how Russian leaders introduced themselves in the Kremlin

On March 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his Representative Office in the Kremlin, met with the winners of the “Leaders of Russia” competition, who, according to a Kommersant special correspondent, Andrey Kolesnikov, behaved with the president like serial characters. And it worked.

“Getting a specific position is not the end in itself of the events in which you took part,” Vladimir Putin told his interlocutors in the Representative Office, where chairs were placed in several rows, and this was unusual: this is not usually the case here. “Nevertheless, 470 people Already, one way or another, they work in high positions and in the federal center. We, in my opinion, have six deputy federal ministers, five deputy governors in the regions, and we even have governors, ten people work at the level of heads of municipalities… in the State Duma, in the Federation Council, in our large companies with state participation…

No, of course, not an end in itself. Just a goal.

Many warm words were spoken at this meeting. The president said them, and even more were said to the president. Senior comrades seemed to have explained to the meeting participants the day before that the president likes personal stories, and if women and children are involved in them, that’s it, that’s already a success. And each participant in the meeting told the president a more or less personal story – but of course. And most importantly, it really worked. Participants and participants of the SVO, top managers of large companies, officials… The goal, obviously, was to finally convince everyone, including each other: “Russia is in good hands” (as Vladimir Putin said).

At times the action had the feel of a serial. Each speaker is one episode with some, often still sluggish, intrigue and denouement, as well as win-win phrases that hit where they need to be, that is, in theory, right into the audience’s heart. And if necessary, into the soul (there is a difference).

Yes, this is how such meetings should be prepared.

And one should be objective: the first participant, Yulia Shugina, head of the department of neonatal surgery at the Moscow Regional Perinatal Center, was in the right place. To begin with, she was able to maintain a dialogue with the president without visible tension. That is, it was not in vain that her time to be first had come. The rest, perhaps, would not have been able to cope with the task of setting the very tone that would then, at the end of the event, allow the president to approve this event with his soul and heart.

– And what good guys we have after all! — he probably said something like this (no, that’s not for sure).

Yulia Shugina spoke, of course, about her family (“I started out as an operating room nurse. After my second year at university, I washed instruments and floors at night and occasionally had the magical opportunity to stand as an assistant at the operating table, for which I am very grateful to my colleagues from Smolensk.” ).

“Surgery for newborns?” the president asked. “So you perform operations on newborns?”

For the kids. Yes, kids.

But it turned out that not just children:

“I operate on children, many of whom can barely fit in the palm of my hand,” she clarified.

That is, apparently, premature.

– Lord, aren’t you scared? – asked Vladimir Putin.

Yes, she definitely struck the right note in the conversation.

Her story really fit into a serial monologue. And it sounded. It contained the disbelief of friends that everything would work out, and a misunderstanding of the team, and the shoulder of a fighting friend, and most importantly, yes, the main thing:

— When you realize that this is the first long-awaited child in 20 years of infertility or this is the first successful IVF attempt out of eight, nine…

We save babies not only at our perinatal center, we implement…

— Mostly operations on joints, right? — Vladimir Putin specified.

– No! — Yulia Shugina laughed loudly and with all her heart (and it’s strange: she seemed to laugh at the president’s words, but it seemed like nothing of the sort.— A.K.).— These are mainly operations on the intestines! We have such aspects as the disease of surviving premature babies – necrotizing enterocolitis…

Yes, a girl who talks about this can afford to laugh at everyone else.

And again about the personal, just about timing:

“At that moment, I really lacked non-medical knowledge: in management, in economics, somewhere there was a lack of diplomacy…” Yulia Shugina sighed. “For this knowledge, I came to the “Leaders of Russia” competition in order to develop further.

Pause.

— She didn’t come alone… She came with her beloved man. Despite the fact that he was unable to advance beyond the regional stage, for him and me this competition became a non-zero-sum game. He received a future wife – a super finalist of the fifth season and a great desire to participate in the sixth season and develop, I – a training grant that will allow me to catch up!

Yes, it’s a little harsh towards the man you love, but there’s no other way.

“We’ll assume that he just pushed you upstairs,” Vladimir Putin enjoyed it.

– Yes. And it is very important that you have an environment that helps you, that supports you!

Here it is. Yulia Shugina, it seems, let it slip. The man she loved was her environment. Well. For them, the super finalists, this is the only way.

– Great! – Vladimir Putin exclaimed. “What are your ambitions?” What would you like to do next?

There was no impression that Yulia Shugina was not expecting this question.

“I, of course, would like to direct some kind of multidisciplinary children’s clinic, or maybe create it from scratch.

There was no impression that Vladimir Putin was not expecting such an answer. He only clarified, deciding something for himself:

— Precisely in the Moscow region?

“No, I’m not attached to the region,” Yulia Shugina nodded to him understandingly.

“Vladislav Vakhnin, despite his young age, manages such a serious project at Gazprom Neft – the Prirazlomnaya platform, our Russian Arctic,” said moderator Alexey Komissarov. “Alexander Glukharev from the Tyumen region volunteered and first led a company, and now is commander of the assault battalion.

“He commanded a company,” the Supreme Commander-in-Chief corrected him.

– Commanded, yes! — Alexey Komissarov caught himself. “Amir Akkao from Karachay-Cherkessia is with us today.” Amir was mobilized in 2022… I think he will tell about himself…

And Amir Akkao said:

— In the fall of 2022, I received a summons. I had no doubts whether to go or not to go, to take or not to take the summons. In general, there were no such thoughts!.. I understood that my experience could be useful and I could help our guys… Of course, my family was very worried. I am the only child of my elderly mother. My wife was left alone with three small children, with my mother, but we all got through it.

Amir Akkao came to the meeting with a crutch under his arm, but, fortunately, it turned out that this was fixable.

– What kind of injury do you have, is it serious? – the Supreme Commander asked him.

“I came under artillery fire,” said Amir Akkao. “I flew into the trench a little wrong, and my leg went sideways.” An intra-articular fracture is quite unpleasant.

– Knee? – Vladimir Putin clarified.

– Knee…

– Compound fracture…

— Difficult, but the prognosis is favorable…

That’s what the conversation was like.

Frontline nurse Alexandra Rodionova was bright (in civilian life she works at the Russian Ministry of Health).

— Did someone tell you that a military uniform suits you very well? – the president asked her.

– You won’t believe it – that’s it! – she was brave. “That’s why I’m in no hurry to take it off.”

“That’s what I thought…” Vladimir Putin seemed to be trying to match her tone.

But it seemed that he became truly interested when the First Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia, Pavel Sorokin, stood up. He started talking about life with sanctions. (“I don’t say: fight with them. I say: live with them,” and couldn’t Pavel Sorokin not be interested in this?)

— We were told: how dare you use our Western experience against ourselves? – he continued.

That is, he seemed to be good.

“OPEC+ really helps us maintain oil prices and ensure budget revenues… But our production is still being reduced…” Vladimir Putin suddenly began interrogating him, who immediately ceased to be interested in the conventions of this meeting.

That is, it was possible to do without such conversations. No, it’s impossible, so if there is something that really worries Vladimir Putin, besides the SVO, then this is it.

“It’s decreasing,” Pavel Sorokin nodded. – But what is important here is how much is earned from one unit of goods produced… And what kind of flexibility we then have… So our task in fact for the medium and long term is to have this flexibility. So that we have production potential. We must understand: the deposits are being depleted… And the rent that we can get from this will decrease…

Pavel Sorokin took a breath, looked at Vladimir Putin and realized that he had to continue.

– But it’s not as bad as it sounds! Because, as I said, oil and gas provide the largest investment in the country. And if the rent goes away, it means it changes to investment. And this is an order for domestic industry. Now that we find ourselves with ourselves (an apt definition.— A.K.) and must create everything (from scratch.— A.K.), this is exactly the industry that for 10–15 years in the future can provide anchor orders to both IT and hardware manufacturers… Our task is to ensure a sufficient level in the market for the reproduction of reserves, so that profitability is normal and this money works in country, in Russia. And now we can do it…

The meeting participants obediently listened to all these unfamiliar sounds.

“That’s right,” the president agreed. “We earn more per barrel produced than if prices had fallen.” But as production declines and increases in other countries such as the US, we may lose the market.

That’s what bothered him.

“And then we will not be able to carry out the investments you are talking about,” Mr. Putin shrugged.

Pavel Sorokin got excited, and this let him down. He decided to object quickly and decisively, once and for all:

– Here we must proceed from this!.. This was already sounded today in one of the speeches about renewable energy…

“No, this is not renewable energy…” Mr. Putin interrupted him.

“No, no… Yes… I agree… There is, yes, a peak in demand…” Pavel Sorokin jumped over the inconvenient. – According to all forecasts and common sense, it will not come within the next 10-15 years… Demand will grow… And if you look at the production profile of the same United States, then you need to understand that they have slightly different specifics of deposits …

That is, he hinted that someone here does not understand this.

— There is shale oil, and over the last three years, the increase in production that we have seen is due to the fact that they are putting into operation wells that were drilled before Covid, but were not launched… That is, the most promising wells were put into operation, and now a boom has begun mergers and acquisitions… Because growing is already hard… And investors demand profitability…

“Well,” Mr. Putin nodded. “And if we didn’t support prices on the world market, they would fall.” Then shale production in the States would have collapsed, because banks would not give them loans due to the unpromising nature of this production.

The dialogue was interesting because it was possible to understand what they were really talking about when they decided that OPEC Plus should keep prices down, and Russia, therefore, should reduce production. Two evils, and both great… And you have to choose. And they choose.

“And then,” the president continued, “we would develop markets and make investments!” But they don’t!

He expressed a point of view that he himself did not support, but apparently gave it its due.

Pavel Sorokin wanted to say something else, but it was too late.

“We wouldn’t have cooperation with OPEC plus…” finished Vladimir Putin. – But this is the point of view…

Well, the meeting participants went through this too.

Vladislav Kreinin, senior vice president of Sberbank, was excellent and said that at a similar meeting in 2020, he heard something important from Vladimir Putin.

“You said that you see potential in your eyes,” Vladislav Kreinin reminded the president. — Just a few weeks later, amazing things began to happen! The scope of my responsibility at Sberbank has expanded significantly!

Those present, we must give them credit, were amused.

“Diamond eye,” Mr. Putin nodded.

But, strictly speaking, this was the last time they had fun at this meeting. It was still difficult to keep myself and my attention in order for more than two hours.

“Not everyone moves in,” said Vladimir Putin, “because they are minding their own business.”

He was still trying to get in.

Andrey Kolesnikov