Vladimir Putin answered Barack Obama from the depths of Russian fields

Yesterday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, having flown to the Krasnodar Territory, having lunch with combine operators and talking about the harvest prospects, at the end of the trip, unexpectedly, from the very depths of Russian fields, answered a question from Kommersant special correspondent ANDREY KOLESNIKOV regarding the statement of the US President about the fact that Vladimir Putin “stands with one foot on the old path of development, and the other on the new” (see also p. 1), and said: “We’ll meet... Let’s talk... Russia has never stood upright.”

They were waiting for Vladimir Putin in a field by the road. Here a field kitchen was laid out with pies, tomatoes, cucumbers, dill, and incredibly large cloves of garlic (the combine operators, before swallowing such a clove, bite into it only once)...

Cook Tatyana Nikolaevna Kosacheva, who, in her words, is called both “Tanyushka and Milochka,” said that the combine operators are given first course, second course (100 g of meat) and compote for lunch. She argued that combine operators are not starving. Apparently they are leaning on garlic (the only thing missing was silver bullets on a plate).

She complained that food processors have split air conditioning systems, but she doesn't have one in her kitchen.

“Your split system is the shade from these trees,” I said.

“I don’t agree,” she answered briefly.

Then the cook said that she still manages to cool some things: in a small refrigerator she has a bottle of vodka, which she drinks several times a day.

“Combine operators are not allowed, but I can,” she added, and it was clear that Milochka had recently opened the refrigerator for a minute. “This gives me adrenaline!” And when I have adrenaline, I cook better!

A few minutes later, Vladimir Putin was already eating a salad seasoned with Milochka’s adrenaline. Along with him at the table were three combine operators and the director of the Agrokompleks company, Mikhail Skakun, who washed his hands for so long when Mr. Putin was sitting at the table all alone that someone tried to restrain him:

- Sit down already!

“Okay, okay...” Mr. Putin said peacefully, noticing, it was clear that the three combine operators were already ready to sit down at the table with soapy hands.

Before their arrival, the table was wiped down with a towel soaked in the cook's vodka (she watched with pain as her adrenaline was recklessly spent). Another table was set nearby - for First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Minister of Agriculture Elena Skrynnik and Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev. This table, it seemed to me, was much richer: it was all lined with juices, mineral water... From the very beginning there was not a free centimeter on it. It seems that the locals understood well who would eat and leave, and who would eat and stay.

— When did you start cleaning? — the prime minister asked the combine operators.

The restless Mr. Skakun answered:

- June 8... Then it started to rain. Eight percent were harvested in total... The average wheat yield is still 55 centners per hectare.

- And last year? - asked the prime minister.

“68 quintals,” explained Mr. Skakun. “But we are removing the early one for now.” On medium and late varieties, ear to ear will pour...

“This year we provided you with support for fuels and lubricants,” noted Mr. Putin.

“It’s important for us,” agreed Mr. Skakun. “In those years, like cleaning, prices went up.” Fuel and lubricant manufacturers felt our need...

- And this means they kept the situation in check? - Mr. Putin noted with satisfaction.

- Yes, it turned out great!.. Yes, eat, eat! - Mikhail Skakun addressed the prime minister.

But the combine operators banged on the plates with aluminum spoons as if on command.

“Yes, get on with it...” the prime minister also encouraged them.

They stopped as if on command.

— Do you use agroleasing? - Mr. Putin asked.

- We recently settled with him! - Mr. Skakun said with relief. - Now only if life forces...

“We covered you 80 percent...” the prime minister became worried. “What, is the loan more profitable?”

- Certainly. Agroleasing is 10% more expensive...

- Now! - The prime minister nodded and shouted from behind his table to the one next to him:

- Elena Borisovna!

The Minister of Agriculture quickly came over (it would have been better if they had sent another bottle of juice from there).

“They say that agricultural leasing is unprofitable...” the prime minister told her.

“So, you probably took it five years ago,” she redirected the question to Mr. Skakun, who suddenly found himself between two fires.

They brought borscht.

“Today, two percent per year of total agricultural leasing,” the minister added.

“Well...” Mr. Skakun hesitated.

— And if you took out a loan... Today you won’t take out a loan for 15 years... And you don’t need collateral, like for a loan, if you use agroleasing...

With these words, Elena Skrynnik triumphantly returned to her place.

Mr. Skakun, meanwhile, was moving his lips, painfully calculating something in his head. Finally, his face showed great relief:

- It’s still a little unprofitable...

After lunch, Mr. Putin held a meeting on agricultural problems with the governors of the Southern Federal District.

He reminded them that prices for fuel and lubricants were fixed for them at the level of January 1, 2009, and added that there was an agreement with the oil industry: a fixed discount of ten percent from the wholesale price would be provided for agricultural producers.

“Today I already flew over the farms of the Krasnodar Territory,” said Mr. Putin. “It was nice to see the state of agriculture.

But as it turns out, everything looks different from the ground.

The Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Mr. Tkachev, said that at the beginning of spring the highest grain yield in the entire history of the Krasnodar Territory was planned.

- But in April - minus 12 degrees! 12 percent of the crop died on the vine! True, of course, you can fight!

Alexander Tkachev agrees to fight with the help of the state.

“Fixing energy prices,” he said, “is fantastic!” Otherwise, they (producers of fuels and lubricants - Kommersant ) were getting rich, and we (grain producers - Kommersant ) were going bankrupt!.. Retail chains also lived at the expense of the peasants, they accumulated fat... Now it’s time to find a balance,” he continued with satisfaction Alexander Tkachev, obviously confident that he had correctly identified a new government trend.

He ended by saying that “the economic crisis is, of course, a plus for us: the price of grain is high, everything else has become lower.”

Thus, Alexander Tkachev is now one of the few who do not like the government’s non-stop attempts to cope with the economic crisis.

After Mr. Putin came out of “Vyselki”, a recreation complex with a skating rink, which somehow looked artificial in the 35-degree street heat (actually speaking, probably because the ice was artificial), he answered my question regarding the statement of the US President, which was made on the eve of his arrival in Moscow: about the fact that he, Vladimir Putin, has one foot on the old path of development, and the other on the new one (see material on page 1).

- How do you feel in this position? — I asked. “You, like the President of Russia, also meet with Barack Obama.” What do you think about it?

“I haven’t seen these statements,” replied the prime minister. “If things are as you said (and they are exactly like that —A.K. ), then we’ll see you, we’ll talk...

Vladimir Putin may not have put any threatening meaning into these words. It just happened that way.

“The President of the United States,” he added, “will have the opportunity to discuss with Dmitry Medvedev issues of global security, foreign policy issues... If we see something new... If our American partners refuse, for example, to deploy new combat systems in Europe, from missile defense systems... if they reconsider their approaches to the expansion of military-political blocs... they completely abandon bloc thinking... - this will be a big step forward.

Mr. Putin thought for a long time about his next phrase. He even seemed to be thinking about something completely different.

“The same thing will happen,” he said finally, “if, for example, the Jackson-Vanik amendment is repealed... They are still promising to repeal... As for us, we are ready for effective interaction, we really expect a lot from the new administration... The signals that have been given to Russia from Washington so far have been encouraging. I would like to express the hope that this will be a useful meeting. And the United States is interested in this, we are nuclear powers, the world will watch this meeting...

Mr. Putin admitted how important it really is to him what the United States is planning to get out of the economic crisis. And he said in plain text (and not via a closed government telephone line) why:

— We keep a significant part of our gold and foreign exchange reserves in dollars.

Vladimir Putin had been answering for several minutes, but still did not comment on the words of the US President, which related to him personally. But, apparently, he was preparing for this answer all this time.

“As for the fact that we stand with one foot in the past, and the other in front...” Vladimir Putin paused again. “The Russian people have such a not very literary word.” We don't know how to stand upright. We stand firmly on our feet and look to the future. This is the key to our victories.

After that all that remained was to finish:

— The people of Russia are waiting for President Obama with good feelings! We say to the President of the United States: "Welcome!"

And not a word about my own feelings.

Andrey Kolesnikov

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 119 dated 07/04/2009, page 1

Authors:

Andrey Kolesnikov

Themes:

We weren't standing like that