Translated material
Living with wolves
Kaliningrad Governor Georgy Boos rode with bikers and sang songs to them
Ordinary people are even more interested in how the political elite relaxes than in how they work. Georgy Boos, the head of the westernmost Russian region - the Kaliningrad region, has two weaknesses: he loves motorcycles and singing with a guitar. And if these passions are combined, you get the “Night Wolves” bike show, which in recent years has literally “registered” in Kaliningrad.Since 2005, at the old Devau airfield, bikers, under the leadership of their permanent leader Alexander “Surgeon” Zaldostanov, have been organizing international “congresses” of motorcyclists. Their number is growing all the time. This time, about 5 thousand bikers took part in the show from July 4 to 6 - from Kaliningrad, regions of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, France, Germany, Italy. These days, the Kaliningrad region has clearly become the leader among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in terms of the number of bikes per capita.
Among the festival participants were not only stern, long-haired men in leather jackets and dark glasses on chrome-plated (it is important to observe the measure - an overabundance of “shiny” will give away an amateur) “Harleys” with an engine under 150 “mares”. Those who only have enough money for a moped also came (“For a real biker, it’s not so much engine power that is more important than philosophy,” some of them are forced to say). Moreover, there were not only young people, but also older people - for example, ladies over 60 years old, whom some dubbed “rock grandmothers” or “ rock grandmothers.”
All of them had one thing in common - the desire to freely “drive your bike, not a limousine.” On a huge field, under the roar of the strings of heavy rock performers and engines of various sizes and modifications, under the light of many hundreds of headlights, surrounded by thousands of people, under the roar of fireworks, the “dancing” of laser beams and enthusiastic screams, they felt at home. The famous "Mad Max" fuel truck, named after the Mad Max movie of the same name with Mel Gibson, attracted everyone's attention. Huge, black, with a predatory “grin” and many “guns” - he stood, waiting in the wings (the fuel truck was to take part in the “Volna” fire and music show).
Mr Boos joined the bikers on Friday night. It was expected that around midnight near the Royal Gate museum in Kaliningrad he would be met by Alexander “The Surgeon”, with whom he would travel to Devau. But the Kaliningrad governor managed to structure his day differently. After work, he drove to his home on Demyan Bednogo Street, where he changed clothes (leather jacket, “informal” sand-colored pants, light shirt), “saddled” the racing Honda and rushed towards the bikers. Around eleven in the evening he was already there.
Local officials, realizing that they had lost sight of the head of the region, began to catch up on their own. Vice-speaker of the regional Duma from the LDPR Valery Seleznev, for example, showed political literacy by also arriving on a motorcycle. And the chairman of the regional Duma, Sergei Bulychev, was, as usual, in his personal BMW. In a neat business suit, he looked entertaining among the long-haired rockers. The head of the regional agency of the main manager of budget funds, Olga Malygina, turned out to be wiser - she was dressed, like the patron, informally. Girls from a local modeling agency arrived, as well as various artists.
Kaliningrad amber artist Elena Gradinova gave Mr. Boos an original design leather tie with a large piece of amber instead of a knot. The governor was pleased, put on a tie and went to the VIP area, where he talked for a long time with his friend Alexander “The Surgeon”.
The regional government held an open auction in June for the right to conclude a government contract for the provision of services for the preparation and holding of the Night Wolves bike show. The only participant in the auction was the youth autonomous non-profit organization “Night Wolves”, and they won. The contract price is 3.5 million rubles. According to the terms of reference, the goal of the show is to expand the range of events for young people in the field of culture. “The bike show has a patriotic focus and instills in the younger generation an interest in cultural and technical creativity and sports. The rock groups “Pilot”, “Naiv”, “Super-Mag”, “Earthlings”, “Aria”, “Kalinov Bridge” performing at the Devau airfield (at least an hour each) must perform patriotic hits,” it is indicated in particularly in documents. Despite considerable budget funding, apparently there was still not enough money - to attend the show it was necessary to buy a ticket for 300 rubles.
Having talked enough with the “Surgeon”, Mr. Boos went to the stage - he rode there on a motorcycle to the approving cries of those gathered. "Hi all! Happy holiday!” - the head of the region tried to speak louder into the microphone. Thousands of people shouted something back - they probably also cheered. Or they simply screamed from an overabundance of feelings. Mr. Boos liked such a noisy and massive event. “Happiness to you! Speed and love! - he added and, picking up a guitar, began to sing along with the group “Earthlings”. “We wish you happiness”, “Grass near the house” - after performing these songs, the Kaliningrad governor literally glowed with happiness. When journalists later asked him about his feelings, he made it clear that he felt in Devau like in his own element: “You have to be born a biker.” Almost all local officials soon went home, and Mr. Boos stayed among the “wolves” until almost four in the morning.