Boris Nemtsov in Tomsk: three visits

The last chapter turned out to be the shortest and is dedicated to Dmitry Medvedev and the results of his two-year tenure as president. According to Nemtsov, there is no point in writing more about the current head of government, because “he hasn’t done anything.”

Boris Nemtsov's report was divided into nine chapters devoted to the results of Vladimir Putin's time in power: the growth of corruption, population decline, worsening problems in the Caucasus, terrible roads, increasing social inequality, multi-billion dollar scams, the transformation of Russia into a raw material appendage of the world economy, failed pension reform .

“We are a raw material appendage, not only of the West, but now also of China,” said Boris Nemtsov five years before his death. — We are entirely dependent on the global price situation for raw materials. Putin has nothing to do with this, and everything he took on fell apart. I mean the education system, health care, and the armed forces and intelligence services, whose main function is to bludgeon innocent citizens and protect the ruling groups. I'm talking about outrageous corruption. In all positions where the hand of this regime touched, it was a disaster. Therefore, the sooner we consign it to the dustbin of history, the better. Naturally, by peaceful and constitutional means.”

This was not the first visit of Boris Nemtsov to Tomsk. Boris Efimovich came to Tomsk back in 1999. Then he was deputy chairman of the State Duma and head of the Duma faction of the Union of Right Forces.

And then in 2004, he came to our city to talk about the “Committee 2008” - a group of politicians chaired by Garry Kasparov, who were in opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

(On the defeat of the opposition)

“We were unable to unite and did not have a clear and precise position in relation to the authorities, and did not answer the questions that people are interested in. I was elected by the people four times and not elected once, so distance from the people is one of the common arguments that is used against those politicians who leave the stage. But I believe that this is not the problem. It was necessary to clearly and clearly give answers to the questions that concern people: “Why does the whole country love the president with all its might, but there is less and less money in the regions.

- Do you understand why?

- Of course, I understand, now I just need to explain it to the people. Because the current government believes that taking money from the regions and then giving two kopecks from the master’s shoulder is the way to keep everyone in subjection. Or why does the Minister of Defense say that military reform is over, but every year almost 20 thousand young people are bullied and beaten in the army? Or, let’s say, they say that there is order in Chechnya, but Akhmat Kadyrov is killed during Victory Day?

- This is such a sadomasochistic love of the people, it turns out?

“I believe that the people’s love is based on two things, but neither one nor the other has anything to do with the president. This is censorship on the central channels when they show a smooth, combed picture of how good everything is. And secondly, this is oil - $40 per barrel.

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— All representatives of democratic parties represent somewhere around 20 million citizens. Due to our fragmentation, these people do not have their representatives in the State Duma. We proceed from the simple thesis that there are countries of the so-called golden billion - these are America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand. What do they have in common? They have an opposition, they have independent media, an independent court, political competition. Those. they have democracy. Thus, if Russia wants to succeed, then everything must be done to ensure that there is democracy in the country. There is a 100% correlation between democracy and the wallet. Do you want to live richly? Fight so that you can criticize Kress, Putin, Fradkov... Anyone. If you want to live in poverty, then you can kiss them, cover them with oil or gold paint.

- Then it turns out that we have an opposition... Then maybe the question is about the leaders of this opposition?

— To be honest, I didn’t notice that we had any opposition. Let’s say a tragedy happened - the President of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, was killed. And the entire policy towards Chechnya was completely derailed. His son, Ramzan Kadyrov, runs a group that includes Bassayites, Masskhadites and Kadyrovites. And this group with green armbands and shouting: “Putin, Allah Akhbar” (yes, that’s how they position themselves) is loyal to the Russian government today, but not tomorrow. We ask the question: what could happen in order for our soldiers not to die there, we need to come to our senses, not turn the political dialogue into a farce, not appoint a president in the Kremlin, but ask the Chechen people. Or will we continue to mock the people like this?

- All of this sounds like rhetorical questions.

— These are not rhetorical questions. We have specific proposals, but no one hears them.

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(Boris Nemtsov replies that the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice will not scare him and the “Committee 2008”).