Christmas tree discipline – Newspaper Kommersant No. 202 (7403) dated 10/31/2022

In every third subject of the Russian Federation, they have already decided to save money on the New Year holidays in one form or another due to a special military operation and partial mobilization, Kommersant calculated. We are talking about the rejection of concerts, fireworks and festivities in order to help the fighters and their families. The only thing that officials are not ready to give up is children’s matinees, because “even in 1941, children had a holiday.” At the same time, in a number of regions, the authorities are in no hurry to deprive people of traditional entertainment. As Kommersant’s sources in the presidential administration explain, the final decision to organize New Year’s celebrations is at the mercy of the governors, but they are advised to pay attention to sociology, and she says that the population is more likely to support the decision to cancel the holidays.

During October, the Pskov, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Novosibirsk, Amur, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Lipetsk, Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Tyumen, Vologda, Sverdlovsk, Ryazan, Kaliningrad and Tomsk regions, in Bashkiria, Tuva, Chuvashia, Crimea, Sevastopol and St. Petersburg, in Kamchatka, Primorsky, Krasnodar, Perm and Stavropol territories, as well as in the Khanty-Mansiysk and Nenets Autonomous Districts. And following the regional and municipal authorities, business began to refuse New Year’s corporate parties (see Kommersant of October 10).

There is only one reason – the ongoing special operation in Ukraine and the partial mobilization associated with it. “Fireworks, bright concert programs with famous artists, mass celebrations – all this is inappropriate, and we are definitely canceling this,” said Mikhail Vedernikov, Governor of the Pskov Region. According to him, “now is not the time for magnificent celebrations,” since “the situation is not simple both at the front and in the economy.” “No artists. If you want, take an accordion yourself, sing,” the head of Bashkiria, Radiy Khabirov, severely punished his subordinates, instructing them to direct “everything that is” to develop the economy and support the mobilized. The head of Chuvashia, Oleg Nikolaev, did the same when he announced the cancellation of “all festive events” in order to equip the fighters. And in Novosibirsk they even named specific amounts that will be saved on the celebration of the New Year: 10 million rubles. will go to the purchase of humanitarian goods, 15 million rubles – to support the families of the mobilized.

Recall that the local authorities undertook to “tighten their belts” immediately after the start of partial mobilization, announced at the end of September. The Ministry of Defense then called this campaign “premature and unnecessary.” “There is no need to cancel New Year’s holiday events in the Russian regions in order to use the saved funds to provide for our military personnel, including those called up during partial mobilization,” said Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Goremykin.

However, the appeal of the colonel-general did not diminish the bureaucratic zeal. “No citywide fireworks,” Blagoveshchensk Mayor Oleg Imameev said, promising the townspeople a “no-frills” New Year’s atmosphere—“we use what we have.” Other cities are ready to get by with last year’s installations, decorations and illuminations. For example, a source in the administration of Irkutsk told Kommersant that the rejection of new decorative elements is a “principled decision.” The tree will also be old, bought several years ago, he added.

Despite the ascetic attitude, in most regions they talk about one important exception – children’s holidays, which cannot be saved on. “We need to separate public events for children and adults. In the most difficult periods of our history, even in 1941, no one canceled New Year trees for the younger generation, ”said Oleg Melnichenko, Governor of the Penza Region.

The head of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, went a little further and entrusted the decision to cancel the New Year holidays to the residents of the region: on October 24, a poll was posted on his Telegram channel, 69% of the participants of which (12.4 thousand out of 17.9 thousand users) voted for to abandon concerts and fireworks, but leave children’s Christmas trees. “It would be wrong to take away a holiday from children,” Mr. Busargin summed up. The head of Altai, Oleg Khorokhordin, followed his example, last Friday instructing him to conduct a similar survey. “Everything that remains from that New Year can be restored. Children holidays? Of course. And it’s better to take care of our mobilized people, their families, children, to collect money in this situation,” said Mr. Khorokhordin.

It should be noted that the VTsIOM has recently taken care of clarifying the attitude of Russians to the abolition of the New Year holidays for the sake of saving money against the backdrop of a special operation. According to the results of his poll, published on October 20, 59% of respondents know about such an initiative, and 74% support it. Among the main reasons, citizens name the lack of army support (47%) and the inappropriateness of fun during hostilities (24%).

At the same time, in some places they are not in a hurry to refuse festive events. For example, the mayor of Khabarovsk, Sergey Kravchuk, said that it is not worth cutting New Year’s expenses, since the colorful design of city streets creates a special mood among residents and makes children happy. “If we don’t put up a Christmas tree, if we don’t decorate it, if we don’t make illuminations, we will upset the children. And besides, the New Year is a symbol of the unity of people,” he said. A similar point of view was expressed by the governor of the Oryol region Andrey Klychkov: “The mobilized guys went to work, their children, parents, relatives remained here – those people for whom we are obliged to make a holiday.” Finally, Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Evraev promised to hold New Year’s celebrations with mass celebrations. “Illumination, other attributes of the New Year must be,” he said at a press conference.

For a long time, there was no consensus on the organization of New Year’s celebrations “above”, says a Kommersant source close to the presidential administration (AP). In his opinion, by “thrown” this topic into the information space (including through a survey by VTsIOM), the Presidential Administration studied the reaction to it. However, now Kommersant’s interlocutors are more specific. So, another Kommersant source in the Presidential Administration says that the regional authorities are free to make their own decisions about the New Year holidays, but they are advised to pay attention to the results of opinion polls on this topic in their territories. And in most cases, the citizens themselves would rather cancel the celebrations. “So this decision follows from sociology, and not from any position of the federal authorities. And polls tell us that people do not like these official festivities, ”summarizes the Kommersant source.

“Children holidays.- “b”) we save, adults – according to the situation, ”the federal official confirms this approach. “Everything is as usual: decide for yourself, but in general this idea is for us (about the abolition of holidays.— “b”) like it,” a Kommersant source close to the Presidential Administration characterizes the approach of the Kremlin’s domestic political bloc. However, according to him, in fact, sociology is not so unambiguous: somewhere the population still wants New Year’s celebrations.

Andrey Prakh, Andrey Vinokurov, corset “Kommersant”