Transcript of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

I will not utter long monologues; I just want to remind you what the reason was for establishing such an informal network – the Russian Popular Front. The idea behind it is that should be informal and non-bureaucratic. I would like to see United Russia come alive with new ideas, new people, new faces, and for many organisations – both formal and informal – to gain opportunities to express themselves and promote some of their ideas and their own people in the municipal, regional and federal power bodies.

I have already said that this idea was born in conjunction with preparations for the State Duma elections but I think that we should take it further, beyond the national parliamentary elections.

I want to reiterate: we are talking about both the municipal and regional levels; in other words, I would like to see people communicate their proposals for the development of their city, town or region or the entire country through this informal network, the Russian Popular Front.

That is all that I wanted to say initially. I would like to hear your views. Who will start? Go ahead, please.

Alexander Vasilyev: Let's start with our community. My name is Alexander Vasilyev. I am the organiser of an online community, the automotive community Ubitiye Dorogi Pskova (“Wrecked Pskov Roads”). And this is Igor Chernykh, one of our activists. The community was set up in 2008, in February, when the problem with the roads was very severe, and the city did not have serviceable roads. We began with a social network – one picture, and then literally one week later, we came out onto the streets with 200 cars. This was something new for the city, but nevertheless we did not meet with the authorities’ understanding. We followed up with another protest – in general, nothing happened, but our resentment grew. We live in the border region and see how our neighbours in the Baltics – Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus...

Vladimir Putin: Are building their infrastructure…

Alexander Vasilyev: Yes, and the quality of their roads. In other words, people who cross the border into Russia can tell immediately that they are in Russia when travelling on our roads. And in 2009, the situation changed. In what regard? We got a new regional administration, but nevertheless, we knew that they inherited a burdensome legacy of roads. So we still came out, held a protest and were heard. We were invited to a round table where we discussed the road issue with the administration.

Next, the governor himself asked us to rate the roads, to understand which of them should be repaired and what the people need. We submitted these ratings, and already in 2010, the longest and most important roads were repaired. We were able to establish such interaction between the community and the authorities. We decided to go a little further, so now we are creating a new information resource. Igor, could you tell us about it?

Vladimir Putin: Contractors must be scared of you by now

Igor Chernykh: The community is currently part of the social network VKontakte, but the audience there is limited, so we are creating a brand-new resource that will show all the region’s roads, their condition, as well as residential driveways, which is what we really want. And it will address some problems – the price of petrol, parking and traffic jams, which have now begun to appear in Pskov. In other words, we want to create a certain information resource that will be a kind of popular control, so that everyone can log on and add a problem road, say what is wrong with it, and monitor the repair of roads. We have public inspectors, who are already walking around the city, taking pictures, filling the website with records about roads and are monitoring the repairs, that is, photographing them, and publishing the photos after the repairs. In other words, we are showing the roads before, during and after repairs.

Vladimir Putin: This is very good, and important. I don’t think the authorities are willing or even able to supervise this. And if such an additional opportunity arises, then the regional government should be interested in it.

Igor Chernykh (a member of the Lamentable Roads of Pskov online community): It is important for us to make sure that the government recognises this resource and starts observing it or even supervises the troublesome road sections that we will be pointing out. Afterwards, the government can publish corresponding reports, probably, on the same website.

Alexander Vasilyev (the head of the Lamentable Roads of Pskov online community): This will be an anti-corruption measure. We can see what a road looked like, how it was repaired and what was done to it and what happened to it afterwards. If money is stolen, you cannot call the contractor into account. One can see at once if something was done indeed…

The road issue is becoming less topical, but motorists are facing new issues in out city. Since I’m here, I would like to ask you on behalf of the motorists. Roads are getting better, but the number of cars in the city and the traffic running across the region, including through Pskov itself, are growing. Pskov is almost stalling in gridlock.

Vladimir Putin: The traffic is running through downtown Pskov?

Alexander Vasilyev: Yes, through the city centre. There are two main streets. The bridges are the weakest point. There are only few of them. A section of the ring road has not been completed there. If we could help in this issue, this would get rid of the traffic in the city for several years to come.

Vladimir Putin: The ring road around the city is under construction?

Alexander Vasilyev: One section of it has been completed, while another, including a bridge and a connection to the motorway to Riga, is still pending.

Vladimir Putin: How long is this section?

Alexander Vasilyev: It is between five or six kilometres long.

 Let me now ask a question about our community. I believe others would find it interesting, too. Presently, our community only exists on the VKontakte social networking website. This means we are not registered as a NGO.

Vladimir Putin: Let me first say a few words about the issues you raised.

First, we expect the amount of funds that can and need to be set aside for road repairs and construction to grow significantly after the establishment of regional road funds. These will be very substantial funds. In this respect, it seems important to me to make sure you get a representative in the regional parliament.

Why am I referring to the regional parliament? Because this is where the spending is planned. We need to make sure that members of your association can supervise at the level of the regional parliament what funds are being set aside and for what purposes rather than drive around the city and post this information on the Internet.

I would like to emphasise that this is extremely important given that money allocations for this purpose are expected to surge dramatically.

This is my first point.

Second, I will certainly take a look at the unfinished ring road section and will hold a meeting with the governor to discuss this issue. He will tell me in detail about everything and I will issue corresponding instructions to the federal road fund.

Let me now return to the organisational issue. Speaking about the Russian Popular Front, I was above all speaking about lifting excessive bureaucracy.

To my mind, it is not so important whether your organisation is registered as such or not – the main thing is that it deals with a specific and topical issue. There should be no organisational or bureaucratic barriers for organisations like this. It does exist de facto and I believe this is what the decision should be grounded in. So, it is possible we will be taking part in this work together.

Remark: Good.

Vladimir Putin: Moreover, it is not only important. It will only be appropriate if you take part in this work because what you are doing is very important. I don’t think there’s a point citing Russia’s three main troubles. I would like to reiterate that the establishment of road funds will reverse the situation.

Question: What are these three troubles? The fools, the roads, and…

Vladimir Putin: …import.

Remark: I’d say alcohol abuse.

Vladimir Putin: Well, maybe. Go ahead, please.

Daniil Novikov (head of the Let’s Help association of independent volunteer initiatives): I represent youth associations and my name is Daniil Novikov. Here is Alina Chernova, a fellow of mine. We have been working on important volunteer and charity initiatives for four years now. About a year ago we set up a community called Let’s Help in our region.

Vladimir Putin: What is the name?

Daniil Novikov: It is Let’s Help. So, the name incorporates an appeal. At first, this community was only working with the support of Pskovskaya Pravda, our local newspaper, but then the regional government and the youth policy committee turned their attention to us. Over that year we carried out about 20 campaigns – we are working to help orphans. But now given this support through grants, applications, consultation and information support we have already planned twice as many campaigns as we conducted over the previous year. 

Vladimir Putin: When was the community set up?

Daniil Novikov: We established the Let’s Help organisation last year.

Vladimir Putin: Could you repeat how many campaigns you have carried out since then?

Daniil Novikov: About 20. Let me say a few words about these campaigns. We don’t come to orphanages carrying gifts; our objective is to contribute to the children’s development, above all to teach them to communicate because this has turned out to be the kids’ primary need.

There aren’t many of us in the association. Its mainstay group includes between 15 and 20 people and about 150 people are registered in the organisation. We do not only visit orphanages but we also try to take the children on trips to Pskov. Yesterday we had a football match. We invited children from two orphanages and organised a football match involving volunteers, with entertainment. We also take kids to various industrial facilities so that they can take a look behind the scenes. In this way, we help them choose their future profession. There aren’t many of us in the organisation but we have ambitious plans.

Alina Chernova (a member of the community of independent volunteer initiatives Let’s Help): I want to help Daniil, who seems to be at a loss. Our main task as volunteers was to help children, which is a noble goal. We gradually understood that charity, which is generally understood as showering presents on orphans, is ineffective. It is not what children need. We have come to believe that children need not so much toys, sweets and assistance from patrons and charity organisations, which do not try to understand children’s problems, as relationships, the involvement of caring people, and social adaptation skills. They cannot find their bearings in adult life, which is why we focused on assistance to them, so that they do not feel deserted.

Volunteer assistance must be effective; we do it in our free time, but all of us also have jobs and families. We want the time we spend with orphans to be maximally useful for the children, which is why we have created our community and are now trying to create the right foundation for it. We suspect that we are not alone in this quest, or am I wrong?

Vladimir Putin: But this undertaking takes money. Where do you get the funds? Even organising the trips …

Alina Chernova: In the first year after the establishment of Let’s Help, we received grants from the newspaper Pskovskaya Pravda and the regional administration’s committee on youth policies. Before that, until we formulated our views on the effectiveness of assistance, we relied on charity and humanitarian aid, that is, mostly money donated by people.

Vladimir Putin: So, people support you?

Alina Chernova: Yes, they do.

Daniil Novikov: I’d like to add a few words. We are not so much worried about money for our trips, which do not cost that much anyway. We are more worried about responsibility, the growing volume of charity assistance for which we need the money. The point at issue is that more independent groups such as ours are being established in Russia. There are such groups in many regions, and they care not only for orphans but also for the elderly, the disabled, and provide assistance during wildfires like last summer.

I know some of the people who were involved in this. And when we exchange opinions, we invariably talk about an unhealthy growth of the volunteer movement in Russia. Because independent volunteer groups are not always sufficiently qualified, and sometimes even… There is a notion of harmful assistance, when children are only showered with gifts, which makes them helpless when they grow up.

Our proposal, which we think should be included in the Popular Front’s programme, is to hold a nationwide festival in the Pskov Region – it could even be a music festival – that would actually be an exchange of ideas and projects, a festival of ideas for volunteer organisations. It could include seminars and training sessions and could be used to recruit new volunteers and offer consulting services to existing volunteer organisations that want to improve their performance. We want to improve and to make our efforts more responsible and serious.

Vladimir Putin: This is another good idea.

Daniil Novikov: Because you need not only a kind heart but also brains.

Vladimir Putin: Exactly. You are correct in that children need not only gifts and material assistance, but also spiritual and organisational help. You have correctly pointed to this delicate issue.

However, you need skills and training to be able to provide such help. Buying toys and bringing them to children is simple, although it also takes emotional involvement to do this. But it is much more difficult to provide spiritual assistance and to teach children some practical skills, because this implies persistent work; you cannot achieve this in just one visit.

Daniil Novikov: Yes, this is painstaking work, unlike some window-dressing projects…

Alina Chernova: …that are only one-off events...

Vladimir Putin: Yes, and this is why it is important to hold meetings with those who do this according to their hearts’ conviction and are ready to devote part of their personal time to it. Let’s think about it; I am ready to help.

Daniil Novikov: Here is one more argument in favour of holding the event in the Pskov Region. It is a picturesque area with many lakes, which would be an ideal venue. Furthermore, the regional authorities also have the necessary experience. If you really support our idea, we will be able to hold the meeting already this year, with active assistance from the regional government.

Alina Chernova: Yes, we could organise it.

Daniil Novikov: We have the necessary resources.

Vladimir Putin: Let’s think about the form, place and time of the meeting. Let’s discuss it. But I will talk with the governor first, okay?

Alina Chernova: We have one more question to you as prime minister, because we don’t have the competence to make such decisions. Maybe the Popular Front could help.

The volunteer movement is developing rapidly in the region, especially charities that aid orphans. Personally, I work with small kids, those who were abandoned by their parents, and children with disabilities.

Regrettably, there has been little improvement in the work with disabled children, in particular as regards adoption or involvement in social projects. They still live in closed orphanages. Volunteers are working with them, of course, but volunteers don’t need additional motives or encouragement to do this. However, the families that adopt children with disabilities need encouragement and attention.

This is what we propose: There is the Order of Parental Glory and the Honorary Donor Badge. Maybe there should be a decoration or a badge for the families that adopt disabled children? There are organisations that support and assist such families. They are our friends, and we know from them that this is very hard work that may not be apparent to the eye but deserves commendation.

Vladimir Putin: Moreover, we make no difference between those who adopt a healthy child and a disabled one. This is a good proposal, thank you.

Sergei Damberg (an active member of the Social Technology Bureau, a non-profit partnership): My name is Sergei Damberg and this is Dmitry Lebedev; we launched the Pskov Utilities project several years ago. At first we monitored changes in Pskov housing and utility services, but shortly before the New Year, about six months ago, we saw that the time had come for us to take a more active approach. We thought the main problem was that people don’t know where to begin, how to set up homeowners associations and neighbourhood networks.

Although the reform has created an impetus in a number of areas, it lacks a practical mechanism. We also saw that people are confused, and that the more the media spotlight the problem the worse the situation becomes, because the media broadcast negative experience, the examples of fraudulent homeowners associations.

We did not know how to help the people in practice, and so we decided not to fight against but to work toward a goal, to try not to lead the group of initiative owners into a legal deadlock but toward the creation of a utilities system for one residential block, one neighbourhood.

We started by creating an electronic venue: a website and a multi-user blog. People were gradually attracted to the website, and today we have 120 registered users. Experts, people who have experience they can share with others, and advocates of new practices are using the site, where you can get answers to your questions from people who have no personal interest in the matter, who will not benefit from it financially. Ultimately, that site can be used to implement your resolution on information disclosure.

A club of housing owners has developed at that electronic venue; it unites nearly all chairs of the homeowners associations that were set up at people’s initiative in Pskov, or about 30 people, each of them a leader of their neighbourhood network representing several thousand Pskov residents working to improve their living environment.

One day we decided that the club of housing owners should also interact with the municipal administration. We put the question to the party-led project House Manager, which sparked off communication immediately. People have gathered for a meeting with the newly-appointed head of the municipal government. I am sure that it was a breakthrough for both sides: they saw that they have interests and tasks in common, and started talking with this organised community. This interaction showed that there is a close connection between local governments and the housing and utilities systems of the neighbourhood networks, which may ask unpleasant questions, but they know exactly what they want the officials to do and what these officials can be respected for. This interaction is changing the quality of municipal management and governance, which stop to be the pale shadow of the Soviet-era executive committees and are becoming real municipal governments. Apart from the club of housing owners … it meets every two weeks, and its meetings are attended…

Vladimir Putin: Where do they meet?

Sergei Damberg: We now hold these meetings at the executive committee offices of United Russia. But before that we met in the Pskov Institute of Regional Development, where rooms are smaller and they are no longer enough for everyone who wants to attend. Widely different people attend these meetings, some who don’t believe and others who don’t know what to do, but all of them get expert assistance at the club.

In other words, the project consists of three elements: an electronic venue, the club of chairs of the homeowners associations, and expert assistance in creating a neighbourhood network, with meetings, registration, and everything else. All of these components have proved effective; as far as I know, this is an outstanding achievement. In fact, we have not seen any other example of this kind.

Initially, people see their neighbours for the first time, see how many neighbours they have, and then it dawns on them that they are not alone in this “war” against the authorities, that they are part of the federal reform of the housing and utilities sector, and that this is the essence of the reform, which is not designed to harm but to assist them. We have seen how important it is for people to get this moral assistance, this understanding that they are not alone. This is really like the Popular Front, which is not just a nice metaphor, because there are widely different people involved …

Vladimir Putin: But the problem concerns each and everyone.

Sergei Damberg: Yes, it concerns everyone. It turns out that people have common interests despite differences in incomes, employment and party membership, and these common interests bring them together. The line of the Popular Front runs through courtyards and residential neighbourhoods. People come to fight for their courtyards and suddenly see that they don’t have to fight the officials who don’t give them something; they don’t need to strike at a helping hand. The process has been launched and is becoming quite effective.

I think that the ideology of our project is also the ideology of the Popular Front. I am sure that even if two or three people, dissatisfied with the situation in their courtyard in a country where initiative groups operate separately from each other, come to see that they are part of a common process and not the conspirators who need lawyers and the assistance of the court, this is a major achievement.

We know that you have recently set up the Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies, led by Nikolai Fyodorov. I think that we could use the mechanism we have applied in a small town, Pskov, at the federal level across the country. People badly need positive experience, they need to know what has been achieved in Naberezhnye Chelny or St Petersburg.

Vladimir Putin: There is no need to comment on the importance of this project. We require over 3.5 trillion roubles for housing repairs and another 6 trillion roubles for infrastructure repairs. You have said absolutely correctly that the housing and utilities reform is aimed at creating conditions for this work, so that these major funds allocated from the federal, regional and municipal budgets are not squandered but used effectively.

To ensure this, we must understand where these funds should be invested, who spends them and how. We must know the price and the real cost of each service, as well as its market value. How much does it cost to repair a roof? How much do water discharge and other utilities cost? What is the cost of the maintenance services associated with the common property of housing owners? What should they do if the management company does not work property? How can you replace it? What should you do? And what can you demand from the (management) company in terms of information disclosure, which you have mentioned?

This is an extremely important aspect. We must know how our money is spent. How much does it cost to repair a roof or a porch, or paint a staircase? People have the right to know; this information must not be secret, it must be free; this is not the Defence Ministry or the intelligence service. They must give this information to people, who have the right to check it and compare it with the prices offered by other companies in the region, right here, on the same website. It is easily done, when there is such information. But ensuring information disclosure takes hard work. People must know their rights, I am certain about this.

Dmitry Lebedev (head of the Social Technology Bureau, a non-profit partnership): I’d like to say a few words about our work. We have a number of achievements to our credit, which means, first, that the mechanism is effective. On the other hand, not everything depends on money. To begin with, the people, nearly 30% of the total, are ready to support this initiative, to join the homeowners associations. But they will not do this of their own free will; they need an impetus, an encouragement.

Why has the mechanism we proposed proved effective? The website, Pskov Utilities, is a highly personalised venue which each user can browse and then arrange a personal meeting with each of the experts, attend a meeting of the housing owners club, and so on. As a result, we have the homeowners associations and the initiative groups that could be registered soon.

People’s attitude to everything, including the reform, begins to change because the reform has given them this freedom, even though at first they regarded it as something abstract. But their attitude changes when they see that this freedom also includes responsibility, a responsibility for the decisions you make, and this leads up to everything you have mentioned here, such as the cost of maintenance repairs…

This is why we say that the Popular Front is everywhere, in each house and each courtyard. People’s attitudes are beginning to change, and they no longer complain to the district and city authorities, because they see that they can do a great deal themselves. The reform has given them this opportunity, which is a major advantage.

Vladimir Putin: You have said correctly that it is very important to see a connection between financial responsibility, for example for maintenance repairs, and rights. Because when people don’t understand their rights, they are not ready to assume responsibility. This is the second significant aspect. These homeowners associations should not be imposed upon the people, especially if the facilities are in a dilapidated state. First, everything should be put in order, and this is the duty of the municipal and regional authorities. First, the situation should improve, and after that people should be asked to set up these homeowners associations. 

Dmitry Lebedev: May I add something in connection with this? We have this example: The building at 49 Rizhsky Avenue has become known all over town. Speaking of putting everything in order, the rather well-known Tezis managing company runs that building. They have not taken care of the situation. Local lifts have been shut down. Their service life…

Vladimir Putin: City hall, rather than the managing company, is supposed to do this.

Dmitry Lebedev: I understand, but they have been running that building for several years already, and it’s simply impossible to live there. I don’t remember exactly, but sometime in March or in late February, they shut down all the lifts there. And people started thinking: “Why is this? We are all paying.” And they started coming to us, they found out about the website, and they realised this was not just some ordinary website, but rather that it’s run by real people. They come to the homeowners association club, get advice absolutely free of charge, learn about what they can do, etc. As a result of concerted efforts by municipal authorities, town hall promises that they will have lifts by the end of the year. That’s the way things are.

Vladimir Putin: Are there any positive trends?

Dmitry Lebedev: Oh, yes.

Vladimir Putin: Maybe they need not only lifts from town hall?

Dmitry Lebedev: They need everything.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, they need a lot more. Please give me the address later on, and I’ll have a look.

Valentin Kurbatov (Member of the Russian Public Chamber): Mr Putin, I listen to the younger people with delight. At the same time, I think that all these volunteers join the army when the army fails to deal with something. They arrive when it’s necessary to uphold what those whose duty this is have failed to accomplish. For me, their actions are probably the main issue today. I’ll give you a booklet some time later, and you will see it. It’s a long-term issue of ideology. We have forgotten this word and have started shying away from it... As a result, we have been deprived of any ideology. At first, when this country was in the throes of a serious struggle, we had no time for ideology. We only had to hold out for one day and one night… After that, when everything had more or less stabilised, we looked around all of a sudden and noticed that we were lacking a system of internal coordinates. We suddenly do not have a sense that the state has distinct and organised moral, economic, and spiritual borders.

It appears that ideology has always tackled such issues. It was called Holy Rus, without realising this and more or less understanding Orthodoxy, autocracy and the national character. In France, these concepts are represented as “liberty, equality and fraternity”. And, finally, there was the construction of socialism, which was a well-adjusted system of existence. When all that disappears into thin air, I understand the need for establishing the Russian Popular Front. 

I believe that United Russia would fulfil its function without calling itself a front if it didn’t call itself a party. We have shamed the word “party” too much, we have had so much time to mock this word recently that it almost has a permanent stigma attached to it. We can never reconcile ourselves to this. Consequently, we need to establish the Popular Front. I was looking around on the internet today, and I was stunned to learn that Mr Mironov refuses to join this Popular Front, and that he is moving to establish his own “Popular Front”. Zyuganov is also setting up a “Popular Front” of his own. Excuse me, but this looks like a civil war. Having multiple fronts implies that, in reality, everyone is in opposition. And they are in no mood to join forces.

Today is probably the most crucial moment of truth in the history of this country. Will we be able to assert ourselves as a nation and maintain our position? In my opinion, this can be accomplished by reinstating the initial lofty meaning of words. This is the simplest and most impossible objective. We have started shying away from lofty words. It has become rather inappropriate to mention them. They are deliberately forcing us to use only frequently used words, demanding that we be more specific and stop using all sorts of general words. But, in some cases, lofty words conceal such lofty concepts that the people start perceiving themselves as a Nation and sit up straight. When these words barely make a sound… Today, I think it’s high time for this “Popular Front”, provided that it finds clear, precise and coherent language and declares it to the nation, to put all other popular fronts to shame. The second and third fronts have not begun operating yet. They will feel ashamed, and they will realise that, actually, it is already impossible to play with the popular consciousness and to make it the subject of political games.

I think this is our finest hour. You see, the Lord himself is looking after Russia. As you remember, Vladimir Solovyov said this amounts to popular national self-awareness. This is not what the people think of themselves, but what God thinks about the people not in time but in eternity. He is still thinking about us. And when we find ourselves in a state of certain disarray, we have to celebrate another anniversary, including the 1,150^th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian state, due to be marked in 2012. For us, this is the most difficult thing because we have been defending our borders for 1,150 years and have been facing challenges since the times of Alexander Nevsky. Only such challenges have now become more insidious and subtle. But they remain the same. That’s why we need to… Thank God, we will celebrate the 400^th anniversary of the liberation of Moscow from Polish forces and the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino. These dates coincide next year as if on purpose.  

Vladimir Putin: In effect, we have two holidays dedicated to Alexander Nevsky, right? They are celebrated in September and, I think, in November.

Valentin Kurbatov: There are no holidays dedicated to Alexander Nevsky, but there is the 400^th anniversary of Moscow’s liberation and the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino…  

Vladimir Putin: Yes, I understand, but we have two holidays equally devoted to…  

Valentin Kurbatov: These are the summertime and wintertime St Nicholas Days. At long last, one gets the feeling that all we have to do is get together, recall the meaning of each word and reread such words. It seems as if you have lost your vision, your mind is in disarray, and you have awakened all of a sudden and have remembered that you are a Russian person with such a tremendous vocabulary. Please note that lately neither the government, nor the president have been quoting… We have stopped hearing quotes from Russian classics in the past decade. I’m a writer. Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Valentin Kurbatov. We don’t hear the quotes that used to be so popular from Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and even Pushkin, whose 200^th birth anniversary was marked rather unobtrusively.

The upcoming 1,150^th anniversary… Perhaps the simplest thing is that, if every television channel (thank God, they are all in front of us) undertook to read about Russian history, and read these books every day, read every page of such books, as well as historians’ comments on every aspect of Russia’s 1,150 years of existence, then we would wake up as a different state. We would suddenly comprehend the existence of our immense power. All the current discussions about post-historicism, post-modernism and post-religion amount to post-existence. In reality, this is not existence. Indeed, we are almost deceiving ourselves by saying that everything is all right, that the situation has stabilised, calmed down and has been evened out. But when you wake up alone at night, you realise with consternation that you have children and grandchildren, and you think with alarm about how you are… Why did Nikita Mikhalkov write his manifesto? He did not write it alone. Surikov from his clan and the noble Konchalovsky clan also wrote it. They wrote it because they understood that they need to leave an ordered, fine-tuned and coherent state to their children and grandchildren. Indeed, the Russian consciousness now has a unique opportunity to identify itself for the first time in clear and powerful religious, spiritual and moral terms. If the Popular Front manages to accomplish this, then it will have fulfilled its proper military duty, after all. 

And now the last thing. Yesterday, I read an entry on the word “front” in Vladimir Dahl’s dictionary implying that there are no relatives on the front. We should tell this to the third and second fronts that there are no relatives there, that the front is not established in line with this principle, that all are equal and are brothers there, and that all are brought truly together at this fateful hour. Consequently, I can only say: “So help us God.” Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Every political force has the right to establish similar movements. There is nothing unusual about this. To be honest, the Russian Popular Front that I advocated was not supposed to suck in absolutely every political organisation, wing and group like a vacuum. Actually, we need a sufficiently bright and diverse political life. This is the first thing. Second, those following in our wake always come up with copies of the original, which cannot be better than the original. All of them repeat what we have done. It appears that we should not expect any serious movement from them. But I repeat once again that a bright and diverse political life is essential. Every party and movement has the equal right to gather supporters, the way United Russia does.

I completely agree with what you have said about returning to our roots and the classics. However, the president and I do return to this. Quite recently, I mentioned Pushkin while discussing taxes, a dull subject at first glance.

Valentin Kurbatov: I have read “Eugene Onegin”, and Onegin read Adam Smith…

Vladimir Putin: Oh, yes.

Valentin Kurbatov: I’d like to finish my speech, so I don’t distract you later on. All those countless popular movements now being mentioned on every website… In reality, these popular movements advertise themselves rather loudly and say it’s high time we started hearing each other out. If a very powerful coordinating committee is established in Russia today…

And now the last thing. St Petersburg residents sent me a wonderful work called “The Spirit and the Cause” the day before yesterday. Their public movement called “Russia’s Paths: the Spirit and the Cause” is trying to present enormous, ambitious and meticulously detailed programmes. This is part of a subconscious search for unity. If the coordinating committee reads and improves on these works which are likely amateurish and uneven, and if it draws the relevant conclusions from them… In that case, the committee and the front will have fulfilled their roles in Russia.

Vladimir Putin: I think you did not bring to mind Alexander Nevsky by sheer coincidence. This is a shining example of service to the Fatherland. Incidentally, he did everything possible in order to unite everyone who truly loved Russia and aimed to develop it around his ideas. Even after he was expelled from Novgorod after the Battle of the Neva, he eventually came back. Moreover, he triumphed over the Teutonic Order on the ice of Lake Chudskoye not far from Pskov. It is my opinion that, despite the extremely complicated conditions of that period and the fact that Russia was fragmented, he made progress toward unification. Consequently, I think that you didn’t bring up Alexander Nevsky by mere chance because it was he who had launched the unification process. That was a lengthy and gradual process lasting many centuries. Nevertheless, I believe he was the one who started it.

As far as today’s conversation is concerned, I’m really impressed, just like our colleague who just finished speaking. Our conversation has made a very good and powerful impression. I’m very grateful to you for today’s meeting because this means that the idea of establishing the Russian Popular Front is quite popular. It enables all people who are not burdened by ideological considerations and are not bound by any administrative, bureaucratic framework to implement at least part of their own goals and ideas. At any rate, this provides them with such an opportunity.

There are completely different aspects of work here. The quality of life of Russian citizens and Russia’s future will depend on how we act in this sphere. When I say “we,” I mean all of us together, including the state, municipalities and public organisations. The quality of life of Russian citizens and Russia’s future will depend on how effectively we work in these areas, including roads, the housing and municipal utilities sector, work with children, the creation of a moral and ideological foundation for our life, the strengthening of this foundation, reinforcing its link with our past and future. The quality of life of Russian citizens and Russia’s future will depend on all of this today, tomorrow and for centuries ahead.  That’s why I don’t want to say too many grandiose words now, but I can see that we are on the right track, and that we will work together. Thank you very much.

Thank you for the book (addressing Valentin Kurbatov).

* * * 

Vladimir Putin: Come in please. Good afternoon.

Yana Piskunova: My name is Yana Piskunova, and this is Sergei. I have come to tell you about a kindergarten in Shestak Street. I am speaking on behalf of military officers’ wives. The kindergarten was built by the Defence Ministry on a site that belongs to it. But the ministry has not opened it, and the city cannot do it either, because it is the ministry’s property.

Vladimir Putin: When was it built?

Yana Piskunova:  It was commissioned in December 2008 – that is, two and a half years ago.

Vladimir Putin: Right, 2009 and 2010…

Yana Piskunova: Our older children are enrolled in a school already, and the younger should go to kindergarten, but we cannot get the ministry to open it.

Vladimir Putin: That must be causing problems with work for you.

Yana Piskunova: That’s right. All because of this kindergarten.

Vladimir Putin: In principle, the Defence Ministry has agreed to cede such kindergartens nationwide. I can’t quite see why this particular kindergarten hasn’t opened yet and why the city cannot take it over. I’ll talk to the Defence Minister today. If it’s through the ministry’s fault, they will speed up the transfer. We’ll deal with it today.

Yana Piskunova: Thank you. But this is not the only kindergarten in such situation. There is another one, which is in a very bad condition – there are trees growing inside the building. It has been ransacked, everything has been stolen, even toilets and washstands.

Vladimir Putin: Ransacked, you say?

Yana Piskunova: Yes, there’s nothing left.

Vladimir Putin: There are 500 to 700 projects countrywide, which formally belong to the Defence Ministry and are not functioning for a number of reasons.

Yana Piskunova: They explain that the site belongs to the ministry. It cannot cede the premises without the land while municipal authorities cannot transfer the plot into municipal property. That’s what the problem boils down to, they say.

Vladimir Putin: Why cannot they? I am sure they can.

Yana Piskunova: They certainly can. But the kindergarten has been standing vacant for years, and they won’t open it.

Vladimir Putin: As a rule, the problem is that the Defence Ministry wants money for its facilities. I see its point – it has funded the project and wants its money reimbursed to channel it to its legal obligations, including the provision of accommodations for the military. But here, I think we should do it differently: transfer such facilities to municipalities as soon as possible to open them immediately. I think we’ll resolve the matter.  

Yana Piskunova: Do you think we will manage? You are our last hope. This is a letter from officers’ wives…

Vladimir Putin: Are these their signatures?

Yana Piskunova: Yes. Here are the letters I have sent earlier, and answers from the State Duma, the Defence Ministry, and the city hall.

Vladimir Putin: All right. In what state is the building now? Does it have walls and a roof at least?

Yana Piskunova: It is even equipped for three groups of children. I think the it needs a coat of paint because the plaster has all peeled off in these two and a half years.

Vladimir Putin: Has the roof survived?

Yana Piskunova: Yes, it has. The building is finished, and rather well preserved. It only needs some more equipment. In fact, it also has the staff and a statute. So there isn’t much left to do.

Vladimir Putin: We will settle the matter.

Yana Piskunova: Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Not at all.

* * *

Vladimir Putin: What’s your name? 

Mikhail Muravyev: Mikhail Muravyev. 

Vladimir Putin: Go ahead, Mr Muravyev.

Mikhail Muravyev: I am a war veteran, and I want to ask on behalf of other war veterans in our region for our housing conditions to be improved.

Vladimir Putin: So it’s about housing?

Mikhail Muravyev: Yes. We have appealed to the governor on many occasions but he answered: “We are waiting for the money to come from Moscow. We cannot do anything for you until it arrives.”

Vladimir Putin: When did you get on the waiting list?

Mikhail Muravyev: Early this year.

Vladimir Putin: Early this year, you say. As you know, all who got on the list in 2005 have received new flats by now. We are trying to speed up the process. I won’t go into details about what has been done –what matters to you is that you get your flat as soon as possible. We have increased targeted allocations by several billion roubles this year, and necessary sums have been earmarked for Pskov and the Pskov Region. The money will come quite soon. I will talk to the governor now to specify the about of funding necessary for Pskov, and we will settle the matter. The only thing I can say now is that all veterans entitled to new housing will receive it.

Mikhail Muravyev: Many veterans live in rural areas. Could you please pay more attention to rural veterans because their life is harder than in town.

Vladimir Putin: You are right, but the programme concerns all veterans, whether they live in town or in rural areas. What matters most is the right to receive new flats.

Mikhail Muravyev: We have the right but we have to wait…

Vladimir Putin: We will do everything. Rest assured.

Mikhail Muravyev: Thank you for seeing me.

Vladimir Putin: As we said, all veterans entitled to new housing will receive it.

Mikhail Muravyev: Thank you.

* * *

Vladimir Novikov: I live in an apartment block built in 1959.

Vladimir Putin: What is your name?

Vladimir Novikov: Vladimir Novikov. In March 2008, part of the building collapsed: one of the pilasters…

Vladimir Путин: I see.

Vladimir Novikov: A pilaster and the column head are broken. They have not done any repairs.

Vladimir Putin: You live in the city centre, right?

Vladimir Novikov: Yes and our building management company doesn’t even clear snow from the roof. This is what happened after it rained one night…

Vladimir Putin: You mean there is a leak? Do you live on the top floor?

Vladimir Novikov: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: I can relate to this, you know. When I lived with my parents in Leningrad (St Petersburg), we lived in a top floor apartment too, and it happened all the time, nearly every winter – every winter in fact.

Vladimir Novikov: I see that your experience is very relevant… I heard you say on TV that house management companies are ignoring their responsibilities and I don’t know how cynical one must be to set up this company through some crooked scheme. I bet that’s how ours was established.

Vladimir Putin: Do you have any documents with you, to copy the address?

Vladimir Novikov: Here, I have the responses they wrote to me… The kind of roof we have has to be cleared regularly.

Vladimir Putin: Do you have a homeowners association?

Vladimir Novikov: No.

Vladimir Putin: Alright, I don’t think the issue should be left unattended. This roof will continue leaking, every spring.

Vladimir Novikov: Well, they do some minor repairs every year.

Vladimir Putin: What is the name of your company – the management company that services your building?

Vladimir Novikov:  Nash Dom [Our House (rus)].

Vladimir Putin: Sounds ironic.

Vladimir Novikov: Do you want these pictures?

Vladimir Putin: No. I’ll tell the governor. We’ll do what we can to help. Good-bye.

Vladimir Novikov: Thank you.