How Nizhny Tagil ceased to be Putingshide. Research by Ilya Azar

In September, the elections of the head of the region will take place in the Sverdlovsk region - the mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman, the governor of Yevgeny Kuyvashev, was held for a second term. In one of the past numbers, we talked about the Kuyvashev war with the Sverdlovsk cities, on which he spent his first five years in power. The only city in the region, where direct elections of the mayor have still been preserved, was Nizhny Tagil. The special corner of Novaya Gazeta Ilya Azar tells why the city of Uralvagonzavod should no longer be called Putingshide and why the ambitious and charismatic mayor Sergei Nosov did not become a candidate for governors.

The room is empty, only trash is lying on the floor-empty bottles, crumpled cans, cookies, old boots, plastic containers, cellophane bags. Someone left pink and green marks on them. Suddenly the light goes out, and a bunch of garbage turns into the outline of the Nizhny Tagil night with phosphorus windows.

This is Metropolis - one of the most memorable works on the Garage Museum of Modern Russian Arts held this spring. The author is the artist Vladimir Seleznev born in Nizhny Tagil. “I have done this work more than ten times in different cities. If it is perceived abroad as a reflection of global problems, then in Russia this work is often perceived as criticism of power or specific city problems, ”the artist explains to me.

The foreign approach is closer to him: “This is not quite about Tagil or a particular city. It seems to me that there are several semantic layers in my installation, and the most readable is environmental, criticism of consumption, ”the artist explains. Now Seleznev lives in Yekaterinburg and works as a curator of video programs at the local branch of the State Center for Contemporary Art.

“As for Tagil, I can evaluate him as a person who occasionally comes there, but I largely like what [Mayor Sergey] Nosov did there. My mother, who lives there, says that the city is changing for the better. Under the former mayor, even trams did not go to some areas, and with Nosov everything is fine, and the tram park is almost completely updated, ”the artist says.

The birth of Putingsrad

Indeed, in recent years, the 350,000th Nizhny Tagil has blossomed, and its inhabitants owe this unexpected joy to Vladimir Putin. In December 2011, after the mass rally of the opposition in Bolotnaya Square, the head of the assembly workshop of Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Igor Kholmanski, during the teleconference with the president throughout the country, announced: “If our police do not know how to work, then the peasants and I are ready to go out and defend stability.”

In February 2012, Kholmanski, together with the deputy of the Sverdlovsk Regional Duma, Eugene Artyukh and ordinary workers, created the movement “In Defense of the Man of Labor”. The main of the priority tasks of the movement was the support of the course of Vladimir Putin.

The president liked the initiative “worker”, and he decided to make a patriotic window from his hometown. Putin appointed Kholmansky by his envoy in the Ural Federal District (Urals Federal District), in the May decrees he paid separate attention to Nizhny Tagil and arrived in it on the third day after the inauguration. To ensure the implementation of the presidential decrees, the vice-governor of the Sverdlovsk region and the former general director of the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Combine (NTMK) Nosov were ensured. In the mayor’s elections in October 2012, he scored as many as 92% of the vote.

“Just a year after that, a lot of money came to the city! In 2013-2014, in Tagil there was an unprecedented construction and financial rise. Tagil was in a privileged position, we received objects for billions of rubles, which were not received for decades, and the appearance of the city changed. Many thanks first of all to the president, ”says Alexander Maslov, speaker of the City Duma of Nizhny Tagil.

He lists the made: the embankment of the Tagil pond for 500 million rubles, the reconstruction of the Nizhny Tagil drama theater for more than 400 millions, the physical education and health complex for 600 million rubles, the bridge and the highway on Frunze Street for 500 million rubles. The journalist of the publication “Between the lines” Mark Grachikov adds: they brought a gloss onto the city, made pretty parks and squares, the smallest museum of Russia was opened in an abandoned patrol tower on Lysia Gora. “However, the amount that Nosov spent, for which Tagil residents thank him, less than Moscow spent on New Year's decorations,” Grachikov notes sarcastically.

In another iconic for Nizhny Tagil, a new facility - Radisson Park Inn hotel - we are talking to Maslov. A neat four -star hotel with prices from 4000 rubles per night in the factory Nizhny Tagil looks almost like a spaceship from the film "Attraction" to Chertanovo. But in November 2015, it was here that a meeting of the State Council with the participation of Putin took place. “In fact, on one day, the capital of our Motherland moved entirely to Tagil. This has never happened and is unlikely to ever happen again, ”the deputy of the city Duma of Nizhny Tagil Andrei Murinovich says enthusiastically.

Journalists of the Nizhny Tagil publication “Between the lines” introduced it to me like this: “He is for Putin, and works with the Holmanskie.” Murinovich is the president of the URFO-24 channel. “I’m not just for Putin, I am one of those people who have made everything in Nizhny Tagil for Putin, in accordance with the positive moments of our campaign, which resulted in the fact that the Kholmansky became a midday, and“ movement in defense of labor ”has become authoritative in the framework of the Ural Federal District,” he says. Deputy Murinovich emphasizes that if Nizhny Tagil “was a dung pit”, then no one would call him Putingshide.

By 2013, the media finally renamed Nizhny Tagil to Putingrad, although the name did not take root in real life. Speaker Maslov believes that "ordinary Tagil residents do not call their city, if only local and regional elites."

- Maybe hold a referendum on renaming the city to Putingrad? - I ask him.

“This is incorrect to propose this in relation to the president who does not want deification,” Maslov refuses.

- You can then name the street in honor of the president. In Grozny there is Putin Avenue, - I suggest a different option.

-If you think about it, the name and surname of the president must somehow perpetuate in Tagil, because he did a lot for the city. The street or square is more correct than the name of the city, and, probably, correctly. An interesting idea! - the speaker lights up.

Diplomatic Maslov believes that in addition to Putin, both the mayor of Nosov and the regional authorities had a hand in Renaissance Nizhny Tagil. “We must pay tribute to Nosov - he is a crisis, breakthrough manager, and can do what others do in three in a year. All projects in our country were implemented faster and efficiently. But without the participation of the area of ​​creation, it would not have happened, it gave its share of money and controlled the programs in Nizhny Tagil, ”he says.

Kuyvashev headache

Journalists of the publication “between the lines” tell me about the dark side of the construction of new facilities in the city. “One of the conditions for Nosov’s arrival was money for the Tagil Development Program until 2016, but the bench quickly closed. Now there is no money, but debts are those that have never been in the history of the city. More than half of the debts of the entire region are the debts of Nizhny Tagil, and for everything that Nosov was promoting, which people rejoice, the city owes money to entrepreneurs, ”Yegor Bychkov explains. Previously, he was the head of the Nizhny Tagil branch of the city without drugs, and in 2010 the court sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison for abduction and illegal imprisonment of drug addicts (the prosecutor asked for 12 years). After leaving prison, Bychkov opened the Charity Fund “Live, Kid”, a popular food delivery restaurant in Tagil and the agency “Between the lines”.

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According to the Speaker of the City Duma of Maslov, after the previous mayor Valentina Isaeva (she refused to communicate with the “new”), about 500 million are left to banks, and now the debt is about 1.5 billion. “99% of Nizhny Tagil residents do not understand what kind of debt it is. In part, they are right - they lead the children to the pool, which has never been to the embankment, and this is important. Although how to return money if the own income of Nizhny Tagil decreases every year is not clear, ”says the speaker of the City Duma.

Bychkov, the most important critic of Nosov in Nizhny Tagil, draws the mayor exclusively in black. “Between his beautiful words for grandmothers and deeds - a huge abyss! He promised to find new forms of financing - concession agreements and the like, and as a result, all his billions of projects turned into pumpkin, ”says Bychkov and gives examples of“ collapsed ”microdistricts“ Aleksandrovsky ”and“ Murinsky ponds ”. Nosov himself refused to communicate with me, and Kuyvashev construction in Nizhny Tagil seems to be pleased.

In 2016, the agency “between the lines” published a large investigation, from which it follows that the former company Nosova built a billional empire in Nizhny Tagil and, according to Bychkov, “climbed into all projects in the city.” The director “between the lines” considers Nosov a crook and calls his nickname “Seryozha five percent”. “For example, all advertising shields are owned by the city, but they use private shops, and the budget receives 400 thousand instead of 202 million. This is corruption in its purest form, because then these companies help him in the elections, ”Bychkov says.

He criticizes Nosov and for hypocrisy. “He once said in an interview as a cool man:“ We have no time to PR, we need to work. ” “And it’s funny for me, because through public procurement we saw that he was spending 300 thousand rubles in an interview, and then the head of the sports department of Tagil is suitable for me and asks to find the same money for children with disabilities for a new toilet. That is, there is no money for children with disabilities in the city, but there is an interview! ” - Bulls boil.

The speaker of the City Duma of Maslov from the conversation about Nosov’s sins evades: “If I tell you that he did something, you will publish, and they will require evidence from me. I am a competent person in this regard. There is a lot of conversations, but let the competent authorities do this. ”

Down with despondency

Nizhny Tagil, Pervomaisky rally of 2009. The rustic, it seems that a drinking man with a sloppy hairstyle shouts from the stage: “Who, we, will not do anything? Russian people? A? This will not work for us, or what? What are you talking about? Down with despondency! Down with despondency, that's it! And adults, and children, and youth! "

The record of the performance scattered on the Internet - the video in which the blogger “100500” mocks the speaker, more than 4 million views. “This is our city crazy, Ilya Korovin, he is very active, but not very serious,” says the editor -in -chief of Vakhonin’s lines, and her colleagues complain that there are no more oppositionists or public figures in the city.

Korovin, maybe the figure and frivolous, but he organized a rally on March 26 in Nizhny Tagil, and several hundred people came out to an inconsistent event on the square at the contemporary concert complex. “We hold our hand on the pulse and know what is happening in the city, but we are just stunned when so many people came,” says Vakhonina.

The success of a rally of Korovin, which now looks much more solid, explains by the fact that corruption in the city “all on top of the bottom”, and the FBK film about the Prime Minister Medvedev was watched and published even by those who “had not reacted to politics”, as for example, his acquaintance of the DJ. In addition, the rally pronounced the popular local public "Typical Tagilchanin".

“This in Moscow really believe that in Tagil all people are for Putin, but here they are talking about it more jokingly. We have a lot of dissatisfied with us wherever you look. At the same Uralvagonzavod, people can barely make ends, but they are silent because they are afraid to lose their jobs, ”Korovin explains. According to journalist Grachikov, even workers from Verkhnyaya Saldy, from the plant of the VSMPO-Avism Corporation, although there are 70 thousand rubles, came to the action. There were also workers from the Uralvagonzavod, although Korovin said in the trade union: “We are doing well, and we don’t have to go anywhere.”

Korovin himself was detained even before the rally (which the local court later recognized as illegal), but the crowd, according to Vakhonina, "" self -organized and even tried to block the car into which the detainees were put. " This time, Korovin was not called to the ED center, like several years ago, when he was in the wake of events in the east of Ukraine, he broke the TV directly at a rally against lies.

Deputy Murinovich is trying to belittle the success of a rally in Nizhny Tagil: “It was a rather competently planned event that was competently shown. After all, if 100 thousand came to the event, but none of the media told about it, then it failed. In the head of the people who came, it is not clear what, they just went out for the sake of the pod. ” Speaker Maslov admits that "facts of corruption in the country are visible in the media, because governors are planted one after another." “We must talk about this topic, and these rallies should not be prohibited. After that, negatively related to power, ”he said.

Oppositionist Korovin once was in the Communist Party, but was disappointed in the party, and now acts on its own. Despite higher education, he works “on contracts” and is mainly engaged in minor repairs of the premises. Korovin admits that the attitude to Nosov in the city is good, but claims that they are unhappy with a small business. “Yes, the city has become completely bright, until half a night even on the lining was light, although five years ago it was unattainable. Although everything seems to be for the best change, everything is quickly falling apart, for example, roads, ”he says.

On June 12, in Nizhny Tagil, as in other cities of Russia, a share against corruption announced by Alexei Navalny should again be held. However, the opposition traffic in Tagil after March 26 managed to tie. Korovin does not have a close -knit team, and each time different people help him with the preparation of rallies. “We started meeting meetings. As many as 25 people came to the first after the rally, about 13 to the second, and no one came to the third. The fuse disappears, 10 people were fined, and propaganda acts on many, ”Korovin explains.

An ordinary provincial city

The popularity of protest rallies in Nizhny Tagil may increase, because in March 2017 it became completely clear that Putings was no longer.

Firstly, the general director changed at the Uralvagonzavod-instead of Oleg Sienko, former Deputy Minister of Industry Alexander Potapov became him. Before that, the UVZ took control of Rostec and began to solve the accumulated problems of the plant. “It can be seen that they are inquired by money and try to optimize-they throw off a socialist, close UVZ shops ( shops with souvenir products of the plant. - Ed. ), They do not pay the salary of their hockey team, which they were so proud of,” says Bychkov.

Back in February 2016, the UVZ decided to reduce 2.5 thousand people (Korovin even organized a rally on this occasion), but in the end, 3 thousand employees were sent on a forced vacation in June. The head of the Tagil Duma Maslov confirms: “When in 2001 Evraz bought NTMK, reduction began, kindergartens, sports clubs, and amateur art groups left. Most likely, the UVZ with optimization will collide in 2018-2019 and there are already the first urge. This will lead to discontent, but this, unfortunately, is inevitable, because the state can no longer help the plant in the same volume as before. ”

“Sienko and Zharich ( the Moscow political scientist, who was responsible for UVZ for working with the media. - Ed. ) They had a Uralvagonzavod, invented some clothes, spilled into the exhibition, into the hockey team. Nizhny Tagil formed the identity that it was the city of UVZ, so now there is a resentment that we were again forgotten and we are again an ordinary provincial city, ”says journalist Grachikov.

Another symbol of the completion of the Golden era of Nizhny Tagil was the move in the suburbs of the arms exhibition Russia Arms Expo (RAE), which was once visited by Putin and Medvedev. “It was an event of a federal, or even international scale. Radisson was mainly built under it, because the plans for the exhibition were grandiose, ”the speaker Maslov is nostalgic.

The director “Between the lines” of bulls with the speaker does not agree: “According to the reports, 32 thousand tourists visited the exhibition, but these are nonsense. 90% of visitors were Tagil residents, so this is a local exhibition. ” He is sure that Rae simply could not withstand competition with the exhibition “Army”: “Shoigu oversees it, but he did not like Rae and never came. After Sienko left with UVZ, there was no one to defend the exhibition, and Nosov and Governor Kuyvashev merged. ”

Speaker Maslov believes that there will no longer be such a successful combination of circumstances, as in 2012, for Tagil: “The Putingsrad brand is a little washing, and such federal financing is unlikely to once still come, unless we find gold and oil. В стране очень много муниципалитетов, которые надо улучшать, есть внешняя политика, где нам надо свою армию поддерживать».

— Быстро закончилась сказка? I ask.

- Unfortunately, yes. Думаю, это борьба экономических элит на самом верху, и видимо, до Медведева или даже Путина донесли, что на УВЗ не все в порядке в силу менеджмента Сиенко. Теперь бренд УВЗ будет падать.

Журналист Грачиков уверен, что Тагил перестал быть актуален из-за Украины: «Сейчас Путин не на рабочий класс делает ставку, как в 2012 году, а на внешнюю политику». «Любой мем имеет под собой не только базис, но и цель. И сейчас не очень понятно, нужен ли такой достаточно имперский мем, как Путинград, нынешнему президенту. На сегодня базис Путина — это международные отношения, а главный мем — это «Крымнаш». Но если вдруг появится сильное протестное движение, то мем «Путинград» будет снова востребован», — не унывает депутат Муринович.

Амбиции и харизма

Нижний Тагил — единственный город в Свердловской области, где мэра по-прежнему выбирают всенародным голосованием. На разборки с самостоятельностью остальных муниципалитетов губернатор Куйвашев потратил весь первый срок. «Тут был серьезный конфликт еще год назад, когда к нам приезжали и пытались убедить депутатов принять схему с сити-менеджером», — рассказывает Муринович.

Куйвашеву пришлось отступить. «В любом другом регионе губернатор давно бы уничтожил мэра второго города, но у Носова есть связи в администрации президента, он общается с Володиным. Конфликт есть, но сейчас он завуалирован, хотя до этого Носов даже объединялся с администрацией Екатеринбурга, которая тогда воевала с Куйвашевым», — говорит Бычков.

Носов — чиновник неординарный, он любит и умеет выступать. «Он с его харизмой хорош, как картинка. Он может стукнуть по столу. Это не Куйвашев, про которого Леонид Волков недавно сказал, что у него «харизма тушеной морковки», — говорит Вахонина.

Харизма Носова, впрочем, нравится не всем. «Я работал в администрации Дзержинского района, и люди, которые продолжают там работать, страдают от его завихрений, от его диктатурной формы правления, единовластия», — говорит Коровин. По словам Вахониной, Носов «очень резкий чувак», подчиненные и бизнесмены его ненавидят, а в тагильской администрации называют «Пуля в голове». Своеобразным, ярким и жестким лидером называет Носова и Маслов, советуя ему быть помягче и больше прислушиваться к мнению других людей.

В конце концов губернатор Куйвашев оставил попытки приструнить Нижний Тагил — еще и потому, что Носов с его рейтингом в городе при желании может обеспечить Куйвашеву нужный результат.

Носов никогда не скрывал своих губернаторских амбиций и, когда пересаживался в кресло мэра Нижнего Тагила, то явно рассчитывал вскоре сменить Куйвашева. «Предполагалось, что Евгений Владимирович недолго будет губернатором, пойдет дальше, а его место освободится для хозяйственного и харизматичного губернатора. Теперь Евгений Владимирович видит в Носове человека, который пытается его подсидеть, а Сергей Константинович видит в Куйвашеве человека, которого он должен подсидеть. Нижний Тагил — это, конечно, классно, но это как в автогонках — всем хочется ездить в «Формуле-1», а не в DTM», — смеясь, объясняет Муринович.

В области до последнего ждали, что президент вместо Куйвашева двинет в губернаторы именно мэра Нижнего Тагила. «Носов работал советником Чемезова, и силовой промышленный блок пытался его двигать, когда УВЗ был на коне. Два года назад была информация, что Носова уже согласовали на губернатора, но наши источники в Москве сказали, что его заблокировали другие корпорации, — рассказывает Грачиков. — Для всех лучше Куйвашев, чем Носов, который будет лоббировать УВЗ и Чемезова и уничтожит тот же «Евраз», с которым у него проблемы.»

По словам Грачикова, секрет политической выживаемости Куйвашева состоит в том, что он, хотя и на первый взгляд не устраивает ровным счетом никого, на самом деле — идеальная компромиссная фигура. Видимо, с таким месседжем он и пойдет на выборы.

Екатеринбург — Нижний Тагил