Kondratenko) in a sharply ultimatum form demands that the Kasyanov government change course, that is, abandon the implementation of German Gref’s economic program. The resolution also contains a direct threat to initiate actions of civil disobedience in Kuban if the conditions set forth at this conference are not met. Moreover, fighters against the anti-people regime are threatening to block oil pipelines and highways. (Recall that in the near future a new oil pipeline should be put into operation bypassing Chechnya, which goes through the Krasnodar Territory. True, this particular project is most likely not in danger - according to rumors, the contractor companies implementing it in the Kuban territory have contacts with the governor most directly related.)
Possible competitors
A characteristic moment is that the main contender for the governor's seat refuses to fight for it, and none of the serious competitors is in a hurry to take his place. But in the absence of Kondratenko, many could compete for the governor’s post. For example, the same chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the region, Vladimir Beketov, or the former candidate for governor, and now the chief state inspector in the Southern Federal District, Viktor Krokhmal. Or, say, State Duma deputy, entrepreneur Alexander Tkachev. By the way, according to the chairman of the regional election commission, Viktor Pastarnak, he could well count on victory, again, if the “father” does not change his mind. It would seem that this is the chance, but to date the regional election commission has received only two notifications from people wishing to participate in the gubernatorial race. One of the candidates is a certain businessman from Kazan, who is trying his hand at almost every possible election. A sort of peripheral Lev Ubozhko. The other is a local treasure hunter (he actually makes his living by digging up burial mounds) from the village of Leningradskaya. Meanwhile, the last day for submitting signature sheets is October 13, and on October 18 the regional election commission will draw the final line under the list of candidates for governor. “I assure you,” the same member of the regional election commission argued to me, “if serious people had believed even for a second that Kondratenko had seriously decided not to go to the elections, their statements would already be on our table, and hundreds of girls and boys would be running around cities and villages with subscription lists. And Tkachev would definitely put everyone on the spot."
The road to the village of Vyselki took just over an hour. When the car crossed the border of the Vyselkovsky district, I suddenly noticed that my dialogue with the driver vividly resembled the fairy tale “Puss in Boots.” "Whose field is this?" - "Agrokompleks" companies. - "And this factory?" - "Agrokompleks" companies. The chairman of the board of directors of this ubiquitous "Agrocomplex" is Alexander Tkachev.
Today, the Tkachev empire (the post of general director of the company is held by Nikolai Tkachev, Alexander’s brother) employs more than seven thousand people. The company owns two elevators, a feed mill, three creameries, a mill, a meat processing plant and a dairy plant. In addition, the Tkachevs rent 55 thousand hectares of land. All this business works properly and is profitable. The average salary is almost one and a half thousand rubles, and it is paid on time. (Local collective farms do not pay people more than 300-500 rubles a month.) “Agrocomplex” took over almost the entire social infrastructure of the region - money is annually allocated from the company’s budget for schools, kindergartens and medical institutions. Every year more and more new farms join the Agrocomplex. “This happens in different ways,” said chief economist Nikolai Artyushchenko. “As a rule, the chairman of a dying collective farm himself comes to us and asks us to take it with all its giblets. To take or not to take is a difficult question. We always consider economic feasibility. We have to accept with all the debts."
The relationship between Alexander Tkachev and Nikolai Kondratenko was not easy. It is clear that a prosperous private economy is a bone in the throat for an apologist of the collective and state farm system. However, it does not come to a conflict - in Vyselki they behave cautiously. They understand perfectly well that whatever the governor wants, the prosperity will instantly come to an end. Kondratenko, for his part, also does not dare to cut the goose that lays the golden eggs. Last year, he even asked Tkachev to take three dying farms into the company.
To my question why Alexander Nikolayevich did not put forward his candidacy for the post of governor of the region, one of his deputies answered: “Well, why tease Kondratenko once again? He already has a grudge against Tkachev. In 1995, he was our boss for the Duma elections - then he lost."
The election passions boiling in Kuban did not prevent the owner of the Krasnodar Territory from coming out in support of Slobodan Milosevic, who is close to him in spirit and blood. On September 24, the day when the “Fatherland” conference (Kondratenko) once again nominated “dad” as a candidate for governor, he was just in Belgrade. “This is correct,” the old Cossack Pyotr Onufrienko told me during a break, “you’ll see, we will have elections, and Milosevic will come to Kuban to support his dad. The debt is worth paying. And we will accept him as our own.”
The farm of Alexander Tkachev, the head of Agrocomplex, amazes not so much with its economic indicators - milk yield, cuttings, catches and threshing, but with the amazing cleanliness of the workshops and the absolute sobriety of the staff. (Photo: Ruslan Yamalov )