Federal Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev went up in the rating due to Shamil Basaev’s death.
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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Vlast's Publicity Rating
// July-September
Vlast presents its regular publicity rating of Russian politicians, state officials, and businessmen, compiled according to the number of times their names were mentioned by leading Russian mass media. This issue of Vlast sums up the third quarter of 2006. The rating shows who might become Vladimir Putin’s successor, what government officials and tycoons have divided on the principle of golden section, what position in the rating could have been given to dormant Cthulhu, and who is closer to the president – political party leaders, national security officials, or governors.
Cthulhu, the monster presenting a simultaneous picture of an octopus, a dragon, and a human creature, invented by American writer Howard Lovecraft, hardly hoped to become so popular in Russia in the third quarter of 2006. Sleeping peacefully at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the sunken city of R'lyeh, the monster waited for the stars to take the right position for him to wake up, ascend from the ocean’s bottom, and completely exterminate the mankind. However, Cthulhu’s hour in Russia struck unexpectedly on July 6, the day when Vladimir Putin decided to answer the questions of Internet users collected by Russian website Yandex and BBC. According to the online voting, the leading questions were: “Is Russian Federation going to use huge battlefield androids to protect its borders?” and “What do you think of Cthulhu’s awakening?”.
Despite the press-conference’s organizers’ mild protests, the questions about androids and Cthulhu were asked to Russian president. Speaking of Cthulhu, Putin said he is skeptical of such mystic powers, and recommended to read the Bible, Talmud, or Koran to those who take Cthulhu seriously. The monster, mentioned by the president, got into the press and became immediately well-known. If Cthulhu was to take part in our rating, he would have the index of 0.34 percent of presidential mentioning, and the 154th position in the chart #1, coming ahead of Vologda region’s governor Vladimir Pozgalev, Novosibirsk region’s governor Viktor Tolokonsky, director of Russian Agency for Drug Control Viktor Cherkesov, businessman Alexander Mamut, and 30 other participants of our rating.
The 154th position in the rating might seem not very prestigious. Battlefield androids, for instance, jumped ahead of Cthulhu after Putin’s press conference (they would have occupied the 137th place in the chart of mentioning, -- between the President’s Plenipotentiary in Ural Federal District Petr Latyshev and Chairman of State Duma Budget and Tax Committee Yuri Vasilyev). However, the word androids was often used in leading Russian mass media before Putin’s press conference (mainly owing to the inventions of Japanese scientists), but no one ever mentioned Cthulhu in newspapers, magazines, in TV and radio news, before Putin spoke of the monster. So, thanks to Internet users, Russian president made the sleeping mythic monster impressively popular.
Internet users gave a large number of votes to one more question – “When did you have sex for the first time?”. The question was asked during the press conference, and Putin answered it as well. However, mentioning of the word sex in Russian mass media did not change at all (12.42 percent of presidential mentioning, which corresponds to the rating position between Boris Gryzlov and Boris Yeltsin). Apparently, sex was in mass media before Putin spoke of it. This example proves the obvious conclusion: Russian president is very popular, so can easily make anyone popular. However, there are things even more popular than Putin, and even he can’t influence their popularity.
President Putin added popularity to one more phrase, -- sovereign democracy. Before, mainly Vladislav Surkov, deputy head of presidential administration, used this term. Despite his efforts, this trenchant phrase was not known to many people. Yet, when Vladimir Putin criticized sovereign democracy on September 9, the term became widely used, and the mentioning of it in mass media increased 4.6 times! Owing to this, Vladislav Surkov moved up in the chart of mentioning from 51st to 29th position. Summing up the second quarter (Vlast #27), we observed that Georgia’s mentioning in Russian mass media increased dramatically. In 2005, the name of this country appeared in 1.7 percent of news. In the second quarter of 2006, this index grew up to 3.2 percent. The effect was caused by Russia’s ban on selling Georgian wines and Borzhomi mineral water. As Moscow-Tbilisi relations were getting worse, the attention to Georgia increased. Thus, the index of Georgia’s mentioning in leading Russian mass media reached 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2006. It is very likely that the index will grow even more in the upcoming months. Mikhail Saakashvili was mentioned in about every fifth news report on Georgia, while Vladimir Putin appeared in the same news 1.5 times less. This ratio did not change in the first week of October, when Russian soldiers in Georgia were arrested, and Russia consequently set an actual blockade against Georgia. If the responsibility of certain persons for various events was proportional to the frequency with which they are mentioned in the news, then we could have stated that, from the point of view of Russian mass media, Mikhail Saakashvili is 1.5 times guiltier of Russia-Georgia conflict than Vladimir Putin.
One of the peculiarities of the current rating is that Yuri Luzhkov took the second position in the chart of mentioning away from Mikhail Fradkov. Ever since he was appointed Prime Minister in March 2004, Fradkov never stood his second position down to anyone. Before Fradkov, Mikhail Kasyanov held the second place. However, we cannot say that the mayor of Moscow, always being the third, was far behind both prime ministers in mentioning. The gap between Luzhkov and the ministers was several percentage points only.The circumstances in the third quarter were unfavorable for Prime Minister. Fradkov took a 3-week vacation leave on July 24. Meanwhile, two earth falls happened in Moscow. First, earth on Leningrad avenue caved in, devouring a KamAZ truck and a welding compressor. Then, a Ford Explorer car and a public lighting pole fell under the ground on Akademika Koroleva street. The conflict against the inhabitants of private houses in South Butovo added to the frequency of the mayor’s mentioning. Thus, for the first time in the history of our rating (it exists since early 2002), Yuri Luzhkov took the second line in the chart of mentioning.
We shall give special attention to the appearance of Gennady Onishchenko, head of RosPotrebNadzor (Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights), and Alexander Babakov, leader of Rodina (Motherland) party, in the chart. Both newsmakers entered the list of 50 most frequently mentioned people in the third quarter of 2006 (Onishchenko -- #26, Babakov -- #41).The progress of Karelia’s governor Sergey Katanandov (from #178 to #63 in the chart) is notable as well, owing to bashings in Kondopoga. Pension Fund head Gennady Batanov moved up from #180 to #107, Khabarovsk area governor Viktor Ishaev – from #163 to #97, and Khakasia’s governor Alexey Lebed – from #134 to #84.Among notable falls in the chart are Supreme Court chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev (from #87 to #153), State Duma deputy Nikolai Kharitonov (from #85 to #136 – to the level of androids), and Transneft head Semen Vainshtok (from #55 to #104). Vainshtok’s decline is due to the end of discussion of the East Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline project. Just like in Cthulhu’s case, Putin played the decisive role here. With one stroke of the marker, the president saved mass media the trouble of discussing the Baikal lake’s ecologic security and of mentioning Semen Vainshtok in this regard.
Absolute presidential indexes (sum for the quarter)| Frequency of mentioning | Headlines
| Quoting
| Money
| Next to P |
|---|
| 7559 | 3119 | 1232 | 892 | 7559 | | The total of mass media output 108 654 |
Growth leaders | Index | Person | Progress* |
|---|
| Frequency of mentioning | Chayka Yury (11) | 7.13 | | Headlines | Ivanov Sergey (4) | 5.86 | | Quoting | Ivanov Sergey (4) | 21.99 | Money
| Gref German (5) | 13.06 | | Next to P | Patrushev Nikolay (14) | 1.72 | | *The change of the index in comparison to last quarter in percentage points.
After the name, in brackets, -- the position according to the frequency of mentioning. |
Fall leaders
| Index |
Person |
Regress* |
|---|
| Frequency of mentioning |
Ustinov Vladimir (39) | -5.45 | | Headlines |
Ustinov Vladimir (39) | -7.61 | | Quoting |
Ustinov Vladimir (39) | -5.60 | | Money |
Mordashov Alexey (55) | -5.49 | | Next to P |
Ustinov Vladimir (39) | -3.20 |
| *The change of the index in comparison to last quarter in percentage points.
After the name, in brackets, -- the position according to the frequency of mentioning. |
Chart 1. Russian newsmakers in the ratio to the president
| Rank | Person |
Frequency of mentioning |
Headlines |
Quoting |
Money |
Next to P |
|---|
| 1 (1) | Putin Vladimir | 100.00 | 100.00 (1) | 100.00 (1) | 100.00 (1) | 100.00 (1) | | 2 (3) | Luzhkov Yury | 24.87 | 19.04 (4) | 32.31 (4) | 24.89 (6) | 3.41 (10) | | 3 (2) | Fradkov Mikhail | 21.88 | 20.13 (3) | 18.67 (10) | 31.84 (4) | 5.34 (2) | | 4 (7) | Ivanov Sergey | 20.97 | 21.74 (2) | 46.59 (2) | 21.64 (7) | 4.76 (6) | | 5 (4) | Gref German | 19.54 | 14.36 (6) | 37.74 (3) | 45.63 (3) | 4.99 (4) | | 6 (5) | Medvedev Dmitry | 18.04 | 17.79 (5) | 29.22 (5) | 31.50 (5) | 4.95 (5) | | 7 (6) | Kudrin Alexey | 14.67 | 10.68 (8) | 24.11 (7) | 56.73 (2) | 4.21 (8) | | 8 (8) | Mironov Sergey | 13.60 | 10.61 (9) | 22.81 (9) | 7.96 (17) | 4.22 (7) | | 9 (9) | Gryzlov Boris | 13.16 | 9.97 (10) | 26.30 (6) | 12.00 (12) | 3.49 (9) | | 10 (11) | Eltsin Boris | 12.21 | 3.98 (19) | 2.27 (60) | 9.53 (15) | 5.01 (3) | | 11 (29) | Chayka Yury | 11.96 | 12.66 (7) | 16.07 (12) | 3.48 (38) | 2.17 (14) | | 12 (10) | Lavrov Sergey | 11.11 | 9.91 (11) | 23.13 (8) | 2.35 (53) | 3.04 (11) | | 13 (18) | Levitin Igor | 8.81 | 5.32 (16) | 17.78 (11) | 11.10 (13) | 1.59 (26) | | 14 (36) | Patrushev Nikolay | 7.67 | 8.40 (12) | 13.07 (13) | 3.48 (37) | 2.94 (12) | | 15 (17) | Alexy II | 7.46 | 5.74 (14) | 3.33 (43) | 2.35 (56) | 1.80 (19) | | 16 (13) | Zhukov Alexander | 7.36 | 3.56 (21) | 9.58 (17) | 13.00 (10) | 1.68 (22) | | 17 (16) | Chubais Anatoly | 6.93 | 5.26 (18) | 8.69 (20) | 12.56 (11) | 1.69 (21) | | 18 (28) | Gorbachev Mikhail | 6.55 | 2.21 (39) | 3.08 (46) | 2.58 (51) | 2.10 (15) | | 19 (15) | Zhirinovsky Vladimir | 6.51 | 2.44 (31) | 5.44 (28) | 5.16 (22) | 1.71 (20) | | 20 (24) | Matvienko Valentina | 6.48 | 2.73 (28) | 6.74 (25) | 8.52 (16) | 2.00 (17) | | 21 (30) | Nurgaliev Rashid | 6.47 | 5.55 (15) | 7.22 (23) | 2.69 (48) | 2.02 (16) | | 22 (19) | Fursenko Andrey | 6.27 | 5.29 (17) | 11.20 (15) | 10.20 (14) | 1.05 (41) | | 23 (22) | Abramovich Roman | 5.79 | 3.11 (26) | 0.81 (106) | 13.90 (9) | 1.38 (30) | | 24 (20) | Zurabov Mikhail | 5.48 | 3.94 (20) | 10.96 (16) | 15.92 (8) | 1.32 (31) | | 25 (23) | Gordeev Alexey | 5.42 | 3.46 (22) | 7.71 (21) | 5.27 (21) | 1.61 (24) | | 26 (--) | Îíèùåíêî Genady | 5.25 | 5.93 (13) | 11.36 (14) | 5.38 (20) | 0.41 (78) | | 27 (14) | Khodorkovsky Mikhail | 5.04 | 3.14 (25) | 0.97 (99) | 4.82 (26) | 1.84 (18) | | 28 (25) | Zyuganov Genady | 4.86 | 2.37 (35) | 3.57 (39) | 2.91 (45) | 1.60 (25) | | 29 (51) | Surkov Vladislav | 4.83 | 3.24 (24) | 7.31 (22) | 2.02 (60) | 2.33 (13) | | 30 (37) | Shvydkoi Mikhail | 4.38 | 2.44 (33) | 5.44 (29) | 5.04 (25) | 0.56 (66) | | 31 (21) | Miller Alexey | 4.34 | 2.12 (43) | 2.92 (51) | 4.60 (28) | 1.42 (28) | | 32 (39) | Deripaska Oleg | 4.22 | 2.76 (27) | 2.92 (53) | 6.84 (19) | 1.30 (34) | | 33 (54) | Volodin Vyacheslav | 4.00 | 2.34 (36) | 7.22 (24) | 3.81 (33) | 1.20 (36) | | 34 (33) | Kasyanov Mikhail | 3.94 | 2.05 (44) | 3.00 (49) | 3.36 (39) | 1.63 (23) | | 35 (27) | Berezovsky Boris | 3.94 | 1.15 (62) | 0.81 (107) | 7.40 (18) | 1.12 (38) | | 36 (53) | Alkhanov Alu | 3.90 | 2.73 (29) | 8.69 (19) | 1.57 (67) | 1.22 (35) | | 37 (41) | Gromov Boris | 3.76 | 1.73 (47) | 3.00 (50) | 5.16 (23) | 0.82 (45) | | 38 (26) | Khristenko Âèêòîð | 3.76 | 1.60 (48) | 3.41 (41) | 3.48 (36) | 1.31 (32) | | 39 (12) | Ustinov Vladimir | 3.74 | 1.99 (45) | 1.14 (91) | 0.90 (96) | 1.40 (29) | | 40 (56) | Veshnyakov Alexander | 3.66 | 3.24 (23) | 9.17 (18) | 1.46 (69) | 1.16 (37) | | 41 (--) | Babakov Alexander | 3.36 | 2.44 (32) | 2.76 (56) | 0.90 (97) | 1.31 (33) | | 42 (45) | Shoygu Sergey | 3.33 | 2.12 (42) | 3.81 (37) | 1.23 (81) | 0.65 (55) | | 43 (34) | Krashennikov Pavel | 3.32 | 1.31 (55) | 5.93 (27) | 2.35 (54) | 0.65 (57) | | 44 (35) | Yakunin Vladimir | 3.32 | 2.37 (34) | 6.57 (26) | 3.25 (41) | 0.79 (48) | | 45 (32) | Kozak Dmitry | 3.16 | 1.51 (49) | 3.08 (47) | 2.91 (44) | 1.42 (27) | | 46 (57) | Lukin Vladimir | 3.14 | 2.21 (40) | 4.87 (32) | 1.01 (89) | 0.24 (105) | | 47 (66) | Belykh Nikita | 3.06 | 1.09 (64) | 0.08 (161) | 0.56 (112) | 0.79 (49) | | 48 (40) | Morozov Oleg | 2.92 | 1.22 (58) | 3.90 (35) | 1.35 (78) | 0.75 (51) | | 49 (38) | Stepashin Sergey | 2.91 | 2.21 (38) | 3.90 (36) | 4.37 (30) | 1.08 (39) | | 50 (43) | Kirienko Sergey | 2.75 | 2.50 (30) | 5.28 (30) | 2.58 (52) | 0.82 (46) |
Headliners
Headliners nomination must be the most objective one in our rating. The general frequency of newsmakers’ mentioning and their nearness to money or to the president is strongly influenced by their positions. On the contrary, their names appear in news radio and TV headlines when these people take certain actions. Indeed, quite active persons made up the first five of headliners according to the results of the third quarter. They are Gennady Onishchenko, Nikolai Patrushev, Yuri Chaika, Sergey Ivanov, and Vladimir Putin. Onishchenko introduced new ways to control Russia’s alcohol market. Patrushev reported to Putin that Shamil Basaev was destroyed (and, apparently, FSB director still has much work to do). Chaika reshuffled the Prosecutor General’s Office. Thus, Dmitry Shokhin, who took part in Khodorkovsky’s trial, was appointed the head of the organization and management department. Kamil Kashaev, who participated in the trial of YUKOS security man Alexey Pichugin, took the former position of Dmitry Shokhin, becoming the head of the state prosecutors department. Sergey Ivanov competes with Dmitry Medvedev (#6 in the chart) for the right to be called the president’s successor, while the president himself organized the G8 summit and simply ruled the country. Unlike Chaika, Vladimir Ustinov did not do anything newsworthy in the Ministry of Justice. Consequently, he fell from #2 to #35, showing the greatest downfall in this nomination. Newsmakers who are at the bottom of the chart are those who did not do anything significant in the third quarter: Boris Berezovsky, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nikita Belykh, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Russian Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvydkoy made the greatest progress in the headliners chart (from #50 to #33). He had to take part in the Hermitage artifacts’ theft investigation. Other significant raises belong to Andrey Fursenko (from #26 to #12), Sergey Stepashin (#30 to #16), and Oleg Deripaska (#40 to #27). The falls belong to Mikhail Khodorkovsky (from #7 to #30), Viktor Khristenko (#24 to #42), and Mikhail Kasyanov (#21 to #36).
Chart 2
| Rank |
Person |
Headliners |
Headlines |
| 1 (--) |
Onischenko Genady |
46,60 |
13 |
| 2 (11) |
Patrushev Nikolay |
45,17 |
12 |
| 3 (1) |
Chayka Yury |
43,69 |
7 |
| 4 (3) |
Ivanov Sergey |
42,78 |
2 |
| 5 (4) |
Putin Vladimir |
41,26 |
1 |
| 6 (6) |
Medvedev Dmitry |
40,69 |
5 |
| 7 (5) |
Fradkov Mikhail |
37,97 |
3 |
| 8 (12) |
Kirienko Sergey |
37,50 |
30 |
| 9 (13) |
Lavrov Sergey |
36,79 |
11 |
| 10 (--) |
Veshnyakov Alexander |
36,46 |
23 |
| 11 (8) |
Nurgaliev Rashid |
35,38 |
15 |
| 12 (26) |
Fursenko Andrey |
34,81 |
17 |
| 13 (10) |
Mironov Sergey |
32,20 |
9 |
| 14 (15) |
Alexy II |
31,74 |
14 |
| 15 (16) |
Luzhkov Yury |
31,60 |
4 |
| 16 (30) |
Stepashin Sergey |
31,36 |
38 |
| 17 (19) |
Chubais Anatoly |
31,30 |
18 |
| 18 (27) |
Gryzlov Boris |
31,26 |
10 |
| 19 (22) |
Gref German |
30,33 |
6 |
| 20 (20) |
Kudrin Alexey |
30,03 |
8 |
| 21 (--) |
Babakov Alexander |
29,92 |
32 |
| 22 (23) |
Zurabov Mikhail |
29,71 |
20 |
| 23 (33) |
Yakunin Vladimir |
29,48 |
34 |
| 24 (--) |
Lukin Vladimir |
29,11 |
40 |
| 25 (--) |
Alkhanov Alu |
28,81 |
29 |
| 26 (--) |
Surkov Vladislav |
27,67 |
24 |
| 27 (40) |
Deripaska Oleg |
26,96 |
27 |
| 28 (28) |
Gordeev Alexey |
26,34 |
22 |
| 29 (14) |
Shoygu Sergey |
26,19 |
42 |
| 30 (7) |
Khodorkovsky Mikhail |
25,72 |
25 |
| 31 (17) |
Levitin Igor |
24,92 |
16 |
| 32 (--) |
Volodin Vyacheslav |
24,17 |
36 |
| 33 (50) |
Shvydkoi Mikhail |
22,96 |
33 |
| 34 (34) |
Abramovich Roman |
22,15 |
26 |
| 35 (2) |
Ustinov Vladimir |
21,91 |
45 |
| 36 (21) |
Kasyanov Mikhail |
21,48 |
44 |
| 37 (38) |
Zyuganov Genady |
20,16 |
35 |
| 38 (25) |
Miller Alexey |
20,12 |
43 |
| 39 (32) |
Zhukov Alexander |
19,96 |
21 |
| 40 (39) |
Kozak Dmitry |
19,67 |
49 |
| 41 (36) |
Gromov Boris |
19,01 |
47 |
| 42 (24) |
Khristenko Âèêòîð |
17,61 |
48 |
| 43 (35) |
Matvienko Valentina |
17,35 |
28 |
| 44 (46) |
Morozov Oleg |
17,19 |
58 |
| 45 (47) |
Krashennikov Pavel |
16,33 |
55 |
| 46 (42) |
Zhirinovsky Vladimir |
15,45 |
31 |
| 47 (--) |
Belykh Nikita |
14,72 |
64 |
| 48 (43) |
Gorbachev Mikhail |
13,94 |
39 |
| 49 (49) |
Eltsin Boris |
13,43 |
19 |
| 50 (18) |
Berezovsky Boris |
12,08 |
62 |
Authorities
Once again, Central Electoral Commission head Alexander Veshnyakov occupies the first line of the Authorities chart. Such constancy is not surprising. First, because Veshnyakov willingly speaks of the Commission’s activities himself, instead of letting his secretaries do it for him. Second, because that is his job actually – to announce the results, and mass media often quotes him, for who but the Commission is to decide whether to hold all-Russia referendum on the third presidential term for Vladimir Putin or not.Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvydkoy never misses his chance to speak in public. In the third quarter of 2006, he spoke mostly of “systematic problems” in museums (and his words became very relevant after the theft of 221 Hermitage artifacts was discovered). Shvydkoy gave examples of thefts from other museums: History museum discovered the loss of 300 artifacts, St. Peter and Paul fortress lost many of its exhibit items... Thus, 81 percent of Shvydkoy’s statements quoted in mass media in the last three months concerned the subject of museums. Yet, Shvydkoy gave attention to other important cultural events. For instance, the minister said the fact that US pop singer Madonna came to Moscow proves that Russia is a free and open country, thus securing for himself 6 more percent of quotes.Unlike Shvydkoy, Madonna chose to sing instead of speaking during her concert in Moscow on September 12. If Madonna was to take part in the rating, her fans would have discovered her name with 0.05 percent index in the last line. She is much spoken of (general mentioning is 10.41 percent from that of Putin, which corresponds to the position between Sergey Lavrov and Igor Levitin in chart 1), but she herself doesn’t speak much.Last time, we noted the consistent growth of Patrushev’s mentioning (from #72 in the third quarter of 2005 to #36 in the second quarter of 2006). In the third quarter of 2006, FSB director moved to #14 in chart 1, and from #28 to #15 in the Authorities chart. Fifty-two percent of this rise is due to Patrushev’s statements about Shamil Basaev’s death (that was precisely the share of Patrushev’s quotes for this event).
Among other movements in the chart, we shall note the progress of Sergey Kirienko (from #20 to #11) and Oleg Deripaska (#48 to #41), and the fall of Alexey Miller (#24 to #42), Viktor Khristenko (#18 to #34), and Sergey Stepashin (#9 to #23).
Chart 3
| Rank |
Person |
Authorities |
Frequency of quoting |
| 1 (--) |
Veshnyakov Alexander |
40,79 |
18 |
| 2 (--) |
Alkhanov Alu |
36,27 |
19 |
| 3 (4) |
Ivanov Sergey |
36,21 |
2 |
| 4 (--) |
Onischenko Genady |
35,26 |
14 |
| 5 (2) |
Lavrov Sergey |
33,93 |
8 |
| 6 (1) |
Levitin Igor |
32,88 |
11 |
| 7 (7) |
Zurabov Mikhail |
32,61 |
16 |
| 8 (6) |
Gryzlov Boris |
32,56 |
6 |
| 9 (10) |
Yakunin Vladimir |
32,27 |
26 |
| 10 (11) |
Gref German |
31,48 |
3 |
| 11 (20) |
Kirienko Sergey |
31,25 |
30 |
| 12 (--) |
Volodin Vyacheslav |
29,47 |
24 |
| 13 (15) |
Fursenko Andrey |
29,11 |
15 |
| 14 (19) |
Krashennikov Pavel |
29,08 |
27 |
| 15 (28) |
Patrushev Nikolay |
27,76 |
13 |
| 16 (12) |
Mironov Sergey |
27,33 |
9 |
| 17 (3) |
Kudrin Alexey |
26,78 |
7 |
| 18 (13) |
Medvedev Dmitry |
26,39 |
5 |
| 19 (--) |
Lukin Vladimir |
25,32 |
32 |
| 20 (--) |
Surkov Vladislav |
24,66 |
22 |
| 21 (8) |
Gordeev Alexey |
23,17 |
21 |
| 22 (17) |
Chayka Yury |
21,90 |
12 |
| 23 (9) |
Stepashin Sergey |
21,82 |
36 |
| 24 (21) |
Morozov Oleg |
21,72 |
35 |
| 25 (16) |
Zhukov Alexander |
21,22 |
17 |
| 26 (25) |
Luzhkov Yury |
21,17 |
4 |
| 27 (22) |
Chubais Anatoly |
20,42 |
20 |
| 28 (38) |
Shvydkoi Mikhail |
20,24 |
29 |
| 29 (34) |
Shoygu Sergey |
18,65 |
37 |
| 30 (27) |
Nurgaliev Rashid |
18,20 |
23 |
| 31 (26) |
Matvienko Valentina |
16,94 |
25 |
| 32 (29) |
Putin Vladimir |
16,30 |
1 |
| 33 (37) |
Kozak Dmitry |
15,90 |
47 |
| 34 (18) |
Khristenko Âèêòîð |
14,79 |
41 |
| 35 (31) |
Fradkov Mikhail |
13,91 |
10 |
| 36 (40) |
Zhirinovsky Vladimir |
13,62 |
28 |
| 37 (--) |
Babakov Alexander |
13,39 |
56 |
| 38 (42) |
Gromov Boris |
13,03 |
50 |
| 39 (33) |
Kasyanov Mikhail |
12,42 |
49 |
| 40 (35) |
Zyuganov Genady |
11,99 |
39 |
| 41 (48) |
Deripaska Oleg |
11,29 |
53 |
| 42 (24) |
Miller Alexey |
10,98 |
51 |
| 43 (46) |
Gorbachev Mikhail |
7,68 |
46 |
| 44 (45) |
Alexy II |
7,27 |
43 |
| 45 (39) |
Ustinov Vladimir |
4,95 |
91 |
| 46 (44) |
Berezovsky Boris |
3,36 |
107 |
| 47 (47) |
Khodorkovsky Mikhail |
3,15 |
99 |
| 48 (50) |
Eltsin Boris |
3,03 |
60 |
| 49 (49) |
Abramovich Roman |
2,28 |
106 |
| 50 (--) |
Belykh Nikita |
0,43 |
161 |
Tycoons
Among the ten most frequently mentioned, in regard to certain sums of money, newsmakers are 6 ministers (Kudrin, Zurabov, Gref, Zhukov, Medvedev, and Fursenko) and 4 tycoons (Abramovich, Berezovsky, Chubais, and Deripaska). One must admit that such correlation is very harmonious: ministers and tycoons are divided in proportions close to the golden ratio (4 to 6 is approximately the same as 6 to 10). The golden ratio principle is even better expressed in the first eight of tycoons: the correlation between state officials and businessmen here is 5 to 3 (because 3 to 5 is about the same as 5 to 8).
The golden section principle is considered the highest manifestation of the structural and functional perfection of the whole and its parts. Not going deep into its philosophic and ideological meaning, we shall say that proportional relations close to the golden ratio are the base of many masterpieces of art. The golden section was especially popular during the Renaissance. Looking at the chart of tycoons, we might ask: perhaps, Russian economy is going through a similar époque?Oleg Deripaska progressed most in the rating of people close to big money. This progress was not the result of one action of the tycoon, but of a number of events. Or, rather, of a number of rumors. First, it was rumored that Deripaska might buy Jaguar brand from US car holding Ford. Then, mass media spoke of the possible merger of Deripaska’s RUSAL with Vekselberg’s SUAL (later, rumors appeared that the aluminous assets of Swiss company Glencore might join this alliance). September brought the rumors that Deripaska is considering buying London soccer club Arsenal. However, the tycoon himself gave reasons to mention him in the news. For instance, he publicly called Central Bank’s financial policy a failed experiment, and offered the state to give up the policy of strengthening the ruble.
Among the rises are Boris Gromov (#28 to #13), Dmitry Kozak (#43 to #28), and Oleg Morozov (#50 to #36). Among the most notable falls are Viktor Khristenko (#16 to #27), Pavel Krasheninnikov (#24 to #33), and Sergey Stepashin (#7 to #11).
Chart 4
| Rank |
Person |
Tycoons |
Money |
| 1 (1) |
Kudrin Alexey |
45.63 |
2 |
| 2 (4) |
Zurabov Mikhail |
34.30 |
8 |
| 3 (2) |
Abramovich Roman |
28.31 |
9 |
| 4 (6) |
Gref German |
27.56 |
3 |
| 5 (15) |
Berezovsky Boris |
22.15 |
18 |
| 6 (12) |
Chubais Anatoly |
21.37 |
11 |
| 7 (10) |
Zhukov Alexander |
20.86 |
10 |
| 8 (9) |
Medvedev Dmitry |
20.60 |
5 |
| 9 (13) |
Fursenko Andrey |
19.20 |
14 |
| 10 (37) |
Deripaska Oleg |
19.12 |
19 |
| 11 (7) |
Stepashin Sergey |
17.73 |
30 |
| 12 (11) |
Fradkov Mikhail |
17.17 |
4 |
| 13 (28) |
Gromov Boris |
16.20 |
23 |
| 14 (27) |
Matvienko Valentina |
15.51 |
16 |
| 15 (14) |
Levitin Igor |
14.86 |
13 |
| 16 (22) |
Shvydkoi Mikhail |
13.60 |
25 |
| 17 (18) |
Miller Alexey |
12.50 |
28 |
| 18 (30) |
Ivanov Sergey |
12.18 |
7 |
| 19 (--) |
Onischenko Genady |
12.09 |
20 |
| 20 (20) |
Luzhkov Yury |
11.81 |
6 |
| 21 (19) |
Putin Vladimir |
11.80 |
1 |
| 22 (21) |
Yakunin Vladimir |
11.55 |
41 |
| 23 (32) |
Gordeev Alexey |
11.46 |
21 |
| 24 (23) |
Khodorkovsky Mikhail |
11.29 |
26 |
| 25 (--) |
Volodin Vyacheslav |
11.26 |
33 |
| 26 (33) |
Kirienko Sergey |
11.06 |
52 |
| 27 (16) |
Khristenko Âèêòîð |
10.92 |
36 |
| 28 (43) |
Kozak Dmitry |
10.88 |
44 |
| 29 (25) |
Gryzlov Boris |
10.75 |
12 |
| 30 (36) |
Kasyanov Mikhail |
10.07 |
39 |
| 31 (34) |
Zhirinovsky Vladimir |
9.35 |
22 |
| 32 (29) |
Eltsin Boris |
9.21 |
15 |
| 33 (24) |
Krashennikov Pavel |
8.37 |
54 |
| 34 (41) |
Zyuganov Genady |
7.08 |
45 |
| 35 (40) |
Mironov Sergey |
6.91 |
17 |
| 36 (50) |
Morozov Oleg |
5.43 |
78 |
| 37 (35) |
Patrushev Nikolay |
5.34 |
37 |
| 38 (--) |
Surkov Vladislav |
4.93 |
60 |
| 39 (38) |
Nurgaliev Rashid |
4.91 |
48 |
| 40 (--) |
Alkhanov Alu |
4.75 |
67 |
| 41 (--) |
Veshnyakov Alexander |
4.69 |
69 |
| 42 (39) |
Gorbachev Mikhail |
4.65 |
51 |
| 43 (47) |
Shoygu Sergey |
4.37 |
81 |
| 44 (--) |
Lukin Vladimir |
3.80 |
89 |
| 45 (45) |
Alexy II |
3.72 |
56 |
| 46 (44) |
Chayka Yury |
3.43 |
38 |
| 47 (--) |
Babakov Alexander |
3.15 |
97 |
| 48 (46) |
Ustinov Vladimir |
2.83 |
96 |
| 49 (49) |
Lavrov Sergey |
2.50 |
53 |
| 50 (--) |
Belykh Nikita |
2.16 |
112 |
Members of the Court
Let us divide newsmakers into groups according to their professions and see how important the president is to this or that group. Among political party leaders, Rodina (Motherland) head Alexander Babakov (#6) is the nearest to the president. Russian Communist Party is second (Gennady Zyuganov, #12), then go Russian Party of Life (Sergey Mironov, #18), Edinstvo (Unity) (Boris Gryzlov, #28), Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) (Vladimir Zhirinovsky, #29), and Union of Right Forces (SPS) (Nikita Belykh, #30). If Yabloko (Apple) party leader Grigory Yavlinsky was among the 50 most frequently mentioned newsmakers, he would have been ahead of Zyuganov with a 38.46 index.
Among the cabinet members, Viktor Khristenko (#11) and Alexey Gordeev (#23) are nearest to President Putin, while Igor Levitin (#45) and Andrey Fursenko (#46) are most remote. Among national security officials, Nikolai Patrushev (#7) and Vladimir Ustinov (#8) are mentioned together with Putin most frequently, while Sergey Ivanov (#40) and Yuri Chaika (#44) are mentioned less frequently. Among regional leaders, Alu Alkhanov (#17) is closest to Putin, while Yuri Luzhkov (#47) is least dependent on the president. Among tycoons, President Putin plays the most significant role in the lives of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (#10) and Alexey Miller (#13), and the least important role for Roman Abramovich (#38) and Anatoly Chubais (#33).If we average the courtier index in different groups of newsmakers, it will turn out that party leaders are most closely connected to the president (the average index is 30.28). Other groups will organize the following rating of average nearness to the court: national security officials (29.58), tycoons (29.42), cabinet ministers (25.43), and regional leaders (24.39).It is the characterizing feature of our rating that Vladimir Putin always leads in the courtier chart. His index is a priori 100 percent. Thus, it is always interesting to know who is second. This time, it is Vladislav Surkov. We have already said that if members of the president’s court get into Top-50 newsmakers, they always take high positions in the courtier rating. Vladislav Surkov became second even despite Putin’s criticism of his term sovereign democracy. However, his position in comparison to the second quarter of 2006 (courtier index of 61.47 versus the current 48.22) moved away from the president.
Chart 5
| Rank |
Person |
Courtiers |
Next to P |
| 1 (1) |
Putin Vladimir |
100.00 |
1 |
| 2 (--) |
Surkov Vladislav |
48.22 |
13 |
| 3 (2) |
Kozak Dmitry |
44.77 |
27 |
| 4 (5) |
Kasyanov Mikhail |
41.28 |
23 |
| 5 (4) |
Eltsin Boris |
41.06 |
3 |
| 6 (--) |
Babakov Alexander |
38.98 |
33 |
| 7 (15) |
Patrushev Nikolay |
38.28 |
12 |
| 8 (3) |
Ustinov Vladimir |
37.46 |
29 |
| 9 (35) |
Stepashin Sergey |
37.27 |
39 |
| 10 (24) |
Khodorkovsky Mikhail |
36.48 |
18 |
| 11 (14) |
Khristenko Âèêòîð |
34.86 |
32 |
| 12 (12) |
Zyuganov Genady |
32.97 |
25 |
| 13 (33) |
Miller Alexey |
32.62 |
28 |
| 14 (23) |
Gorbachev Mikhail |
32.12 |
15 |
| 15 (--) |
Veshnyakov Alexander |
31.77 |
37 |
| 16 (43) |
Nurgaliev Rashid |
31.29 |
16 |
| 17 (--) |
Alkhanov Alu |
31.19 |
35 |
| 18 (29) |
Mironov Sergey |
31.03 |
7 |
| 19 (11) |
Matvienko Valentina |
30.82 |
17 |
| 20 (31) |
Deripaska Oleg |
30.72 |
34 |
| 21 (--) |
Volodin Vyacheslav |
30.13 |
36 |
| 22 (28) |
Kirienko Sergey |
29.81 |
46 |
| 23 (32) |
Gordeev Alexey |
29.76 |
24 |
| 24 (27) |
Kudrin Alexey |
28.67 |
8 |
| 25 (34) |
Berezovsky Boris |
28.52 |
38 |
| 26 (6) |
Medvedev Dmitry |
27.42 |
5 |
| 27 (36) |
Lavrov Sergey |
27.38 |
11 |
| 28 (16) |
Gryzlov Boris |
26.53 |
9 |
| 29 (25) |
Zhirinovsky Vladimir |
26.22 |
20 |
| 30 (--) |
Belykh Nikita |
25.97 |
49 |
| 31 (30) |
Morozov Oleg |
25.79 |
51 |
| 32 (8) |
Gref German |
25.52 |
4 |
| 33 (19) |
Chubais Anatoly |
24.43 |
21 |
| 34 (21) |
Fradkov Mikhail |
24.43 |
2 |
| 35 (7) |
Zurabov Mikhail |
24.15 |
31 |
| 36 (37) |
Alexy II |
24.11 |
19 |
| 37 (20) |
Yakunin Vladimir |
23.90 |
48 |
| 38 (44) |
Abramovich Roman |
23.74 |
30 |
| 39 (22) |
Zhukov Alexander |
22.84 |
22 |
| 40 (17) |
Ivanov Sergey |
22.71 |
6 |
| 41 (45) |
Gromov Boris |
21.83 |
45 |
| 42 (47) |
Krashennikov Pavel |
19.52 |
57 |
| 43 (38) |
Shoygu Sergey |
19.44 |
55 |
| 44 (18) |
Chayka Yury |
18.14 |
14 |
| 45 (48) |
Levitin Igor |
18.02 |
26 |
| 46 (10) |
Fursenko Andrey |
16.67 |
41 |
| 47 (49) |
Luzhkov Yury |
13.72 |
10 |
| 48 (46) |
Shvydkoi Mikhail |
12.69 |
66 |
| 49 (--) |
Onischenko Genady |
7.81 |
78 |
| 50 (--) |
Lukin Vladimir |
7.59 |
105 |
Result: Fradkov Keeps Falling
We keep watching the consistent fall of Fradkov’s rating positions. Last year, we supposed that Prime Minister went into shadow on purpose, to hide behind the backs of his subordinates, German Gref and Alexey Kudrin, and thus shuffle off the responsibility for the drawbacks of the social benefits monetization. However, Prime Minister kept falling and falling. In the final rating, he took the record-breaking position #7, letting ahead not only Alexey Kudrin and German Gref, but also Sergey Ivanov, Dmitry Medvedev, and even Yuri Luzhkov.
Naturally, the considerable factor here was Fradkov’s 3-week vacation leave. Yet, the trend prevents us from stating that Prime Minister will definitely regain his former rating position in the upcoming future.Meanwhile, the rating of FSB director Nikolai Patrushev has been persistently growing for more than a year already. In the third quarter of 2005, he had 9 points. In one quarter, he already had 17 points. In the second quarter of 2006, Patrushev’s rating grew up to 72 points, and in the last 3 months it reached the record-breaking level of 257 points. Who knows – perhaps, a new potential successor of Vladimir Putin will appear behind the backs of Sergey Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev? Anyway, if Fradkov’s rating keeps falling, and Patrushev’s rating keeps growing at the same speed as now, then FSB director will be ahead of Prime Minister by mid-2007.
In the final rating, the significant progress was made by Sergey Ivanov (+405 points), German Gref (+272), and Yuri Luzhkov (+163). Among those who significantly fell in the rating are Vladimir Ustinov (-147 points), Alexey Mordashov (-144), and Alexander Shokhin (-87). In 3 months, we will learn whether Nikolai Patrushev develops his success, what will become with Mikhail Fradkov, and what changes will occur with other newsmakers.
Growth leader in the general ratingSergey Katanandov – 111 positionsFall leader in the general rating Vladimir Kulakov – 57 positions
Chart 6
| Rank |
Person |
Rating |
| 1 (1) |
Putin Vladimir |
3544 (+73) |
| 2 (2) |
Kudrin Alexey |
1027 (-32) |
| 3 (4) |
Gref German |
918 (+272) |
| 4 (6) |
Ivanov Sergey |
913 (+405) |
| 5 (3) |
Medvedev Dmitry |
703 (+56) |
| 6 (7) |
Luzhkov Yury |
575 (+163) |
| 7 (5) |
Fradkov Mikhail |
556 (-14) |
| 8 (10) |
Gryzlov Boris |
444 (+121) |
| 9 (8) |
Lavrov Sergey |
379 (+32) |
| 10 (9) |
Mironov Sergey |
370 (+43) |
| 11 (12) |
Zurabov Mikhail |
311 (+70) |
| 12 (16) |
Chayka Yury |
304 (+132) |
| 13 (13) |
Levitin Igor |
300 (+74) |
| 14 (36) |
Patrushev Nikolay |
257 (+185) |
| 15 (18) |
Fursenko Andrey |
232 (+65) |
| 16 (--) |
Onischenko Genady |
229 (--) |
| 17 (14) |
Chubais Anatoly |
212 (+23) |
| 18 (11) |
Zhukov Alexander |
199 (-51) |
| 19 (54) |
Veshnyakov Alexander |
160 (+141) |
| 20 (17) |
Abramovich Roman |
155 (-13) |
| 21 (56) |
Alkhanov Alu |
136 (+119) |
| 22 (31) |
Nurgaliev Rashid |
131 (+44) |
| 23 (21) |
Gordeev Alexey |
128 (-9) |
| 24 (27) |
Matvienko Valentina |
126 (+21) |
| 25 (26) |
Eltsin Boris |
119 (+12) |
| 26 (52) |
Surkov Vladislav |
116 (+95) |
| 27 (53) |
Volodin Vyacheslav |
115 (+94) |
| 28 (30) |
Yakunin Vladimir |
110 (+20) |
| 29 (37) |
Kirienko Sergey |
97 (+27) |
| 30 (50) |
Deripaska Oleg |
93 (+66) |
| 31 (34) |
Alexy II |
93 (+17) |
| 32 (44) |
Shvydkoi Mikhail |
90 (+45) |
| 33 (24) |
Stepashin Sergey |
86 (-24) |
| 34 (28) |
Zhirinovsky Vladimir |
84 (-17) |
| 35 (32) |
Krashennikov Pavel |
80 (+1) |
| 36 (29) |
Berezovsky Boris |
72 (-18) |
| 37 (22) |
Khodorkovsky Mikhail |
68 (-62) |
| 38 (57) |
Lukin Vladimir |
68 (+52) |
| 39 (48) |
Gromov Boris |
66 (+27) |
| 40 (23) |
Miller Alexey |
65 (-60) |
| 41 (33) |
Zyuganov Genady |
61 (-17) |
| 42 (35) |
Kasyanov Mikhail |
61 (-14) |
| 43 (20) |
Khristenko Âèêòîð |
58 (-80) |
| 44 (38) |
Kozak Dmitry |
56 (-3) |
| 45 (43) |
Gorbachev Mikhail |
55 (+9) |
| 46 (46) |
Shoygu Sergey |
54 (+10) |
| 47 (--) |
Babakov Alexander |
52 (--) |
| 48 (41) |
Morozov Oleg |
49 (-4) |
| 49 (15) |
Ustinov Vladimir |
35 (-147) |
| 50 (62) |
ÒRUòíåin Yury |
24 (+12) |
| 51 (39) |
Reyman Leonid |
24 (-34) |
| 52 (25) |
Shokhin Alexander |
23 (-87) |
| 53 (59) |
Shantsev Valery |
22 (+8) |
| 54 (19) |
Mordashov Alexey |
22 (-144) |
| 55 (126) |
Lebed Alexey |
22 (+18) |
| 56 (78) |
Sokolîin Alexander |
22 (+12) |
| 57 (51) |
Ignatyev Sergey |
20 (-5) |
| 58 (77) |
Boos Georgy |
19 (+9) |
| 59 (40) |
Potanin Vladimir |
19 (-35) |
| 60 (75) |
Ivanov Igor |
17 (+7) |
| 61 (101) |
Belykh Nikita |
17 (+10) |
| 62 (49) |
Mitrofanov Alexey |
17 (-14) |
| 63 (65) |
Baburin Sergey |
16 (+4) |
| 64 (175) |
Katanandov Sergey |
16 (+15) |
| 65 (104) |
Tuleev Aman |
15 (+9) |
| 66 (47) |
Sliska Lyubov |
15 (-25) |
| 67 (42) |
Kosachev Konstantin |
15 (-32) |
| 68 (80) |
Tishanin Alexander |
14 (+4) |
| 69 (45) |
Fetisov Vyacheslav |
14 (-31) |
| 70 (98) |
Shmakov Mikhail |
14 (+7) |
| 71 (66) |
Pimakov Evgeny |
14 (+3) |
| 72 (64) |
Belyaninov Andrey |
13 (+1) |
| 73 (69) |
Khloponin Alexander |
13 (+2) |
| 74 (72) |
Rogozin Dmitry |
13 (+2) |
| 75 (76) |
Borodin Pavel |
13 (+3) |
| 76 (85) |
Gaydar Egor |
12 (+3) |
| 77 (99) |
Pekhtin Vladimir |
12 (+5) |
| 78 (84) |
Kozhin Vladimir |
12 (+2) |
| 79 (169) |
Batanov Genady |
11 (+10) |
| 80 (157) |
Ishaev Âèêòîð |
11 (+9) |
| 81 (82) |
Shaymiev Mintimer |
11 (+1) |
| 82 (93) |
Vasilyev Vladimir |
11 (+2) |
| 83 (74) |
Nemtsov Boris |
10 (-1) |
| 84 (81) |
Ilumizhinov Kirsan |
10 (0) |
| 85 (67) |
Titov Konstantin |
10 (-1) |
| 86 (122) |
Perminov Anatoly |
10 (+6) |
| 87 (136) |
Zelenin Dmitry |
10 (+7) |
| 88 (90) |
Rossel Eduard |
10 (+1) |
| 89 (58) |
Yakovlev Vladimir |
9 (-5) |
| 90 (92) |
Konovalov Alexander |
9 (0) |
| 91 (71) |
Chernomyrdin Viktor |
9 (-2) |
| 92 (88) |
Zyazikov Murat |
9 (0) |
| 93 (133) |
Serdyukov Valery |
9 (+6) |
| 94 (86) |
Ishakov Kamil |
9 (0) |
| 95 (73) |
Aleshin Boris |
9 (-2) |
| 96 (112) |
Alekperov Vagit |
8 (+3) |
| 97 (70) |
Kazmin Andrey |
8 (-3) |
| 98 (114) |
Stroev Egor |
8 (+3) |
| 99 (119) |
Aven Petr |
8 (+3) |
| 100 (118) |
Mamsurov Teymuraz |
8 (+3) |
Pavel Chernikov
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 09, 2006
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