Games of Thrones

How did it happen that the opposition candidate won in Petrozavodsk

How did it happen that an opposition candidate came to power in Petrozavodsk, and what this victory will turn out for the residents of the capital of Karelia - in the report of The New Times

The new mayor of Petrozavodsk Galina Shirshina (on the right) came to power thanks to the support of Emilia Slabunova (left) removed from the apple tree.

Last Wednesday, September 11, the mayor of Petrozavodsk, Nikolai Levin, went to say goodbye to the city administration with his colleagues-a long five-story building facing the Embankment of the Onega lips, with gear ledges of walls, which creates that a wave is going on and the house is covered with ripples.

“No one expected, I myself did not expect. I was sure that the elections would be held normally, ”Levin admitted to the New Times correspondent. The mayor was so confident in his victory that he invited the entire Petrozavodsk bomond in advance on September 12 to his inauguration.

But the inauguration as a legally optional and cost event was canceled by the new mayor of Petrozavodsk Galina Shirshina. It was on this day that she came to equip in the mayor's office at number 503.

When asked how to get to Shirshina, the city hall’s security guard answers the question: "Who is it?" The question "Who is Shirshina?" The inhabitants of Petrozavodsk, who unexpectedly discovered the next morning, also asked each other after the election that at the head of the city - the unknown “technical candidate”, for whom, however, was called to vote in the city of Yablichnitsa, Emilia Slabunova (her, fearing competition, the authorities under the far -fetched pretext were removed from the election race two weeks before voting).

The officials of the city administration do not want to engage in any conversations, they only admit that the former mayor Nikolai Ivanovich was very fond of what happened for them - shock.

The city is full of rumors. People are discussing: is Shirshin really a puppet of businessman Vasily Popov, a member of the Federal Political Council of the Yabloko party? The Izvestia Federal newspaper goes even further and publishes an article that states: the arrival of Shirshina is the redistribution of the spheres of influence, the result of the conspiracy of Vasily Popov with the local influential businessman Devletkhan Alikhanov, who, during the mayor of Levin, informally led the city, calling the mayor to be his right hand.

Petrozavodsk in alarm.

After removing from the election race, candidate Slabunova, indignant people took to the streets
Hu from Miss Shirshina

At lunchtime, 34-year-old Galina Shirshina, a beautiful woman with a neat square and discreet daily makeup, leaves the administration building. Knocking with heels and holding the side of a dark purple jacket, almost running from the journalists besieging it. “I am not a politician, I am a business executive,” she says to the New Times, without a traditional epithet “strong”. - Not inclined to discuss emotions and personal life. There is a biography, you see me - you can make an impression, and as for the results of the work - when they will be, then we will talk. Do not be offended. "

She refuses an interview with a charming, slightly artificial professional smile (a psychologist Shirshina by education) and, smiling, slamms the door of her black Hyundai I20 in front of the correspondent's nose.

In the mean stories about himself, the new mayor is limited to “correct words”: “Mom told me: do not give up what makes you smarter. I always improve and develop. I always try to achieve your goals. ”

Galina Shirshina from the military family, was born in a neighboring Alakurtti village neighboring with Karelia, Murmansk region, where her parents lived at one time. When Gala was five years old, the family settled in Petrozavodsk. There, Shirshina entered the Karelian State Pedagogical University at the Faculty of Psychology. During his studies, she was the chairman of the trade union organization of KGPU students. He says that she acquired the desired experience with people there.

After graduation, she taught 13 years at the Interfaculty Department of Psychology of the KGPU, and from 2010 to 2013 was its leader. Students respond to Shirshina with admiration. “She came without a single piece of paper, without a summary and immediately began to tell us everything from memory. Interesting, emotionally. She cited many examples from personal experience - she had a private practice, ”says Maria Alekseeva, a KSPU student. Shirshina was a strict teacher, did not allow to write off the controls, she stood literally above everyone. “She immediately noticed if someone took out the phone and tries to write off, even on the gallery, in the fifth row. Therefore, if someone tries to do something in the city hall bypassing her, he will definitely not be able to, ”says student Valentina Zavyalova. Shirshin demanded a complete involvement from students, she really did not like if she was not listened to, and asked: then it was better not to go. Colleagues-teachers call it fundamental and clarify that Galina Igorevna does not apply about her personal life. It is known that she was never married and she had no children, but recently she had an engagement, and she put on a ring on the ring finger.

When the native university began to reformat, joining it to the State University, Shirshina did not wait for new offers and went to the post of director in the publishing house "Province".

In Yabloko, not formally his member, Galina Shirshina is already ten years old. The head of the Karelian branch of the party Vasily Popov claims that Shirshina was not at all a “technical candidate”, quite the opposite: she headed the headquarters and even conducted trainings for “apple” agitators.

Officially, Shirshina seems only to the teacher and director of the Province Publishing House, but she has another business experience. According to the SPARK-Interfax system, in 2011 it was a co-owner and director of the Etna LLC trading company, who trade in poultry meat (the company's profit in 2011 amounted to 2 million 700 thousand rubles). At the moment, Shirshina is listed as the director of the company "Absolute" selling food products (profit 4.5 million over the past year), as well as the director and owner of the Karelugrus limited liability company engaged in crop production.

"Enjoy Russia"

How did the opposition, and even, in fact, have a reserve candidate managed to become the mayor? The New Times correspondent listened to several versions on this score.

The one on the surface is about the "split of the elites." After appointing in May 2012, the new head of Karelia, Alexander Khudilinen, broke out the war between the two groups within the United Russia - urban and republican. The city is headed by a large businessman and deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia, Devletkhan Alikhanov: his team controls some city media, shops, management companies and a city minibus park. Republican United Russia is a small but influential group, in the hands of which an administrative resource. She began to form even under the former head of Karelia Andrei Nelidov and continues to gain strength with his replacement Khudilinen.

“Groups of United Russia are fighting for power in order to calmly develop their business, and only then fight the opposition. For several years, some members of United Russia are pouring mud of others, which stably reduces their rating, ”explains the political strategist Konstantin Odovnov, who worked on three election campaigns in Petrozavodsk with the Just Russia party. Therefore, Khudilainen, appointed by the head of the region a week before the entry into force of the law on the governor's election (a friend and a fellow student, Speaker of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin helped him to take this post), did not establish relations with the city elite, but immediately tried to “cleanse” the Alikhanov team.

Devletkhan Alikhanov, in an interview with The New Times, called the regional power of the non-commissioned officer, which carved itself, using the wrong tactics. He is sure that the opposition had no chance, but with the help of law enforcement agencies, the local authorities were discredited in the eyes of the inhabitants: “During the last year, dozens of criminal cases (the media even talked about 100 such cases. - The New Times), numerous searches were instituted. All information was covered in the media. ” They even raised things of many years ago that are not related to the administration. There were searches in the offices of all the deputies of Nikolai Levin, at work and at home at Alikhanov himself, were detained in the criminal case of his nephew Grigory Kopinin. And half a year ago, having learned about the criminal case instituted at his brother, Evgeny Zhuravlev, deputy Levin and the protege Alikhanov, resigned. Zhuravlev was prepared for the mayor: the deputy mayor actively performed in the media, while his boss almost did not glow in public.

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A cool governor arrived, instructed expensive advisers and blew up a small group of Yabellons with a headquarters of ten people

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Not without a scandal and immediately before the elections. In August, local media, and with them, all the townspeople discussed a broom sent by the deputy head of Karelia Oleg Gromov mayor Levin. The assistant of Khudilinen Stanislav Pevganen explained The New Times that it was a joke: the city hall’s leadership did not respond to Gromov’s call to go out and accommodate the streets together to “give an example to the janitors, since everything is so bad in the city,” and in this way Gromov decided to recall the agreement. “He went personally, bought a broom and sent. Gromov was just with a sense of humor, and the city hall thought that PR managers did it and that means: get out of here, ”says Pevganen.

The actions of the mayor himself also did not contribute to the growth of popular love. So, before the elections in the city, suddenly, they began to hastily patch up for a long time, unexplored roads (the townspeople regarded this as a clear window dressing) and for some reason they cut down an old linden alley.

Former mayor of Petrozavodsk Nikolai Levin was already preparing to celebrate the inauguration

Due to the high anti-rating of Levin's bets on it, regional United Russia did not make. “The regional authorities could not decide on the mayor’s candidate for a long time, while the opposition seven months before the start of the election campaign knew her candidate and worked with voters,” says Alikhanov. Alexander Khudilainen planned to put his man on this post, but it was not possible to promote him. And then Levin decided to take a chance. “I thought I could handle it,” he admitted The New Times. The republican authorities supported him "from hopelessness."

Conspiracy theory

“So the strongest team of Alikhanov“ hit ”,” says Vasily Popov, the main Karelian apple tree. The head of the republic considered Alikhanov to be his enemy, almost a bandit and forbade Levin to cooperate Levin to all. Alikhanov says that the only thing he personally did in these elections brought 4.5 thousand voters using a party resource. Popov claims that this is not so: "Alikhanov put it on Levin, believing that he would help him to strengthen the shaken position."

The assistant to the head of the region Stanislav Pevganen puts forward a conspiracy theological version: “It seemed that Levin had two headquarters: shadow and official. The official existed for cover - they gathered for half an hour, said that everything was fine, and diverged. The shadow headquarters included the “close circle” of the mayor, and he developed an action plan. Someone deliberately misinformed Levin that they have enough supporters: if the turnout is low, the necessary voices will find. That is why the election campaign was practically not conducted. ” According to Vasily Popov, Alikhanov himself and two former "apple trees" - Soratnikov Popov himself entered the shadow headquarters. This gave a reason to think about the conspiracy of Popov and Alikhanov - supposedly the defectors of Yabloko led a double game. Levin that his associates could be deceived, does not believe. “Well, they didn’t mobilized - so it happened! The staff of the headquarters themselves were surprised, ”he told The New Times.

The version is also supported by the fact that Alikhanov and Popov were on friendly terms. “Vasily Popov and Devlethan Alikhanov, in the elections to the Petrozavodsk City Council, divided the city into spheres of influence and used the campaign networks and the media of each other. And after the election to the Petro -Council, two girls - the candidates from Yabloko entered the YP faction, ”says political strategist of Ododnov. Popov confirms the fact of cooperation, but calls it “shameful” and forced - they say, they fought together against regional united Russia. Alikhanov says like this: “I am a pragmatist. If I see that you can work with a person, it makes no difference to me what his party is. ”

"Field" elections

Vasily Popov for 17 years created in Petrozavodsk a powerful network of Yabloko agitators

As Vasily Popov is sure, the version of the conspiracy sounds because the regional team must somehow justify himself. “A cool governor arrived, brought expensive advisers and purged everything that could be a small group of Yablochikov with a headquarters of ten people who won them even a reserve candidate,” says Popov. He calls this campaign the elections of “field structures”: “Those who came up with the elections on September 8, hoped that the organizational and administrative field structures of the party in the country as a whole in the country are stronger than the organizational resources of the opposition. But it was in Petrozavodsk that did not work out. ”

In the city of Yabloko in the city of 2 thousand agitators, these are activists of public organizations with which the party has been working for 17 years. According to Popov, they are all very professional: one authoritative, but not trained, a person can bring five to the elections, and the trained person can sagate 20, or even 30 voters.

Levin also had a field structure, their own network of activists: employees of management companies and trusteeships of several districts, where Alikhanov led. But Popov is sure that Levin would not have won in any situation, because his election headquarters are just fragments of the “apple” headquarters from among the defectors.

According to Popov, before the authorities removed Emilia Slabunov from the elections, the head of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation Mikhail Vinogradov arrived in Petrozavodsk - to study the situation and prepare a report for the presidential administration. “If they are removed in the district center, this lawlessness remains at the discretion of the governor, the regional centers remove opposition candidates only with the permission of the administration. In our case, they asked for permission to remove Slabunov from the Kremlin, so they sounded the soil, ”says Popov.

But Galina Shirshina was the head of the election headquarters, and most importantly, it was she who trained field structures for ten years, “raised and threw them into battle”, she was very loved, says Popov. This led to victory - two weeks after the removal of the main protest candidate Slabunova rating Shirshina flew from 1% to 40%.

Telephone victory

On September 9, after the first Eccit-Polelov, it became clear: Levin does not pass. At nine in the evening, the local CEC had the results in his hands: 41.9% - for Shirshin, 28.9% - for Levin. Turnout - 26.3%.

Levin’s headquarters gathered at the meeting and began to “ventilate the topic” of election cancellation. We searched for a reason. Vasily Popov found out about this (“intelligence worked”) and immediately called Grigory Yavlinsky. And he called Vyacheslav Volodin four times four times. “He did not even explain that it was undemocratic, but he said: listen, they substitute you all here, it will be worse. To cancel the elections after they removed Slabunov and voted for Shirshin, there would be nothing left of the governor, ”says Popov.

At some point, Yavlinsky was angry and said: “Glory, your employer solves these issues, not you!” And, with a sigh, he explained Popov: “Vasily, what can I say - we live in a country where one person - the president solves all issues.”

Apparently, it was after this that the head of Karelia called the administration and said: enough, blowing - everything, Popov believes. And at two in the morning, Khudilainen called Shirshina to congratulate her on the victory.

City Upstructure is the main claim to the city hall

National sport

Now the team of “new United Russia”, led by Alikhanov, has been suspended from power, and the new mayor is already building relations with the “regional united Russia”. Shirshina met with Alexander Khudilain twice, for the second time she even asked for a meeting. “We met, talked about the problems of the city,” explains Shirshina. “She is a psychologist, she talked to him so that everything arranged him,” said colleagues.

Speaking about his relationship with the new mayor, Popov asks not to expose him to a puppeteer, he says that Shirshina is a completely independent person. “The whole team of political technologists is difficult to admit that they were won by a simple girl, so they invent puppeteers, they say that, they say, from the Karelian“ Yabloko ”and the monkey will pass. The fact is that we have no monkeys! We have all worthy! - says Popov. “I say to Yavlinsky: you send signals from me to the administration that I am not a monster, agreement -shaped, otherwise the information is unilateral.”

When asked whether she will now join the party - in the “Apple, and maybe, to the United Russia or the Popular Front, Shirshina responds negatively. As the mayor’s position, she will embody the program of Emilia Slabunova, who has her own strong team.

“The plans are grandiose,” said Nambunova The New Times. - We will focus on changing the control system, we will pick up honest, decent people experiencing outside the city. Мы хотим привлечь горожан к участию в управлении городом — жители сетуют, что к ним не прислушиваются. Создадим общественный и экспертный советы, поставим информационные технологии на службу города». «Яблочники», говорит Слабунова, продекларировали принцип открытости и прозрачности: каждую пятницу на сайте администрации будет появляться 10-минутный отчет о том, что было сделано за неделю, а в кабинете мэра даже поставят камеры, которые на всякий случай будут записывать все происходящее.

Ну а собеседники The New Times в республиканском правительстве вздыхают: «Главное теперь для нового мэра — не связаться с какой-нибудь бизнес-структурой или группировкой «единороссов» и сохранять нейтралитет. А то как две силы объединяются, они сразу же начинают враждовать с третьей, и опять начинается война. Это у нас в Карелии национальный спорт такой».

фотографии: газета «Губерния Daily», Игорь Подгорный