Boris Nemtsov has something to remember

Nemtsov’s book “Confession of a Rebel, or Politics without Bliss” is published by the Partizan Publishing House. It will be in bookstores this week. The starting circulation is large - 40 thousand copies. Nemtsov finished the book back in April, but decided to release it in time for the book fair, which traditionally takes place in Moscow in early September. This is already the third book by the politician. The first two - “Provincial” and “Provincial in Moscow” were released 10 years ago

Boris NEMTSOV

The question of other people's wallets, villas, cars, lovers with diamonds is one of the most fascinating, interesting and exciting. With the collapse of the Soviet system, the financial floodgates suddenly opened, and large numbers of people were swept away by a torrent of luxury and reckless pleasure. Another huge part of the population remained on the shore and watched with curiosity (often with hatred) strange manifestations of human weakness and depravity. There is a special demand for politicians, since they constantly have a conflict between public life, public morality and the temptations of the surrounding reality.

* * *

For many years, the Republic of Dagestan was led by Magomedali Magomedovich Magomedov. When I was the first deputy prime minister of the government, he came to me with a dagger. Magomedali spent his entire life in responsible party and economic work and masterfully mastered the art of presenting gifts to high officials. The faces of the bosses in Moscow offices changed, but his text remained unchanged, he learned it by heart.

Respected Magomedali comes, opens the box with the dagger, and I see that the dagger is encrusted with precious stones. I don't understand them very well, but I understand that the stones are not simple. “Dear Magomedali Magomedovich,” I say to the guest. - You came for money for Dagestan, the people of Dagestan. Your republic is subsidized and life is difficult. Maybe it would be better for everyone if you sell this dagger and solve half the issues yourself, without anyone’s help?” “Well, come on, this is from the bottom of my heart,” the president of the North Caucasian republic replies calmly and speaks beautifully and convincingly for another ten minutes. It is difficult to refuse gifts from such elders. Therefore, in the government we had a special storage room, which Chernomyrdin organized. We stored all such offerings in this repository.

* * *

One day Boris Nikolaevich and I flew to Sweden. The President did not drink then, but after heart surgery he was under the influence of potent drugs. As we approached Stockholm, Royal Air Force fighters landed on our wings, as required by Swedish protocol. The fighters were flying so close that we could see the faces of the pilots and it was even a little scary.

- What a noise. Remove the planes, says Yeltsin.

- How can I remove them?

- As you wish.

Thank God, they sat down quickly, but the visit began with a scandal.

The funniest thing happened at the royal reception. King Carl XVI Gustaf, together with his beautiful wife Silvia and Princess Victoria, also a beauty and favorite of the Swedish people, organized a huge reception in honor of the Russian President. According to protocol, Yeltsin sat next to the royal couple, I sat next to the princess. They carried some dishes for hours, everything went slowly and measuredly.

Suddenly Yeltsin got tired of sitting, and he turned to the king.

- Let's shorten this ritual. Everything is already clear to everyone.

— In principle, it is possible, but this ritual is 650 years old.

- Listen, you are the king, I am the president. Can't we really solve this issue? - and Yeltsin looks suspiciously in my direction, and the king at this time is trying to move on to other topics and avoid answering.

“Yes, by the way, Mr. President, we have a small problem here,” says the king. — I live in a palace, and there is a bus stop nearby. Buses smoke all the time. The environment is terrible...

“And you remove these buses along with the stop,” Yeltsin switches to another topic.

“I tried to resolve this issue, but I couldn’t. This is decided by the Stockholm city parliament.

Here Yeltsin turns away from the king and, looking at me, says:

- Who is this? Where have you taken me? He cannot solve a single issue. Why are we sitting here?

There was also a serious moment in Sweden. The head of Gazprom, Rem Vyakhirev, flew as part of the delegation. This was precisely the moment when the government refused to privatize the gas monopolist and did not allow Vyakhirev to buy company shares for next to nothing through a trust agreement. Yeltsin took Vyakhirev by the hand, brought him to me and calmly said: “Nemtsov is right. The trust agreement must be terminated. This is a robbery from Russia. There will be problems if you don’t comply.”

Yeltsin always knew his business well, in any condition.

* * *

A fantastic story happened to me with my Moscow registration. Yeltsin, about a month after my appointment to the government, asked if I had registered. Surprisingly, the President of Russia actually dealt with my everyday issues. Just imagine for a second the level of attention the president pays to his immediate circle. For example, Boris Nikolaevich instructed his daughter to find a school for Zhanna, and Tatyana Dyachenko really helped find school: No. 20 on Patriarch's Ponds.

Yeltsin was interested in literally every little detail in my life. The president's family decided everything, including which hairdresser I should go to. Well, I came to Moscow at the age of 37 - no horse, no cart.

And yet about registration. Yeltsin once told me: “You see, until you are registered, you have no insurance, your child cannot go to the clinic, neither can your wife, the police will check your documents and they will expel you from the city and put you in a monkey barn. This is life, so you definitely need to register.”

I wrote a letter to Luzhkov asking for Moscow registration. There is no answer from Yuri Mikhailovich for a month, two, three... It’s somehow awkward to call the mayor and ask. Six months have passed - no registration. I am silent because I consider the question to be minor, and I don’t want to be humiliated over trifles.

I come to report to the president on some issue. We talked, everything is fine - we drink tea, talk about life. Suddenly he asks: “Have you been registered?” I answer: “No.” He immediately: “Yes, this is chaos! What a country where the first deputy prime minister is a homeless person!” He immediately picks up the phone in front of me and asks to speak to Luzhkov.

Literally a few seconds later - it felt as if he was sitting and waiting for a call from Yeltsin - a text was heard that I will never forget: “Yuri Mikhailovich, you are behaving rather petty.” Having said this, Yeltsin, without explaining anything, hung up. I’m shocked: “Boris Nikolaevich, what did you tell him, he didn’t understand anything.” Yeltsin: “He understood everything! Go! I got up and left. The next morning at nine o'clock on my desk there was an order from the mayor of Moscow Luzhkov about the registration of citizen Nemtsov in the Russian capital.

I called Yeltsin, thanked him, but could not resist and asked: “Why did you decide, Boris Nikolayevich, that Luzhkov understood everything, explain to me.” Yeltsin: “Well, do you have registration? Eat. Look, the President of Russia calls you and says: “You, Mr. Nemtsov, are behaving rather petty.” You are naturally shocked. What to do? You are trying to find out what is happening, who croaked. How? That's right, you will find out who is sitting with Yeltsin at the moment. Luzhkov called the reception and found out that Nemtsov was now with Yeltsin - this is not a state secret. And then I realized what was going on.” This is the high school of party and economic leadership.

So, thanks to Boris Nikolaevich for the fact that I stopped being homeless.

* * *

I have been offered bribes several times in my life. The most significant offer to sell state interests - one million dollars in cash for the privatization of an oil refinery - was made to me in Nizhny Novgorod.

Despite my small income by Moscow standards—my biggest salary as First Deputy Prime Minister was about one and a half thousand dollars—I managed to refuse bribes. And yet, when high-ranking officials complain about low salaries, you should not believe them. In addition to a pure salary, they receive a lot of different benefits for free. I was fully supported by the state. For example, I vacationed and lived in the Bocharov Ruchey residence, where Putin now lives, absolutely free. I flew on planes for free, they gave me a free car, and I also didn’t pay anything for a state dacha. All these expenses add up to huge sums. Groceries in the White House cost pennies. Although, to be honest, not only the prices were Soviet, but the products were also Soviet. Why are our officials so swollen? They eat Soviet food and drink a lot. And nothing has changed since then.

What kept me from taking bribes? I'll be honest: fear of exposure. I had all sorts of thoughts when I saw huge amounts of money. Just imagine: on the table there is a suitcase stuffed with stacks of hundred dollar bills. I understood that for that kind of money you can solve many personal problems. But I was also aware that life would change and insoluble conflicts would arise.

The fear of exposure was also due to the fact that there was a free press, and that in politics a large number of interests collided every day. In addition, my personal behavior towards Yeltsin was not always loyal. For example, I was categorically against the war in Chechnya, which made me enemies within the intelligence services. They were waiting for any moment to strike back.

And second: bribes are serious reputational risks. It’s curious, but the bribe market, on the one hand, is very closed, but on the other hand, everyone knows about everyone. Serious people know who takes bribes, although they often make mistakes in the numbers. Already working in business, I found out the prices, saw peculiar price lists with the amounts of bribes for the FSB, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, officials of the Moscow mayor's office, etc. But what struck me and what I consider extremely important: in Moscow no one (not even the oligarchs) gave me money offered. There were attempts at bribery, but not with cash. For example, Rem Ivanovich Vyakhirev, in the position of chairman of the board of Gazprom, offered me an apartment as a bribe, a very good apartment on Nametkina Street. She is now worth four million dollars. I refused the tempting offer, and a little later I understood why Vyakhirev persistently wanted to provide me with housing.

In 1997, the government decided to check Gazprom and terminate one trust agreement. According to this thievish contract, Vyakhirev wanted to buy 38 percent of the shares of the world's largest company for 6 (!!!) million dollars. They are now worth $100 billion. I said that this is a robbery from Russia.

We fought for nine months, but the treaty was broken. Gazprom was returned to the state. And the apartment on Nametkina Street was not my only loss in retaliation for such intractability; I was also removed from the post of Minister of Fuel and Energy.

* * *

After my resignation from the government, I spoke with some of our oligarchs. They admitted that somehow, after several cases, it became known that Nemtsov did not take bribes. This means there is nothing to offer.

And yet the highest justice exists, and God sees everything. After the failure in the 2003 parliamentary elections, it suddenly became clear that a large number of people were ready to help me financially - either simply give me money, or offer me a job where I could earn money myself. I refused money, because it was humiliating, and decided to go and earn money on my own, which is what, in fact, I always did before my political career.

I realized that reputation is converted into currency.

“I have been offered bribes more than once”