Radio Liberty - Programs - Correspondent's Hour

Host Savik Shuster

In this issue:

• Nizhny Novgorod veterans of Chechnya are looking for work in other wars;
• Operation "Clean Hands" or grimaces of privatization in the Yekaterinburg City Internal Affairs Directorate;
• Who is fleeing Chechnya from Sharia?
• Censorship from the LDPR in Pskov style;
• Border everyday life of the Kamchatka region of the earth;
• Kostroma: local Nazis against the capital's Luzhkov;
• Ivanovo: no more budget;
• Krasnoyarsk: housing and communal reform as a journey through agony;
• Voronezh: the governor's lawsuit against Novaya Gazeta;
• Stavropol: you need to drink more;
• Bryansk: why don’t collective farms need to give money?
• Kaliningrad: in search of lost history.

On the air Nizhny Novgorod, Oleg Rodin :

Nizhny Novgorod participants in the Chechen conflict celebrated the recent Day of Defenders of the Fatherland, as they say, with tears in their eyes. About 3 thousand military personnel from Nizhny Novgorod and the region took part in the fighting to restore constitutional order in Chechnya, almost 200 of them returned in coffins, the rest have been trying to achieve the status of participants in military operations for more than two years. According to current legislation, they are not entitled to this status, since formally there was no war, which means that servicemen who returned from the Chechen massacre are not entitled to appropriate benefits. Many of them are still unemployed, and hundreds do not have permanent housing. The moral state of veterans of the Chechen conflict is depressed, and suicides have occurred among them.

Due to military operations in Chechnya, Russia lost not only 100 thousand people, but also about 100 billion dollars. However, now there is not even much less money available for benefits, assistance and apartments for military personnel. Housing is provided in meager amounts, and retraining courses do not guarantee employment.

However, unexpected vacancies have appeared - it is proposed to serve again in the army on a contract basis, they say that - in Ossetia. The contract is concluded on the basis of a personal application submitted to the military registration and enlistment office. The applicant must be under 38 years of age and in good health. Contract soldiers were also recruited for military operations in Chechnya. Mikhail Yudin, a representative of the Association of Local Conflict Veterans, explains this situation as follows:

“Our state cannot provide us with any other work now; our guys agree to the terms of the contract out of desperation and hopelessness. They tell us: go fight again - you will earn money there.”

The salary under the contract is about 100 dollars - 2-2.5 thousand rubles, but increases are possible. Deputy head of the Nizhny Novgorod garrison Evgeny Statsenko comments on the new set of contract soldiers:

“By the spring, some of the military personnel retire, and they are now being replaced not only by recruits, but also by contract servicemen. Apparently, this is beneficial to the state.” Why are they recruiting specifically for Ossetia? After all, there are no military operations there yet. But veteran Mikhail Yudin suggests that military action may take place there too, and in his opinion, “dirty money” of some financial structures may be laundered in Ossetia. Of course, it will not be possible to unleash a massacre like in Chechnya, says Mikhail Yudin, but there are tendencies toward a new conflict in the Caucasus.

“The Caucasus is a place where it is convenient to launder money, it is easier to set people against each other, and third parties are bathing in champagne at this time - this is the law of war.”

In the meantime, Nizhny Novgorod veterans of local wars are preparing actions of help and support for their comrades, abandoned to the mercy of fate by their state, which unleashed the so-called Chechen conflict.

On air Ekaterinburg, Sergey Kuznetsov :

The name of the former head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Sverdlovsk Region, Major General Valery Kraev, still does not leave the pages of the local press, and in terms of frequency of mention on television, it is almost equal to the most famous Ural politician, Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. As most publications note, they were among the first to say that with the arrival of General Kraev in 1995, the police almost ceased to fulfill their direct duties, but turned into a kind of commercial structure, a roof for making money and illegal transactions with apartments, and practically merged with shadow business and criminal Yekaterinburg groups. For the first time, members of the independent trade union of police officers of the Sverdlovsk region spoke about all this. As the chairman of the trade union, retired police major Valery Inozemtsev, says, after the first meetings with the new boss, many thought that the previous disgrace with the distribution of apartments among employees should become a thing of the past.

“...We saw some kind of sparkle, interest in the general’s eyes. We sat for an hour and a half, and it seemed like he said: let’s work, let’s do it. Yes, indeed, the theft of money in the form of these loans, and so on, all that. And - silence. No reaction to our proposals to meet with him. We had no choice but to send statements of claim to the court ourselves, through the court to seize the apartments of the bosses and in court to invalidate the warrants.”

However, the recent scandal with mutual accusations that brought the first police ranks of the region beyond the walls of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate, General Kraev himself, the head of the department for combating organized crime and the head of the previously secret operational investigative department, showed that such abuse of the police leadership today is literally programmed in nature and reflects a general and deep crisis in the Russian system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“Indeed, our Ministry of Internal Affairs has somehow lost its way, due to the fact that they don’t demand anything from them. It used to be... And now it’s like this... General in general... crime is blooming in full bloom, and he... you talk to him, he is in some kind of delusion, satisfied with himself, believes that everything is fine, because his car drives from his house to the police department - no one breaks the window. And, in all likelihood, it really is a fact that the police are not Today, criminal groups have been taken away. It’s ridiculous to deny that they exist in Yekaterinburg. Yes, there is “Uralmash”, there is “Center”, there are “Blues”, and all these groups would like to have their own representatives, and so their interest began to collide directly with the police.

This is the opinion of the chairman of the trade union of police officers of the Sverdlovsk region, Valery Inozemtsev.

Today, both numerous Moscow commissions and members of the independent trade union are faced with two most important tasks: to do everything possible to prevent such scandals in the future, and therefore to bring the matter to an end, roughly punish the perpetrators and preserve the morale of the current employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to prevent a mass departure of the last remaining professionals in the police ranks.

“Unless, of course, we are a public organization that cannot influence the appointment of a new leader... but at least we will bring the matter to an end with the old one, force a case to be opened against him. Probably, this would be a lesson for the newcomer. So I consider my task to influence the situation in the Sverdlovsk region exactly like this.”

According to Valery Inozemtsev, the sad experience of the two previous heads of the regional Central Internal Affairs Directorate shows that in the current economic and political conditions of Russia, strict civilian control over the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs bodies is necessary, and maximum transparency of their activities should be legislatively ensured in the bodies themselves.

“I have this idea: even, maybe, it would be better to be the head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, so that he does not consider himself such a closed entity, maybe even appoint a civilian. Indeed, there is a crisis, something needs to be thought about how many generals can be replicated, even just appoint a civilian, so that there really is such closeness to the people. We, taxpayers, where did we give our penny? Of course, tracking it is one thing, but also, of course, what is going on behind closed doors in the Main Department of Internal Affairs, this is also not without interest for us. Because, indeed, these beatings, this lazy operative will beat the suspect... is unprofessional. But a guy who is really highly professional, he is trained, it’s nice for him to work, it’s like a chess game, now something like this has begun to take place, because it’s impossible to tolerate anymore, and somehow faith in Primakov, his actions there, at the top, and at the bottom. some kind of fire or something. I look at my guys - some hope has appeared, some light at the end of the tunnel."

The chairman of the independent trade union of police workers of the Sverdlovsk region, Valery Inozemtsev, spoke. However, such bright hopes for quick and positive changes in the organs may remain illusory. According to information from informed sources, the Ministry of Internal Affairs commission continues its work, and all the perpetrators of the grandiose police scandal are still at their jobs, with the exception of General Kraev, who was sent on vacation.

On the air in the Kursk region of the Stavropol Territory, Sergey Sleptsov :

The recent visit to the border with Chechnya by Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Sergei Stepashin, widely covered in the press, pleased only the police themselves. There is a very difficult situation in the border villages of Stavropol. According to various estimates, from four to five thousand Russian refugees from Chechnya settled here, and in addition, Chechens from the village of Znamensky in the Nadterechny district, recently driven out by Shamil Basayev’s militants to Russia. The reason for this action was the dissatisfaction of the residents of Znamensky with the Sharia rules being forcibly established in Chechnya. Chechens, who in Chechnya itself are considered enemies of the people, are also located here; these are mainly those who collaborated or served in the government structures under Doku Zavgaev. Thefts of livestock, cars, agricultural equipment and kidnappings continue from the border villages of Stavropol. Moreover, the guides in such cases are sometimes the few Russian residents of Chechnya who have converted to Islam. One such gunner, 25-year-old Muslim Vitaly Smirnov, is wanted by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Victims are selected from among Russians or Armenians according to the principle of property qualifications, and then the capture occurs. The prisoners are kept in appalling conditions - in pits, in uninhabited sheds. Ransom demands are made, and the amounts claimed are usually astronomical. Many businessmen in this region stop or carefully hide their activities, fearing for themselves and their loved ones. In the village of Galyugaevskaya, local police are forced to protect children in school and kindergarten every day. Policemen also guard farmers and collective farmers working in the fields. This village is separated from Chechnya only by the Terek River. The Stavropol police are distributing leaflets among the population on security measures for civilians in situations with predicted attempts at terrorist attacks. They generally recommend being vigilant and protecting yourself. I will quote an excerpt from this recommendation:

"Be merciless, strike as many times as possible. If your opponent is down, continue to beat him until you are sure he will not get up again."

Self-defense classes without weapons are even organized for schoolchildren. And at rallies in the villages, passions run high. Residents of the area have already promised that if their safety demands are not met, they will block roads, gas pipelines and blow up the electrical substation through which current from the Stavropol hydroelectric power stations and gas are supplied to Chechnya. Household gas and electricity have been supplied to Chechnya regularly and completely free of charge throughout the years of so-called Chechen independence. The recent kidnapping of 16-year-old Vyacheslav Muratkhanov from the Armenian village of Edisei and the brutal murder of police sergeant Oleg Arutinov again stirred up the residents of border villages. It is not difficult to guess what kind of reaction the message of Deputy Chairman of the Stavropol Government Viktor Khorunzhin about the free transfer of 50 thousand tons of Stavropol grain to Chechnya to establish good neighborly relations caused here. The demands of the rebellious residents of the Kursk region were submitted to the State Duma by the chairman of the regional government, Stanislav Ilyasov, but there has been no reaction from parliament yet.

On air Pskov, Anna Lipina :

Strange things have been happening on Pskov radio and television lately. Pskov residents have long been accustomed to the fact that no political parties other than the LDPR have free access to the airwaves. The regional media have developed a vicious practice when programs on socio-political topics are published only for a fee. Previously, this allowed media managers to earn money and at the same time protect themselves from the regional administration, which was used to commanding everything, and first of all, the press. What has been happening in recent weeks?

On the city television "Telecom" the program of the municipal studio "Krom" paid for by the mayor's office is being taken off the air; the reasons are not explained. The paid program of the regional branch of "NDR" is also being removed from the broadcasting network of the regional television and radio company "Pskov". The Gossvyaznadzor Office demands that the Pilot radio station stop rebroadcasting Deutsche Welle broadcasts. The heads of television stations are not indignant, but do what they are told. The reason for such resignation is elementary fear. Everything that happens is discussed exclusively in a whisper. Apparently, such sentiments were subtly felt in the corridors of the regional administration and they decided to take off the air the official program “Bulletin of the Regional Assembly”. The reaction of the deputies was not long in coming - a session of the regional assembly of deputies took place last Wednesday. Deputy Chairman of the Regional Assembly Boris Polozov says:

“The question of the relationship with the Pskov State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and the regional assembly, a program that reflects the activities of the regional assembly and for a month and a half has been subjected to either, to put it mildly, censorship, or simply the removal of programs, was very acute. They asked a lot of questions to the acting State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Pskov, Leonid Aleksandrovich Kuznetsov, who said that this is his personal decision, he determines the concept of broadcasting in the region, and he makes decisions about how many times this program should be published, in what form and who should prepare it. The deputies understand that not everything is so simple, and it is not just Leonid Aleksandrovich who is behind the censorship of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and behind the concept of determining broadcasting in the region, but some other persons. The question is also to prepare an appropriate appeal to the head of the VGTRK holding, Mr. Shvydkoy, with his assessment of the situation taking place at the Pskov State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, and with a proposal, since the assessment of the deputies does not coincide at all with the assessment of the acting State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, to propose a new candidate for the position of head of the Pskov State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.

Deputies did not rule out the imminent adoption of a regional law on media. Apparently, our freedom of the media, guaranteed by the Constitution and federal laws, requires special additional protection. Freedom of speech in the Pskov region, headed by the governor, a member of the LDPR, turned out to be a fragile and unprotected thing, if not to say ephemeral, a thing completely dependent on the opinion of the authorities. The voice of the journalistic community in the pre-election battle of giants, which is unfolding in the vast expanses of Pskov, is practically inaudible. It seems that between freedom and responsibility, on the one hand, and the usual and safe service of the authorities, on the other, the Pskov media choose the latter.

On air Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Guzel Latypova :

At the most extreme outpost of Russia at the border outpost based on Ratmanov Island, an emergency situation has arisen. The main diesel generator at the outpost has not been working for a long time; there is no way to bring it into working condition. And therefore, the northeastern regional department of the Russian Federal Border Service decided to transfer a generator from the village of Providence to the outpost. But a team of specialists from the northeastern regional department cannot make the delivery because the helicopter has been unable to take off for the second week due to a severe snowstorm. On fine days, the territory of America is clearly visible from Ratmanov Island; the Ratmanov outpost is the first in Russia to greet the day. The island itself is a lifeless plateau, and there is no civilian population there - only border guards. By the way, due to the lack of entertainment and relaxation for the border guards, in December 1997 a terrible tragedy occurred on Ratmanova, where a conscript soldier was tortured to death. And only at the end of last year, an officer, two warrant officers and an old-time soldier who mocked the soldiers out of boredom were convicted. Now at the once famous outpost, all backup power sources are used to provide radar equipment. At night, the air temperature on the island drops below 20 degrees below zero. In the barracks, border guards try to maintain above-zero temperatures using a stove-stove, and cook food on it. And the Ratman team is looking forward to the takeoff weather.

On the air Kostroma, Arslan Saidov :

To repel the capital's mayor and all opponents of the Russian national idea was the main task of the organizers of the meeting of local right-wing radical parties and movements, held in Kostroma on February 20th. The reason for this gathering was Yuri Luzhkov’s ban on holding the “Russian National Unity” congress in Moscow. This time, those who liked to walk around Kostroma at night with standards and torches did not dare to go beyond the assembly hall. But, perhaps, for the first time, they invited all representatives of the local media. It was for journalists, first of all, that the verified speeches of the Kostroma ideologists of nationalism were intended. Throughout the meeting, the leaders of the RNU convinced those present of their peaceful intentions, proving that their emblem had nothing to do with the fascist swastika, and their greeting and uniform were not attributes of the German Nazis. However, no matter how hard the Barkashites tried, it was difficult to hide their anti-Semitic views. Chairman of the RNE Council Vladimir Afanasyev, who contemptuously called Luzhkov “the Jew Katz,” even overdid it somewhat on the national issue, classifying Ukrainians and Belarusians as Russians. And although the nationalists emphasized in every possible way that they do not wish harm to other peoples, Kostroma residents remember how about a year ago a spontaneous rally of Caucasians broke out in the city. The resonator was an incident at the central market, when a 25-year-old Azerbaijani, a student at the Agricultural Academy, who was selling fruit at the market, was beaten. Most likely, it is true that for a minor violation of trade rules, the director of the market, the head of the Russian Unity organization similar in content to RNE, Alexander Shalaev, wanted to punish him with his own hands. Despite the fact that the student ended up in a hospital bed, the case was quickly hushed up. Apparently, Shalaev, as a deputy of the city duma, had no difficulty in finding people who reminded the Azerbaijanis that not all of them live in Kostroma legally. Moreover, for a whole year the Barkashovites had a municipal detachment for the protection of public order in their hands. The druzhinnikov was led by the chairman of the regional branch of the RNU, Andrei Timofeev, almost the entire detachment consisted of active supporters of “National Unity”. This paramilitary formation, which patrolled the city streets with RNU banners, had to be dispersed after volunteers attempted to carry out reprisals against southern merchants in the center of Kostroma, and a homemade machine gun was confiscated from one of the vigilantes. In fact, some of the volunteer police assistants turned out to be repeat offenders. It is possible that, acting under the brand name of the squad, the Barkashovites were engaged in racketeering, thus replenishing the party coffers.

Nationalists couldn't resist flexing their muscles at Saturday's meeting either. Commenting on Yuri Luzhkov's decision, Chairman of the RNE Council Vladimir Afanasyev said that Russian National Unity firmly intends to hold the congress in Moscow, by any means, at any cost. But, of course, we will later find out what the method is and what the price is. RNE is a fairly strong and mobile organization. In the end, they also threatened the journalists, so far only with court, warning that everything is recorded on a dictaphone, God forbid that something in the publications and reports of the RNU leaders will seem untrue.

The next large gathering of nationalists in Kostroma is expected in March, when the leader of the Russian Patriotic Party, Boris Mironov, and another famous anti-Semite, Albert Makashov, will come to the city. It would be good if their arrival did not coincide with the visit of Yuri Luzhkov, who also intends to visit our city next month.

On the air in Ivanovo, Elena Smagina :

“Ivanovo residents will quickly find the culprits” - it is unlikely that these words of the head of the city financial department Igor Starkin should be regarded as a threat, but rather a warning to the regional authorities about an impending disaster. The year 1998 for Ivanovo residents was literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown - the harsh dictates of Mezhregiongaz and the constant blackmail of local power engineers forced them to reduce funding for public utilities for schools and hospitals to the limit. The people of Ivanovo endured and childishly naively waited for the arrival of the new year, not even imagining what gift they were destined to receive. The common goal towards which the whole country was heading was the payment of external debt. From April 1, taxes will be redistributed in favor of the federation, and what remains should be divided between the regional and local budgets. But it’s impossible to share like brothers. Ivanovo is a tax donor to the region; in 1998, the city allocated 77% of all “real” money to pay salaries to state employees. This allowed the Ivanovo region to reach 40% of the indicator required to receive transfers from the Ministry of Finance. But in the draft budget for 1999, not a penny is allocated to the city from these transfers. In addition, the region takes over all large city taxpayers, such as Telecom, and redistributes income and a number of other taxes in its favor. According to the most conservative estimates, in 1999 the real income of the city budget will decrease by 25% compared to last year. This is a disaster for the entire urban economy. In the regional consolidated budget in 1999, 1,580 rubles of budget funds will be spent on one resident of the region, and only 1,027 rubles on one resident of the city of Ivanovo. This is despite the fact that the maintenance of citizens is always more expensive.

Hoping to change the situation, city authorities turned to deputies of the regional legislative assembly and the governor. Rejection of the draft budget was the last hope. But on February 25, the regional budget was adopted in the first reading; the deputies did not want to take into account the amendments of their younger brothers. It must be said that this came as a complete surprise to the city duma and administration, since negotiations had previously been held with the region. The city authorities are now in a state of shock. As Leonid Linder, the budget chairman of the city duma, said, there is no point in even considering such a budget - no one will undertake to divide it.

On air Krasnoyarsk, Alexander Makarov :

From March 1, new tariffs for housing and communal services will be introduced in Krasnoyarsk. With the beginning of spring, all residents of the regional center who earn 1,250 rubles or more per month will pay for heating, cold and hot water and other housing services as much as it actually costs. Now we pay only 40% of their real value. For Krasnoyarsk residents who work and receive their money more or less on time, this is not very burdensome. I currently pay about 64 rubles a month for my two-room apartment; starting in March it will be about 160 rubles. In general, everything is in accordance with the presidential decree “On Housing and Communal Reform.” There, as you remember, it was ordered to move to 100% payment by the population for utilities until the year 2000. True, with the preservation of all existing benefits. In Krasnoyarsk, benefits have been preserved: pensioners, war veterans, disabled people, low-income people (that is, those earning less than 1,250 rubles per month per person), other well-deserved and not-so-deserving citizens will give the same amount of money to housing trusts as before. However, in order to receive these benefits, it is necessary to submit the relevant certificates.

And this is where our bureaucracy unfolded in all its might, especially since the decision of the Krasnoyarsk City Council to increase tariffs did not contain a list of documents necessary to receive benefits. Huge queues formed at housing trusts; Krasnoyarsk residents were required to provide officially certified certificates about everything that could be officially certified. In particular, one resident of our city had to collect 12 different documents, one of them being a copy of her diploma from one of the Krasnoyarsk universities. No one can yet explain what the level of education has to do with rent.

A group of deputies of the city council demanded to convene an emergency session, at which it was supposed to determine the list of certificates required to receive benefits and bring it to the attention of the head of all housing trusts. In the meantime, the introduction of new tariffs had to be suspended, and maybe even until all the necessary documents were submitted. The city administration demonstrates confidence that this problem can be resolved through conventional disciplinary methods. A group of heads of the city's housing and communal services department will visit the trusts, and if queues are found anywhere, then the heads of this institution will not be happy.

And the campaign to increase tariffs began beautifully - the real cost of maintaining their housing had to be paid by the owners of two or more apartments, those who have a square footage that is too large for one person - more than forty meters, and simply rich people, for whom it would not be very burdensome to pay even a thousand rubles a month. However, this year, thanks to the new regional administration, which has sharply reduced the standards for deductions directly for the needs of the city, the budget of Krasnoyarsk is simply catastrophic. So the process of transition to 100% payment for housing and communal services had to be sharply intensified. In general, as one of the city council deputies said at a press conference, they wanted the best, but it turned out as always.

On air Voronezh, Elena Fanailova :

At the end of the week, a civil trial began in the court of the Sovetsky district of the city on the claim of the administration of the Voronezh region to protect its business reputation against the editorial office of Novaya Gazeta in Voronezh. The subject of the lawsuit, consisting of more than 20 points, which in itself is unprecedented, was 10 publications on the local news page of Novaya Gazeta, starting with its first issue, published in the city in April 1998, as well as 4 articles by newspaper employee Sergei Komarov. His publications have the general title “Redistribution” and are devoted to semi-legal and illegal methods of redistribution of property in the region through a system of bankruptcies occurring under the control of the local bureaucracy. This list also included materials covering the arrests of high-ranking regional officials in the fall and winter of 1998 in connection with the activities of the Voronezh regional Development and Investment Fund, as well as the Voronezh-Alco company, a monopolist in the alcohol market. Both organizations were created and supervised by the now arrested first vice-governor Vladimir Sukhoverkhov. Repeatedly during the scandal, the name of the representative of the Voronezh region in Moscow, Vladimir Anishchev, a former Communist Party leader, first on a regional and then on a union scale, who was involved in financial activities during the era of privatization, came up. Critical statements by the opposition press provoked public reproaches from the governor against her. Governor Shabanov even suspected a Jewish-Masonic conspiracy among journalists. The governor was especially irritated by the fact that the Voronezh materials were reprinted by the Washington Post newspaper. Shortly before the start of the trial of Novaya Gazeta, the editors of Komsomolskaya Pravda in Voronezh received demands to refute materials mentioning the name of Vladimir Anishchev in the context of a criminal and political scandal. The editors of four newspapers - Novaya, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Voronezhsky Kurier and Voronezhskie Vesti - wrote an open letter of protest against the attempt of administrative pressure on their pages. The course of the two-day trial on the administration's claim against Novaya Gazeta, which was postponed on Friday, convinces that the trial will not be about protecting the business reputation of the regional administration as a legal entity. The points of the claim primarily concern the newspaper’s assessment of Governor Shabanov’s activities in his post, his role in the administrative and criminal scandal with the regional investment fund, benefits received by his daughter and son-in-law, who occupy a key position in Voronezh medicine, as well as the figure of the representative of the Voronezh region in Moscow, Vladimir Anishchev. Representatives of Novaya Gazeta filed petitions to bring all four of them into the trial as witnesses. And the ideological nature of the process is not a secret at all - most of all, the regional authorities are not satisfied with the position of Novaya Gazeta, which “demands from any government only one thing - do not steal and do not lie.”

On air Stavropol, Nikolay Pchelintsev :

The heads of cities and regions of Stavropol received orders to drink more. Strictly speaking, the corresponding decision of the regional government is talking about something else, namely, increasing the share of production and sales of strong drinks with the Stavropol brand. The goal is clear as daylight - the more local distilleries, cognacs and wineries cork and sell bottles, the more taxes, primarily excise taxes, will be in the treasury. With the regional budget completely full of holes, the landmark is strategic. From the report of the local government it follows: last year, thanks to the efforts of the authorities, a good harvest was harvested from the “drunk field”. The share of Stavropol alcohol consumed by residents of the region rose by 10% and reached two-thirds of the total volume, and this led to a doubling of budget revenues. Now a new milestone has been outlined - three out of four bottles on the table of a Stavropol resident must be their own. To accomplish this, branded wine and vodka stores are opening, a government commission meets regularly, it has already been dubbed “drunk.” And the governor's deputies in the regions are being reprimanded for falling behind the target figures.

At a recent meeting with the governor, the head of the Obilnitsky district, Gennady Klyushnikov, made it clear that the completed task of getting the people drunk was beyond his strength. In fact, the bureaucratic army found itself in a rather delicate position. In recent years, not without the help of the “fathers of Stavropol,” the only well-known Stavropol distillery in Russia, “Strizhament,” was ruined; it is now in receivership, the prosecutor’s office is handling the affairs of the enterprise, and the plant’s products have disappeared from the shelves. The empty niche has already been filled with bottles from famous vodka companies from neighboring Karachay-Cherkessia. And the most unpretentious consumer began to generally focus on the “left” supplier. In Kabardino-Balkaria, for example, according to reviews from residents of border areas, excise-free vodka can easily be purchased at a price of 8 to 12 rubles per bottle. In this situation, the mayors of Stavropol cities and districts have no choice but to exploit the enthusiasm of their patriotic fellow countrymen.

Apparently, if they add another glass to the usual dinner glass, the region’s economy will emerge from the quagmire of the crisis. Perhaps the most unenviable role in the current campaign is that of Governor Alexander Chernogorov. At the dawn of perestroika, he, then secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol, called on young fellow countrymen to a sober lifestyle, today he calls for the opposite.

On air Bryansk, Yuri Faev :

Governor of the Bryansk region Yuri Lotkin recently announced the successful results of the agricultural year in the Bryansk region - production growth of 6%. But it was not without reason that the philosopher noted that the devil is hidden in the details. If you study the details, the following becomes clear: the authorities spent a huge amount of money helping some, and all to no avail, and the return, the result, was given by completely different people, whom no one helped. Immensely straining the meager budget, the regional government allocated huge amounts of money to collective farms last year, by Bryansk standards, and as a result, the region harvested the lowest grain harvest in the last 40 years. Exactly half of the funds taken in advance in the spring (and this is many tens of millions of rubles) were never returned to the budget by the collective farms. There is no extra money in the Bryansk treasury. Yesterday the collective farms did not pay their bills; tomorrow Bryansk doctors and teachers will be deprived of the same amount. Private owners do not receive anything, but it is they - peasant farmsteads - that determine the face of the Bryansk agricultural economy today. It was here that most of the potatoes, vegetables, milk, and meat were produced last year. Moreover, without going to instructive meetings, without compiling reports, and so on. It was the private owner who ultimately gave rise to this growth in Bryansk, which the governor announced. And so it has been for several years in a row. Today in the Bryansk region, the famous Bryansk agrarian Alexander Subbotin is convinced, there is no conflict between collective farms and farmers, there is a conflict between bad and good owners. If the collective farm has collapsed, and everything in it is someone else’s, not yours, no money will help, it’s like lending to a drunkard - it still won’t pay you back. There is no point in grieving over what is lost. Subbotin's forecast: most of the Bryansk collective farms face a difficult path to finding a new form, solving new problems: servicing the land shares of peasant owners, cultivating land plots, and marketing the harvest. And this is not as bad as some Bryansk politicians think. For example, today in the Bryansk collective farm "Bolshevik Way" there are fewer tractors left than the local farmers, does this mean that the end has come for the village of Butra, where both a bad collective farm and strong farmers live? If there is land, one of the farmers, Sergei Gudinov, tells me, then it still needs to be cultivated, but we will do it better. And therefore I think about one thing: when will the Bryansk authorities understand the obvious - only the real owners need help.

On the air in Kaliningrad, Alexey Kryuchkov :

For a boy, the former Koenigsberg is just a godsend. Of course, today this is no longer the destroyed city of the mid-60s, when young creatures from under the ruins brought into the light of God coins, rusty weapons, all kinds of dishes and much more left over from the former owners of the city - the Germans. Now this is more complicated. But even now it is unlikely that you will be able to find an apartment where there is not some trophy item. Often in the capsules you can find something truly unique and valuable, and not only from this century.

The touching love of my fellow countrymen for antiquity is no different from a scientific approach. After the “diggers,” as the professionals call them, archaeologists have nothing left to do. However, despite the noisy expeditions to search for the “Amber Room” and other valuables, practically no serious, professional archaeological excavations were carried out in the region. Recently this tradition was broken. In the city center, near a gas station under construction, workers came across the foundations of old houses. The company that owns the gas station decided to finance the excavations by calling in archaeologists. For the first time, the Baltic expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences took up a serious and large-scale task. On an area of ​​more than two hundred square meters, more than 150 different finds have already been discovered, which were transferred to the local historical and art museum. These include broken medieval blades (in the 16th century this area of ​​artisans was a very crime-prone area), coins, remains of dishes, and a boat hook. Expedition leader Vladimir Kulakov comments on the progress of the excavations:

“Despite the fact that we are now going through the latest cultural layers, that is, the level of destruction at the end of August 1944, absolutely wonderful, unique finds for the Kaliningrad region were found here, in particular, a fragment of a stove tile with a heraldic lion. This tile is contemporary with the Russian rule of Königsberg, this is the mid-18th century. Here is another interesting find... this absolutely wonderful piece of tile with a dragon, and a crowned dragon, some kind of fairy-tale winged character, a kind of Serpent Gorynych, I would say. This dragon is even more ancient... this is the end of the 17th century, the era of not even the Kingdom of Prussia, but the ex-Duchy, the era of the Great Elector, well known to you. And this already gives us the opportunity to think about the creation of a new special exhibition on the history of the city in the historical and art museum.

A very important find is a tree. This is a unique find not only for the Kaliningrad region, but also for the entire south-eastern Baltic, because, according to dendrodating methods, using the rings we can determine the date of cutting and construction of this wooden structure with an accuracy of up to a decade. It was traditionally believed in Russian archeology that, apart from Novgorod, and to a lesser extent Pskov, no other Eastern European city possesses this. Kaliningrad is an exception, which is nice. The city's history is unknown. Our goal is to get to the earliest possible layers in order to maximally exhaust all the scientific data that these excavations will allow us to obtain."

Finally, valuable finds will fall into the hands of professionals and will not disappear, as happened, for example, with a six-tier wooden pavement found during the construction of an overpass bridge in the city center in the 60s. The secrets she kept remained secrets. Another positive aspect of these finds is that for the first time in Kaliningrad they started talking seriously about creating an open-air museum of the Old Town. There are not many ancient buildings in the city - during World War II, British bombers did a great job. But for a long time there have been voices of enthusiasts proposing to create such a museum on the basis of the cleared foundations of destroyed buildings. In the meantime, archaeologists are waiting for new finds, some of which are more ethical than historical in nature. The remains of Frau Friedel, a 70-year-old widow who died on June 25, 1944 under the ruins of her house and lay under broken brick for almost 55 years, will finally rest in peace. The past is coming back.