A chair for growth, or a serious fight

“Well, now the country will be in trouble again with furniture…”

Conversation at the newsstand.

To be honest, I don’t know how it is with the furniture, but the fact that we now have a Minister of Defense for whom we won’t be ashamed is for sure.

I received the news of the appointment of Sergei Shoigu as Minister of Defense with mixed feelings. Of course, when a worthy person finds himself in a key position in difficult times for the country, this is good.

The fact that not just a four-star general, Hero of Russia, but a charismatic and people's favorite was appointed minister also speaks volumes. In particular, about an attempt to correct the reputational damage caused by Serdyukov to the authority of the Kremlin and the president.

Shoigu is one of the few figures in today’s politics who is treated with respect in different political countries.

But for the Moscow region this is definitely a loss.

Through the Public Chamber I was involved in some economic calculations, so I have an idea of ​​the groundwork of the now former governor of the Moscow region in facts and figures.

Shoigu took over the region, which was in a pre-bankrupt state. The amount of debt with a revenue base of about 350 billion rubles was more than 100 billion.

Therefore, one of the main tasks that the governor set for himself and his team was to increase consolidated budget revenues to 1 trillion rubles.

The figure was not taken out of thin air. This is a completely real, many times calculated amount of resources available in the region to fill the budget.

But what does it mean to add 600 billion to the budget?

Any nature abhors a vacuum, especially economic nature. It is clear that this amount, that is, 20 billion dollars at the current exchange rate annually, was creeping into someone’s pockets!

With his very first decisions, Sergei Kuzhugetovich managed to firmly entangle the interests of the land barons and the criminal sector.

The bar has been set.

Now it’s like high jumping – you can’t go any lower!

Shoigu, with his ambitious plans, raised it so high that anyone who decides to fight for the governor’s seat will have to figure out more than once whether he is able to make a budgetary breakthrough of such a scale.

The President will appoint an interim head of the region. But only the one chosen by the people can become governor.

Elections, you know.

Candidates who decide to compete for the post of owner of the Moscow region will have to focus on the stated goals.

And the opposition must understand that general conversations about democracy and the fight against the regime will definitely not work in this election campaign.

Undoubtedly, this will be a clash between revanchists, people from the old camp who will try to regain lost opportunities and progressives, followers of Sergei Shoigu.

A serious fight awaits you and me!

The question remains open: whose side will the opposition be on?

Professor, Faculty of Real Estate Economics

Academy of National Economy and Civil Service

under the President of the Russian Federation

Ivan Starikov