Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov visit the Moscow neighborhood of Kurkino on June 5, 2007.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Putin Creates Problems for Moscow Mayor
// That No One But Luzhkov Can Solve
Yesterday Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov took a trip to the Kurkino residential development together. There, in a convoluted way that the mayor nevertheless managed to grasp, the president informed him that he will remain in his post. Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov has the details.
In the office of the prefect of the Northwest District of the Russian capital, Viktor Kozlov was regaling journalists with tales of how pleasant it is to live in Kurkino, one of Moscow's most elite development projects. Kurkino's schools are real salt mines; there's a hill nearby that, if you screw up your eyes, could look like a slope for downhill skiing (in reality, it's a hill where kids from the nearby village of Gavrilkovo go sledding in the winter); a golf course is due to be built in the development soon.
According to Mr. Kozlov, here in Kurkino there are stores within walking distance, a fire station, a dry cleaner's, and, most importantly, the city's first enterprise "that…well…provides ritual services for animals."
"A person brings their house pet here, and well, everything…" explained the prefect, pausing dramatically for what like seemed a painfully long minute of silence.
Kurkino is also distinguished from the rest of Moscow in that here the institution of the "mussels," ugly metal structures for storing cars, has been completely abolished.
"You can drive through the entire neighborhood," said the prefect, "and if you see a single 'mussel'!…" Viktor Kozlov raised his voice and then was quiet, clearly at a loss as to what you could do with it. "Whatever you say, that's what I'll do!"
I asked him why, if everything is so wonderful and unique in Kurkino, why there isn't a single supermarket here. And why no sports club has been built yet in the experimental Kurkino development. And why the mayor of Moscow, having laid the first stone in the neighborhood's first road six years ago, promised that once the Kurkino integrated development project was done, there would be a second and a third. In other words, three new highways were to be built, each with its own exit from the neighborhood – onto Leningradsky Prospekt; onto Volokolamskoye Shosse, in the Mitino area; and onto Svoboda Street. Subsequently, all three highways were built, but only at the edge of Kurkino itself, and there is still only one exit from the neighborhood
When I put these questions to the prefect, he seemed upset that I had reminded him about all of this.
"Well, we need to finally fix the problem with the radio fields!" he said irritatedly. "The second exit from Kurkino, yes, that's a problem. But we're already solving it. Today, I think, we'll fix it. Reiman (Leonid Reiman is the Russian IT and Communications Minister) is supposed to be instructed to remove the radio fields from Kurkino. We're going to bring up the issue!"
As I understood it, he was talking about the antennas in the area that were once used for communications by Air Force pilots flying over the region. The radio fields are spread out over an area of several hectares that, in the opinion of the prefect, could be used to much better effect for the construction of a second highway out of Kurkino (no one is even dreaming about a third one). Mr. Kozlov did not explain why, when he has such a comprehensive approach to the problem, the city authorities have decided that it is time to put the question to the president of Russia. It has been six years since construction began on the Kurkino development, whose thousands of residents are now trapped in their neighborhood by a daily traffic jam that stretches for miles.
Maybe he just didn't have time for it himself: he bolted for the school, which the Russian president was due to visit. Incidentally, however, Vladimir Putin's purpose in Kurkino was neither the school nor even the municipal government office. Instead, having feasted his eyes on the modern housing development here, the Russian president intended to announce that Yury Luzhkov's tenure in the Moscow mayor's office will be extended for another term. That left two things to chew over that morning: whether Vladimir Putin would make the announcement, and, if he did, how he would do it.
This story is already several months old. Yury Luzhkov, whose term in office will expire fairly soon, has long been angling to determine the Russian president's confidence in him. More than a month ago, he met with Vladimir Putin and, according to information gathered by Kommersant, coquettishly asked whether it wasn't time for him to change his occupation. Mr. Putin took his time to consider the situation.
And now he has apparently finally thought things through. This is not the first time that Mr. Putin has encountered such a situation: not too long ago, for example, Chukotka regional governor Roman Ambramovich directly and unambiguously approached the president about his desire to leave his position. Having mulled it over, Mr. Putin suggested that he work a little while longer – and Mr. Abramovich directly and unambiguously remained at his post.
Vladimir Putin was in a good mood as he entered the municipal office after touring the school and the development itself. He approached the school along a pathway that was lined with peevish-looking gnomes made out of painted clay that stood about 50 centimeters high on what appeared to be metal stakes. The school was bursting with life that didn't pause just because the president of the country happened to appear.
The residents of the development greeted him on the street individually and in groups. On one of the balconies, Mr. Putin saw a man of about 55 years of age who was standing in his underwear and bashfully clutching to himself a woman in a chintz housedress. The man, realizing that the president was looking at him, raised his clenched fist slightly and meaningfully. In that moment, his face was suffused with enormous secret meaning. The president replied in the same manner. They looked like conspirators.
Yury Luzhkov showed the president the plans for the Kurkino development and laid out the advantages of this neighborhood over any other. We had already heard the spiel about these advantages from the prefect of the Northwestern District. Like Viktor Kozlov to us journalists, Yury Luzhkov also didn't bother to mention anything to Vladimir Putin about the development's shortcomings. After all, the topic was somewhat out of place.
In comparison to the tale told by the prefect, however, Yury Luzhkov's report included some exclusive information: he revealed that there will be 18 holes in the Kurkino golf course.
The president unexpectedly asked what the situation was with large stores in Kurkino.
The mayor faltered for a moment before saying that they wanted to put such a store on an empty lot in the development.
"But while I was waiting for you, I spoke to the residents who had come to greet you (meaning that the welcome wagons made up of residents had been organized – A.K.), and they all said unanimously, 'we don't need a mall here! We have OBI and Mega close by (actually, they're in Khimki). There are stores within walking distance!'", he said
I tried to imagine these residents, but I found I couldn't. It is possible, however, that they were residents of some other neighborhood.
In any case, the mayor promised to built a large church on the territory of Kurkino – the people apparently feel the lack of a church much more strongly than they do the absence of a mall (truly, man does not live by bread alone). The future golf course, said Mr. Luzhkov, has already been consecrated, thank God.
"And how much more investment do you need to complete the development?" asked Mr. Putin.
"I think a billion, probably…"
It seemed that the mayor was about to say "will be enough," but he had other ideas: "and a half," he concluded.
"Expensive" said Vladimir Putin, his face expressionless.
It was the same kind of expressionless look with which a customer in a furniture store discusses a sofa that he isn't even thinking about buying.
"Well, yes," agreed Yury Luzhkov, his face cast in the expression of a salesman who isn't planning on selling that sofa anyway.
At that moment, it seemed to me that they were both thinking about something else.
"You know," said the Russian president finally, "what I've seen here…not only is it not worse than in major metropolises around the world – in many ways, it's better. This is the solution to a societal problem! You drive (along a highway free of traffic – A.K.), and it's so appealing to the eye! Yury Mikhailovich, but only… Yes, and this is particularly important: this is not for any particular group. It is for ordinary citizens."
"But as well as successes, there are problems…" continued Mr. Putin, and by the way that he began to speak louder and somehow triumphantly, I realized that he was moving towards the main idea. "In particular, there is the problem of swindled investors (some Moscow development companies sold apartments in new buildings several times over to different families). I hope that the attention being paid to this problem will not decrease any time soon. There are other problematic questions that require attention. And I would like to hope that these problems will be resolved just as effectively as the Kurkino project.
Mr. Luzhkov looked expectantly past the president.
"When you get close to a solution to these problems, finish it – then we will talk about changing your occupation, but that will be a bit later," declared the Russian president.
In other words, the president just let it be known that Yury Luzhkov will continue his work as mayor. To that end, Vladimir Putin is prepared to bring Mr. Luzhkov's candidacy before the city legislature. But the president's turns of phrase also testified that the Moscow mayor's authority is being renewed not because of any particular accomplishments but because of the shortcomings and defects that he has to fix.
Yury Luzhkov immediately replied (though in my opinion, no one had asked him to do so) that the problem of the swindled investors is being resolved.
"We are working with the investors who have been cheated, and by the end of 2008 we will basically finish the allocation of apartments to these hoodwinked citizens. After that period, only one building will remain to be handed over to defrauded co-investors."
In other words, as I understood it, the potential residents of that building run the risk of remaining hostages to the extension of the mayor's term in office. As soon as he resolves all their problems according to the president's instructions, he will have to talk with Vladimir Putin about changing his line of work.
It is also interesting that Vladimir Putin presented himself as the person who will be in a position to decide the question of the mayor of Moscow's future career plans ("then we'll talk"), thus giving the tireless political pundits even more grist for their mills.
As he said goodbye and headed for the exit, Vladimir Putin decided to repeat what he had already said.
"Resolve the problem of the defrauded investors [and] other problems; after that we'll return to the question of changing occupations," he said.
Yury Luzhkov, seeming not to notice these words, forged ahead with descriptions of new kinds of schools that will be introduced in Moscow.
"We saw, we saw a school," said Mr. Putin quietly, propelling him towards the door. "Pretty, pretty…"
He had already said everything he wanted to say that day, and now he wasn't interested in hearing anything else.
Andrei Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of June 06, 2007
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