“I was surprised to be included in the list of people who are happy every day”

Alla Pugacheva turned to the Ministry of Justice and asked to enroll her in the ranks of foreign agents. Kommersant asked politicians, athletes, public and cultural figures what lists they have ever wanted to be on and why.

Vladimir Lukin, politician, scientist, human rights activist:

– I sat at the same desk with Yura Ovchukov at school. We were inseparable friends, played yard hockey at a decent level, and together we went to enter a sports school. My friend came up in all respects, but I was rejected – even then I had disgusting eyesight, and I constantly wore glasses.

“Go read books!” – told me. A friend graduated from a sports school, eventually became the goalkeeper of the Wings of the Soviets hockey team, and even managed to become the champion of the USSR with the team, which in times of CSKA’s overwhelming advantage was tantamount to a feat. My sports career continued already in adulthood as the head of the Russian Paralympic Committee, where poor eyesight no longer interfered …

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Emelyan Zakharov, co-owner of the Moscow gallery of modern art “Triumph”:

– Neither in the pioneers, from where I was expelled, nor even in the Komsomol, as in principle in politics, I was not torn. This played a cruel joke on me. The leadership of the institute really liked my scientific work, and they wanted to send me with a report to a conference in the then Soviet Czechoslovakia. But as soon as it became clear that I was not a member of the Komsomol, my name was deleted from the list of the delegation. The report was read out by a more worthy young man – the secretary of the Komsomol organization. Since then, my paths with science have diverged forever.

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Svetlana Zhurova, Olympic champion in speed skating, State Duma deputy:

– In big sport, you need to make incredible efforts to get into the lists of the best athletes, and I did not always succeed. For example, in 1992, I was originally on the list of participants in the Albertville Olympics, but someone crossed me out. I missed the competition then and once and for all I said to myself: you can never be second, you only need to be first! And I adhered to this principle for many years in sports, and now I adhere to politics.

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Sergei Kushchenko, President of the VTB United League:

— I made efforts to be accepted into the pioneers. When I was in elementary school, all the guys from the October were accepted as pioneers, but my friend and I were not. Our behavior did not fit the pioneer. Not that we were hooligans, rather, with our own opinion.

Here everyone is going to collect waste paper, and we are on a hike. This story dragged on, and we really had to prove that we are also worthy. They began to complete all the tasks. When they tied our ties, we went for three days without jackets so that a red tie could be seen on a white shirt. They ran along the corridor so that it seemed to flutter in the wind.

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Vladimir Shakhrin, musician of the Chaif ​​group:

— I always wanted to get into the famous Blue Note club in New York. In 2000, “Chayf” flew to several concerts, and on a free day, the organizer made a reservation for us there. True, he said, it is not clear who is speaking there, it is impossible to pronounce the name. And I wanted to get into the club itself, I was ready to go for anyone. A small company stood in a live queue to get tickets at the box office, and a small poster hung over the window: Chick Corea is speaking. So my two dreams came true at once unexpectedly: I got to Blue Note and to the concert of one of the iconic musicians.

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Nikolai Valuev, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, former world boxing champion among professionals:

I’m already on the list. Sanctions. I can’t live without humour. In principle, I waited, I was surprised that not immediately after the Crimea.

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Viktor Titov, OPUS restaurant chef:

– I wanted to become a chef in a trendy place in the center of Moscow, but at first I failed miserably in the test for this position. I began to work even harder – I honed my skills, techniques and remembered that tasting every day. Two years later, having defended half of the queue for a new casting of 37 talented candidates, he almost missed his chance. He doubted himself and went out into the street, accompanied by condescending remarks from eminent colleagues with stripes “National Guild of Chefs”, “Le Cordon Bleu”: “Yes, Vit, the right decision” … But he returned and won the right to work 11 days in Anadyr in Chukotka – in a luxurious restaurant with wooden bread bins with a portrait of Abramovich.

When this bread box was opened, the hall was filled with an incredible aroma of freshly baked loaves. Two people were chosen at the casting – the chef of the Expedition restaurant and me. This is how I first earned my $10,000. And upon my return, at the airport, I was offered a good job. And since then I have been on this list of the best who are constantly working on themselves, finding ways to develop.

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Denis Dragunsky, writer, journalist

– The Professional Committee of Moscow Playwrights is a kind of trade union. In 1979, I was admitted to this venerable organization (a couple of years older than the Union of Writers of the USSR). And, purely formally, I am still there. The main point for me was that I quite officially could “not go to work.” And there were nice people, colleagues. This is the only list I asked for. In all other ranks and lists – from the Komsomol to the PEN club (from which I left) – they invited me.

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Alexander Kravtsov, owner of Ruyan and Expedition companies:

– Well, if only in the pioneers, but that was a long time ago. And for the last twenty years, they either invite me, or they include me without me, or I include others myself. The restaurant “Expedition” did not suggest itself on the Michelin list, and this is impossible. The experts themselves came, checked everything incognito, and then assigned two stars in the Michelin Moscow 2022 guide and invited to the award.

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Ilya Fomintsev, oncologist, co-founder of the Foundation “Not in vain” and the Higher School of Oncology:

– Only if in the football team as a child. And then he never tried to get into the lists, into the hierarchy or the system. My path was fundamentally different – I created a new society, and others tried to get into it. My list includes hundreds of doctors and patients who advocate for new medicine. But now, having moved to Israel, I was surprised to be included in the list of people who are happy every day. I don’t idealize everything, of course: Israel is full of terribly annoying problems. But this does not deprive me of the feeling of complete freedom in life and work. And my eight-year-old son fits into the adaptation program for Russian children. A desk mate helps him with the translation, and my son does the math for her.

Group “Direct speech”