Limonov vs. Putin Read online

  The law came into force from January 1st 2005, but the people really felt it only on January 11th, when the holidays passed. The awakening of the people in the morning of January 11th was not a happy one. Here is what the press wrote at that time. Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 01.12.05. The article “The Veterans Took Their Crutches” with the subtitle “The most unprotected levels of the population gave a hostile reception to the monetization of benefits”: “The Russian benefit holders who just finished to celebrate the holidays granted by the State Duma, only after they ended realized that they are already living in another country. Most of the Russians who, in the last years, had, for example, the right to free public transport, realized that the State that has promised them monetary compensations instead of free transportation, is not in a hurry to pay them. In the end the population ‘sobered up’ without even having the time to celebrate. The first to rebel were the pensioners living in Khimki, near Moscow. Monday, several hundreds of people, on the initiative of the local Pensioners’ Union blocked Leningradskoe road and demanded, ‘to be joined to the capital’, where the transport benefits were kept on the account of the local budget. In order to free the road, the law enforcing bodies had to intervene. … Yesterday in the afternoon Moscow region’s official site published a comment on the Khimki events by the governor Boris Gromov. As it is told … he pointed out that similar actions have also taken place in Dubna, Solnechnogorsk, Mitishi and Ramenski district. But only in Khimki did an unsanctioned meeting grow into a road blocking. In result for over two hours automobile traffic was paralyzed and air traffic was disrupted. … As it was said in the press release, the fact that these meetings are well planned and prepared is suspicious. The governor emphasized that those who push the pensioners to commit such actions, as a rule do not participate themselves in these meetings and actions. … Boris Gromov asked the citizens of the Moscow region not to yield to provocations next time. (According to other sources, Gromov accused the National-Bolsheviks of organizing the meeting of Khimki’s pensioners.)

  The initiative of Moscow’s suburbs was on the same day supported in Russia’s other regions. In Almetyevsk (Tatarstan) about five thousand citizens came out on a meeting demanding to restore the free transport and cancel the one-hundred-percent fee for the residential services. This happened despite the declaration of the republic’s president Shaymiev that the budget has money for the monetization. The problem is worsened by Tatarstan’s transfer to a one-hundred-percent fee for residential services. …

  In Ufa, over four thousand residents came out on a protest action organized by the local CPRF department.

  Samara’s war and labor veterans as well as home front workers blocked one of the center’s main roads – Revolution Street-for two hours and held an unsanctioned meeting. The protest action was held under the leadership of the CPRF and the NBP. From January 1st the cost of a transport ticket in Samara has gone up by one ruble to reach 7 rubles. Former benefit holders are guaranteed the money equivalent of only 18 trips per month. Samara’s conductors and ticket collectors notice many attempts by the elderly passengers to refuse to pay their ticket. … In Kaliningrad, for instance a security guard from whom the ticket collector of a city tramway demanded to pay his ticket, called his armed colleagues for help. In result the wagon and all the other tramways of that line stood 40 minutes on the tracks and charges were brought against the conductor Galina Omelchenko. The police officers referred to the order of the region’s police chief, major general Sergey Kirichenko, who demanded, ‘to immediately take measures for stopping any actions from transport employees towards police officers on duty’. … The Baltic Navy officers were also put in a difficult situation. As the Baltic Navy commander, admiral Vladimir Valuyev, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the Navy has not received the promised money either. At the same time a significant part of the officers and warrant officers reside in Kaliningrad and serve in Baltiisk and the transport fare is now 40 rubles.

  In the capital of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Cherkessk, a veteran has beaten a female ticket collector with crutches, when she asked the old man to pay for his ticket on a tramway. …

  In the Saratov region only federal benefit holders (170 000 people) met the New Year with the promised compensations. The authorities’ promise that until January 11th all benefit holders will not be thrown out of public transport was not held.

  In the Sverdlov region, where the former system of benefits was extended until April 1st, already now benefit holders are denied free transport. …

  The residents of the Volgogradsk region were also lucky: this region became one of the few, in which regional benefits remain in kind until June 1st 2005. … In all, according to the data of the Department of the population’s social protection, there are 270 000 regional benefit holders in the region and 240 000 federal ones. If monetary compensation is introduced with 200 rubles to a labor veteran and 300 rubles to a home front worker, the Volgograd region alone will need 2,2 billion rubles for these payments. As for the project of the federal budget for 2005, it foresees 8 billion rubles for all the country’s regions as compensations.” The overview was prepared by the materials of Nezavisimaya Gazeta correspondents in the regions and shows the evil cruelty, savagery and complete irresponsibility of the Kremlin and all its ministers and of course, the president who put his signature under Law Number 122.

  In Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, the situation turned out to be the most wrought up. I cite the site “NBP-info” on 01.17.05. “Saint Petersburg: third day of the demonstrations. The demands of the citizens: a meeting with Matvienko. Historical events are taking place in Saint Petersburg these days – practically, it is a new revolution. The authorities, afraid of the mass protest of the citizens headed by the recently formed coalition NBP-Yabloko-CPRF started to make concessions. The pensioners were given the possibility to travel for free. But the people want more: they demand to return all the taken benefits, let out all political prisoners from prisons, they demand Putin’s and Matvienko’s resignation. The chairman of the Saint Petersburg Committee on the administration’s social policy, Alexander Rzhanekov, who was beaten up by pensioners on a meeting, transmitted Valentina Matvienko’s proposal to meet the representatives of the demonstrators. The leaders of the city’s departments of NBP, Yabloko and CPRF worked out rather radical demands to the municipal authorities (reflecting the attitude of the demonstrators) and tomorrow at noon will present them to the governor when they will meet her personally. In case they are not fulfilled mass protest actions with the blocking of downtown will continue. The demands of the citizens who took part in the 01.14-16.05 protest actions in Saint Petersburg. There are ten demands: 1. Withheld the action of Law Number 122 on the territory of Saint Petersburg and prepare a legislative initiative to cancel this law, as violating the RF constitution. 2. Prepare and adopt a resolution to restore the earlier existing transport benefits for all categories of citizens. … 4. Adopt a resolution to keep the benefits on suburb transport. … Restore the telephone benefits for all categories of citizens who used these benefits before. … 6. Introduce a legislative initiative to increase the basic pension from 650 to 3000 rubles. 7. Introduce an initiative to make the 2005 budget law in accordance with the budget code in the part about the distribution of the budget between the federal center and the regions in a 50/50 proportion. … And finally, point 9. The governor must inform the federal power and the public about the position of the protesters about the necessity to revise the sentence to the NBP members who captured Zurabov’s office; the removal of the unfounded accusations in violent seizure of power for the capture of the president’s administration by NBP members since the young activists expressed the lawful demands of the citizens. Signed by: V. I. Fedorov, first CPRF secretary of Saint Petersburg, M. Reznik, chairman of Saint Petersburg’s Yabloko, A. Dmitriev, chairman of Saint Petersburg’s NBP, O. Kurnosova, secretary of the Civil Union, E. Kozlov, chairman of the Committee of United Actions, G. Belkova, co-chairman of the Mov
ement of Civil Initiatives.”

  Let us examine carefully, which benefits were taken away from the main categories of citizens.

  Which benefits were taken away from the veterans:

  The new legislation defining the measures of social support to the veterans lacks the reminder that they can have tax benefits. The right to establish the benefits for the residential services was transferred by the federal authorities to the regional ones. The new law about the veterans lacks the reminder of their right to credits for acquiring apartments, houses and garden lots. War veterans are left without the right to free telephone installation and the 50% payment of the telephone, radio and collective TV antenna. Single war invalids and blockade veterans are now left without the right to a 50% reduction of security service. War veterans can use free tickets to sanatoriums not more than once a year and only on medical prescription. They now do not have the possibility to receive monetary compensations once in two years if they do not receive the tickets. The veterans are left without the right to a free car and the possibility to receive compensations for gas and technical service or a compensation for transport services.

  The monetization of benefits for the handicapped:

  The State freed itself from the responsibility to assist the citizens who support individuals needing constant care. Now the list of the social services for the elderly or the handicapped will be defined by the regional authorities and not the federal ones. The handicapped have lost the right to free specialized help, including dental help. The necessity to take in account the opinion of organizations of handicapped during the construction of buildings is removed. The quota for employing handicapped people is established for organizations that have over 100 employees and not 30 like before. The demand that the handicapped receive household items and other means necessary for social adaptation for free is removed. Not only the handicapped, but also the people who accompany them are left without the right to free or reduced-cost public transportation.

  Which main benefits are taken away from the military and FSB employees:

  The right to free transportation on all public transport is removed. The military, military pensioners and family members are left without the right to acquire products at reduced cost through the network of military trade. Monetary compensations instead of the food and uniform rations will not be defined by their cost. The method of granting loans for first necessity items is changed. Now the loans are defined by the government. The military of the permanent readiness units will not demand additional leisure time that compensates their service on top of their weekly service time. The military doing their service in conflict zones, including in Chechnya have lost the right to 15 additional days to their annual vacation and to 10 days for each 3 months of service in state of emergency and armed conflicts. The right of the militaries doing their service in conflict zones to receive a monetary compensation instead of a ticket to a sanatorium has been removed. Earlier the difference between the cost of keeping the children of the military in pre-school institutions and the amount the parents paid was compensated. Now they receive payments established by the Minister of defense. Medical help to family members of officers will not be free now, but defined by the government. From now on the military and their families will be only provided with a residence, which they will not be able to privatize. There will be no 75-100% subsidies for residences that the military that have served for over 10 years could acquire by joining a cooperative or building a house themselves. Besides the local authorities do not have to provide the military with the opportunity to join cooperatives or provide them with land for construction. The citizens who became handicapped during their service are left without the right to receive a credit for the construction of a house and acquire household items. The military who served for over 10-15 years are left without the right to free land lots and those who served over 20 years are left without the right to be freed from local taxes.

  Which benefits were taken away from the students and teachers.

  The students studying in middle or specialized professional institutions:

  1. The students are left without the right to a reduced fare in public transport, food and sanatorium care. The laws about the social support to students are far less clear now. The State declined its responsibility to allocate sums for socio-cultural activities to education institutions.

  2. The law now lacks even the reminder of the students’ right to free railroad transportation once a year.

  3. The students of non-governmental institutions are denied of all the benefits, which were used by students of governmental institutions. The local authorities establish the amount of social guarantees for the students.

  4. The State relieved itself from the responsibility to “totally compensate the inflation growth of expenses for the food and health of the students.”

  5. The mention about a special system of crediting in the form of a personal social educational credit, which is created for the organization of the social support of students who study in institutions of professional and middle education has disappeared from the law on education.

  6. The State relieved itself from the responsibility to put quotas on work posts in enterprises for graduates of educational institutions.

  7. Enterprises, institutions and organizations whose employees go to school are not freed from taxes on the amount that they spend on these employees.

  Which benefits were taken away from the students:

  1. The State refused to compensate the expenses for education in non-governmental general education institutions.

  2. The obligation to finance special (correctional) educational institutions for children and teenagers with deficits was removed. The same fate occurred to the educational institutions for children with exceptional capacities.

  Which benefits were taken away from the teachers:

  1. The State decided to relieve itself from the responsibilities, which it actually never fulfilled, in relation to the teachers’ salary. Their minimal wage rates should have exceeded the level of the average salary in Russia and the average wage rate should have exceeded the average salary in the industry. Also, the mention that the minimal wage rates for pedagogic employees from higher education institutions should not be lower than 8 times the minimal salary and the necessity to index them at each quarter were removed.

  2. The monthly monetary compensation for buying books and periodicals of 150 rubles for university teachers and 100 rubles for other teachers is kept only for the employees of federal educational institutions. It is the local authorities who decide if they will give this compensation to others and how much. Besides, now these payments are taxable.

  3. From now on the benefits foreseen for agriculture specialists do not concern teachers of schools situated far from municipal centers.

  4. The graduates of pedagogic colleges who arrive to rural areas for work cannot count on subsidies for acquiring household items.

  5. The workers of educational and scientific laboratories are left

  without the benefits established for the employees of the corresponding harmful production.

  Because of the lack of space it is impossible to enumerate all the losses suffered by various groups of citizens in accordance with the Law Number 122.

  Scared by the benefit revolts the Kremlin and regional authorities quickly slowed down the monetization process. In some regions (for example in the Krasnoyarsk region) they postponed the monetization until 2006. The same happened in the Khanti-Mansiisky autonomous region. In other regions the monetization was frozen. In the Chelyabinsk region all the benefits were kept in their totality. In Primorie free transportation for benefit holders was kept. In the Kemerevo region the governor Tuleyev restored free transportation for pensioners. In Penza reduced transportation fare for pensioners was restored. In the Vladimir region war laborers and labor veterans will pay only 20 rubles per month for using the train. In Bashkiria the amount of compensation for the transportation expenses
was doubled. And so forth.

  On 01.18.05 Kommersant published the account of journalist Andrey Kolesnikov about the meeting of president Putin with the government, in particular minister Zurabov was there. The report is called “The Guarantor of Monetization” with the subtitle “The president forgave the ministers for the cancellation of benefits”. I will cite here only the last part of the report: “Vladimir Putin finally said that he would like to speak about the question ‘formulated before the New Year and is put in force from January 1st’. The president said that he would like to speak about the motives of the decision about the monetization of benefits (i.e. apparently he wanted to say that it was his decision), although he has already explained them many times and also how this decision is put in practice. Back in the USSR the system of benefits existed and functioned efficiently, in his view. And here is why.