Follow the municipalities – Kommersant

On April 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a long-awaited meeting of the Council on Local Self-Government via videoconference, and a special correspondent for Kommersant Andrey Kolesnikov drew attention primarily to the first and last speaker in the debate, Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, who assured the president that we would not be lost. Senegal is with us.

The meeting of the Local Self-Government Council was prepared so long and carefully that it could not help but turn out to be boring and even sleepy. We discussed for a long time in what form the draft law on local self-government should be adopted, and as a result of two hours of — I wanted to say, discussions, but no, reports — we decided not to adopt it in any way.

And they kind of talked about digitalization, and for improvement objects, and for writing off debts, and for orders and fines following the results of control measures that cannot be fulfilled, and all the more impossible to fulfill, because there is nothing (Finance Minister Anton Siluanov led himself extremely constructively and proposed the creation of a commission that would decide who should pay and who should not; and we, it seems, will thus be contemporaries of yet another very capacious body). And for a sympathetic attitude towards a person of labor, including military, they also talked. And of course, for the all-Russian marathon “Municipal Dialogue”.

And everything was not right. If they gave a prize for the most boring meeting of the year, then this would claim the highest rating.

And even Andrei Malkhasyan, the head of the Kola district of the Murmansk region, failed to lower this rating, although he honestly tried. After all, he spoke about the image of a municipal employee in the eyes of his compatriots.

– What is the perception of an employee formed from, what does our resident feel when he enters the administration building? – Andrey Malkhasyan asked his colleagues. – Does he feel attention to himself? How is he met? And most importantly, when a resident comes to the administration building, does he feel from the employees a desire to help in solving his issue, in solving his problem?

To all these questions I wanted to rashly give a sharply negative answer.

This is not what Andrei Malkhasyan intended to convey to the top management:

“From my own experience, I want to say that the majority of local self-government bodies employ active, caring and sincere people who really love the place where they live and work, and, most importantly, know how to interact with our residents!

Andrei Malkhasyan spoke, turning to the camera in profile and slightly raising his chin, looking impeccably and selflessly into the distance (maybe he thought that the camera was there, to his left), and his image now was such that I only now understood who was always missing the fourth in the famous series of selfless servants of communism on all May Day portraits and flags with Marx, Engels and Lenin. Andrey Malkhasyan was missing there.

“After a young man has received a higher education, he is faced with a choice: either go to the authorities or go into business,” he said (that is, it happens not like that.— A.K.).— Often, financial incentives in business are higher than in local governments. And there is a proposal to create additional competitive advantages for choosing a municipal service, namely: taking into account work experience in local governments to move up the career ladder in regional and federal authorities!

Yes, Andrei Malkhasyan’s ambitions are precisely to end up in some kind of portrait.

“At a fairly young age, I began to engage in entrepreneurial activities,” he shared, whether his colleagues wanted this or not. “At the same time, I was elected to the local government body – the council of deputies of the urban settlement in which I lived and continue to live … And when I was offered to head the Kola district of the Murmansk region , I agreed, decided to leave the business and devote myself to serving in the municipality! What motivated me to move from business to local government? This desire to change the place where you were born and where you live for the better, this feeling of belonging to these changes, this desire to create for the good of your native land!

I wanted to cope with the lump in my throat and see Andrey Malkhasyan on his way as soon as possible.

There were, were at this meeting and individual successes. The author of one of them was the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region Gleb Nikitin:

– We decided to create a permanent center for change and development of competencies in the region and named KUPNO – this is the Corporate University of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. But this is not only an abbreviation – KUPNO. Kuzma Minin in 1612 uttered a phrase, for us it is sacred in the Nizhny Novgorod region: “Bought for one” – together at the same time, if we speak in modern language! In fact, this is the formula of state development!

Creative people live in the Nizhny Novgorod region. We are waiting for the emergence of new Nizhny Novgorod universities FOR and UNITED.

That’s how timidly this long meeting came to an end, and Vladimir Putin even ran out of a list of speakers. And he invited everyone who wanted to speak (those who did not want to have already expressed their opinion), and then the mayor of Kazan, Ilsur Metshin, raised his hand. And everything made sense.

— For 15 years, a fateful decision has been made at a meeting of the Security Council (is it possible that other decisions are made at a meeting of the Security Council? — A.K.) on the overhaul of the housing stock (at the expense of, among other things, federal funds.— A.K.), he said solemnly. “On the example of Kazan, 85% of residential buildings were repaired, these are three and a half thousand houses! No municipality could afford it. Thanks for the May decrees… From the heads of cities, thanks from the residents… Also, words of gratitude for the long-awaited program for the overhaul of utility networks… We started it, we were waiting for it! Thank you too!

But it turned out that Ilsur Metshin also has something to thank for.

“Just a few words about the international activities of our municipalities,” continued the mayor of Kazan. “For 20 years, dozens of cities in our country have been actively working in the international organization Cities and Local Authorities.” Exchange best practices. In the context of attempts to isolate our country on all fronts – politics, economics, sports, and culture … There were attempts to turn this organization into an anti-Russian platform. Municipalities from 140 countries gathered at the World Council in Daejon, South Korea. So, for us it was a pleasant surprise when our colleagues, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific region (but this is no longer.— A.K.), the People’s Republic of China supported Russia in the face of Kazan as a united front!

It is unlikely that they could just support Kazan. Meaning? They supported Russia.

We have been elected to the UN Committee on Local Self-Government! – Ilsur Metshin stated. – It unites 300 thousand municipalities!

That’s where the enemy has not yet managed to reach. Viewed. They simply blinked. Were distracted by something. But in fact, no:

– The speech of our Senegalese, our African colleague, was also indicative, who said that Europe and overseas ours … – Ilsur Metshin chose the word. – Unfriendly countries … This is only 700 million people (the calculation should be called very approximate. – A.K.)! And there are 7 billion! And if we are removed from there (apparently, Senegalese – from Europe and the USA. Or maybe representatives of all friendly countries.— A.K.), then there will be only 300 million of them! And they tell us how to live! We are already tired! And, he says, our colleagues from friendly countries asked me to convey words of gratitude and success in the work that Russia is doing in a new arrangement, and more just! And I do it, Vladimir Vladimirovich!

Vladimir Vladimirovich greeted these words with great warmth, which filled and even, perhaps, sanctified, during the Paschal week, it was a meeting that had completely begun to lose heart.

– Not everyone wants to look through Western glasses at what is happening in the world. And they support us! I wanted to tell you about it! – the mayor of Kazan finished even more comfortingly.

Some kind of special force still beats from Kazan. I’m not even talking about how Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin spoke at the same meeting.

“This trend you mentioned is inevitable,” the President confirmed. “It will only intensify. Those who do not understand this and do not follow this trend will lose. This fact is absolutely obvious. It’s as obvious as the rising of the sun.

It seems that this will have to be done manually, on its own.

Before, it just stood up.

Andrey Kolesnikov