Kommersant, Russia
Feb 2 2007

The President Responds
// Journalists in the Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared before journalists at his
annual press conference in the Kremlin. Kommersant special
correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov thinks that the reporters lost the
conference to the president.

The air was charged before the press conference, as always. It was
standing room only. The auditorium was cold because everyone came at
the same time – early to get the best seats. There was a traffic jam
in front of the 14th corpus. My colleagues only started to understand
how important the president’s press conference was at the fifth one.
For those present, the most important thing in the world was a single
seat, the one you could get a good view of him from and he could see
you, maybe even make out your nametag. It was the only way to better
your chance of getting to ask a question. For those people, the
question was more important than the answer.

Reporters milled about the parterre long after all the places were
taken, and resolutely ignored the balcony, although they would
attract more attention jumping up and down up there. I knew from
experience that the two people sitting behind the podium, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and his press secretary Alexey Gromov, had a
certain sympathetic inclination toward those in the balcony that
would make up for the inconvenience.

The president’s appearance is preceded by a ritual. First something
is placed on the table under the cover of a starched white napkin,
the kind that a magician might pull out of his sleeve. From afar
(from the balcony, for instance), it looks as though a white dove may
fly out from under it. I knew that there was a cup of green tea under
it, however. Last year and the year before, the audience applauded
the person who brought out the teacup, reflecting the good mood
prevailing. Yesterday, one person began to clap and quickly stopped
when no one joined him.

After the tea, the president’s press secretary appears. He is a man
of few words. (Journalists have not heard a single word of commentary
on the president’s activities out of him in six years.) He looks a
little worried and shuffles the papers lying on the table.

You might think that his harried appearance is because the president
is hot on his heels. Nothing of the kind. First of all, in reality,
he has nerves of steel. (You have to have to keep your lips that
tightly closed.) Second, he knows exactly where the president is. He
has already cracked open the door and is peeking through, counting
the seconds before he steps into the light. He will follow Gromov by
exactly one minute, no more and no less.

The president began the press conference with a roundup of last
year’s events. That was routine. According to the president, was
stably good, the numbers even, and there was no reason to get upset
or overly happy.

The president praised the Central Bank (as if in response to Alexey
Frenkel’s letter) and noted that the government still owes `a debt
for shipbuilding.’ As he returned to the government several times, it
became clear that it was one of the few things in today’s Russia that
he is not impressed with.

The first question concerned the sad fate of Alexander Ponosov, the
director of the village school in Perm Region on trial for buying
computers with unlicensed software inside.

The president replied that he was unaware of the case, which is hard
to believe. It would mean that he never watches TV news and does not
read newspapers. He had a comment ready any way: a folksy `nonsense.’
In our complex times, that is the same as being found innocent for
lack of a crime. In my opinion, the cost of the whole event was paid
back right there.

An American radio reporter named Feifer asked Putin to explain what
he meant when he said that `superpower is an outdated notion from the
Cold War era.’ `And you said that it is other countries that seek to
portray Russia as the enemy, Feifer continued. Could you please name
these countries? Does this include Washington and London? If not, who
is it specifically that is trying to damage Russia’s image?’

The president answered exhaustively. `We see a dishonest attitude to
the interpretation of events taking place, he said, glaring at the
brave journalist. `This is, of course, the work of Russia’s
ill-wishers. I am not suggesting that this is something going on at
state level, but there are people out there who do not wish Russia
well. The people who write these kinds of things, it’s them who are
our ill-wishers. So, if you write these kinds of things, then you are
among their number.’

I was sure that he was going to suggest that the journalist be
circumcised.

`But if you give an accurate and objective portrayal of events, then
you are not counted in this category,’ he concluded, seemingly using
all of his strength to hold fast to a peaceful foreign policy.

Soon the president began getting questions about his successor. He
did not like them and made no secret of it. When NTV correspondent
Vladimir Kondratyev asked a question, the president replied that he
does not rule, as Kondratyev had put it, but simply does his job and
the people, not he, will decide who the future president will be, as
he should know.

`There will be no successors,’ he continued. `There will be
candidates for the post of president of the Russian Federation.’

That pronouncement was unexpected. It might mean that both Defense
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov and First Deputy
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who are considered to have the best
chances of being called Successor of the Russian Federation by the
President of Russia, will be candidates. But, according to my
information, one of them is still having doubts that he needs any of
it.

The Reuter’s correspondent repeated the NTV reporter’s question about
the successor.

`Everyone who should be is already working as high state officials,’
the president answered. `We should not be running round in a fuss
over the upcoming elections.’

Did he mean himself? Or was he hinting that neither Ivanov nor
Medvedev would be the successor?

`I am also a citizen of this country,’ the president concluded, `a
fact of which I am very proud, and I reserve the right to express my
preferences, but I will do this only once the election campaign
begins.’

Thus Putin made it known how long he would not say anything about it.
Thos wishing to know will have to wait for the next press conference,
in the winter of 2007-2008.

The president was given a little rest at this point. A woman
journalist of a certain age dressed in a sailor’s suit called the
president `incomparable’ and got what she wanted. The president
admitted that she was embarrassing him. They bantered a while longer,
but the respite was not to last.

I asked if Putin would return to big politics after all he has seen
and done. I meant in 2012, of course, not 2008. `I understand,’ I
added, `that there is probably some temptation to say immediately
that you aren’t going anywhere, and that will be true, put mildly.
But it seems to me that you can permit yourself to be candid.’

Unfortunately, the president did what in judo is called using your
opponent’s weight against him.

`I can permit myself to be candid,’ he answered. `Therefore, I will
say that I am not going anywhere yet. First, presidential elections
are to be held, if my memory serves, sometime in the beginning of
March of 2008, and then there will be some time after that, two or
three months, for the transfer of power and so on. That is, it will
be sometime in May 2008. What do you want to get rid of me early for?
I’ll go by myself. Don’t hurry.’

The information agencies paid no attention to what the president
added to that. `The organs of authority in this country should be
formed in the appropriate manner at the end of 2007 and beginning of
2008. I an thinking about it, of course.’

So the president is thinking not just about who will be president. He
is already thinking about who will be prime minister and members of
his government.

The president’s best joke, I thought, was when he answered a question
about whether he agreed with Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov that `a gay
parade is the business of Satanists.’

`My attitude toward gay parades and sexual minorities in general is
simple,’ he answered. `It is related to fulfillment of my official
duties and is that one of the main problems of the country is
demographic.’

The press conference had been in progress at least an hour and a half
and, answering the next question, the president practically started
dictating flashes for agency news wires. The Russian company
Transneft `has practically begun work on a plan to expand the
terminals in Primorsk by an additional 50 million tons of oil.’ That
was a fraternal hello to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

For the sake of international information agencies, the president
told who really poisoned Alexander Litvinenko. `Alexander Litvinenko
was dismissed from the security organs. Before that, he served in the
escort forces. He was never in possession of any secrets. He was
charged with abuse of office in the Russian Federation, specifically
for beating citizens in custody while he was a security officer, and
for the theft of explosives. But they gave him, I think, three years’
probation. There was no need for him to flee, he was not the bearer
of any secrets at all… As for those people who are trying to cause
damage to the Russian Federation,… they are the so-called fugitive
oligarchs who are hiding in Western Europe or the Middle East. I
don’t believe in the conspiracy theory very much, and frankly it
doesn’t worry me very much. The stability of the Russian government
today allows us to look down on that.’

The next big news was about new proposals by Ukraine concerning
natural gas.

`Our Ukrainian partners would like not only to form a gas
transportation consortium, they would also like to have the
opportunity to acquire production assets on the territory of the
Russian Federation,’ the president announced. `And if we did it while
establishing relations with our European partners, say the German
company BASF, now I think we will come to an agreement with EON, we
have in principle reached an agreement with the Italian company ENI,
why shouldn’t we do it with the Ukrainians?’

Without pause, he moved on to another piece of news: he thinks that
`a natural gas OPEC is an interesting idea.’ He had not thought so
before.

`We don’t plan to form any kind of cartel,’ he said, `but I think it
would be correct to coordinate our activities, keeping a solution to
the main task in view: an unconditional and dependable guarantee of
energy sources for our main consumers.’

That was probably all the news flashes. They were all oil-and-gas
related. It is interesting that there is as much more oil-and-gas
news every year as there are calls by the president for the
diversification of the economy. A meeting between the president and
the best (in his and their opinions) Russian businessmen scheduled
for February 6 will be devoted to that topic as well.

By now, Putin had probably relaxed, thinking that he had satisfied
everyone with his answers about his successor. And here he received a
question about how he sees himself after 2008.

`You’re really pressing me! How I see myself? I see myself as a
person most of all.’

He became a little more sullen after that. Maybe he stopped liking
journalists completely. He immediately looked tired. The press
conference had been going on for three hours.

And that was when the best question of the press conference, in my
opinion, was asked. It (unlike the answer) is worth reproducing
almost in full. Greek journalist Tsiolias Athanasios asked, `Vladimir
Vladimirovich, you haven’t mentioned our little pipeline from Burgas
to Alexandroupolis. You know, we have been hearing about that
pipeline for 15 years. We would like to hear your opinion. Will it
finally be built? Or will someone interfere endlessly? I understood
that you do not intend to leave before the end of your term but… No,
you will understand. You will understand. I read the opinion that you
were sitting on your suitcases ready to run away.’ The president
frowned at the Greek. `That was the opinion of the chess player
Kasparov, I think,’ Athanasios continued. `Is that so? Will the
pipeline be built while you are in Russia?’

The Russian saying that simplicity is worse than thievery is untrue.
I understood here that sometimes the opposite is true. The best thing
about the Greek journalist’s question was that the only reason he
cared whether Putin would stay to the end of his term was to find out
if that small but proud pipeline would be built.

`I was a judoist once, but I was never a sprinter. I don’t plan on
running anywhere,’ Putin grumbled. `As for the Burgas-Alexandroupolis
pipeline, I really didn’t say anything about it because it doesn’t
exist. There are only conversations about the project.’

The president had been decided for himself what questions to take.
Earlier, Gromov had been doing it. The journalists, seeing their
chance to call out to the president directly, began to do so. That
had never happened at the press conferences before.

Gromov tried to calm them down.

`Where are the Armenian journalists? Because the Azeris asked a
question. It would be politically incorrect to skip the Armenians,’
the president asked. His enthusiasm was picking up again, but it was
still clear that the press conference was winding down.

The president announced all the news he wanted to make known. He kept
to himself what he did not want known. The journalists did not get
anything out of him that he did not want to say.

In that sense, we lost the press conference.

Andrey Kolesnikov

Statistics on President Putin’s Press Conferences

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first big press conference was
held in the Kremlin on July 18, 2001. There were 400 journalists
present, who asked 22 questions in 1 hour and 22 minutes. Since then,
those indicators have risen steadily. On June 24, 2002, 500
journalists came to the Kremlin. The president answered 37 of their
questions in 2 hours and 7 minutes. On June 20, 2003, Putin spent 2
hours and 45 minutes at a press conference with 700 journalists, who
asked 53 questions. In 2005, there was no big press conference. On
January 31, 2006, the president met with 1030 journalists for 3 hours
and 26 minutes and 76 questions. Social issues (21 questions),
domestic policy (19 questions) and foreign policy (16 times) were the
most popular topics, in that order. He was asked about the economy
ten times, his personal life nine times and the army once.

Yesterday’s press conference set new records: 1132 journalists, 3
hours and 32 minutes, 79 questions. Nineteen of the questions
concerned domestic policy. Economics, international relations and
social problems were the subjects of 16 questions each. The president
was asked about his private life 11 times, and about the army once.

The press’s attitude toward the president can be judged from the way
journalists address him. In 2001, Putin was addressed as `respected’
twice. In 2002 and 2003, four times. In 2004, his respectedness fell
to a single appellation. In 2006, the record was set with six times.
In 2007, it returned to the average four. But yesterday Putin was
called `incomparable,’ which had never happened before.

Alexander Kukolevsky