In an interview to the online journal «7x7» publisher of the regional supplement "Popular politics" in the Komi Republic, the head of the republican department of the "Progress Party" Grigory Kablis told at what expense the newspaper appears, whether Roman Khakimzyanov is involved, and what was his reaction to alleged conversation of the Ukhta resident and the Moscow representative of the Fund to fight corruption Georgy Alburov.
— Grigory, do you confirm that you work with the project "Popular politics"?
— Actually, I wrote about my relation to this project a month ago in my blog on «7x7». My article was called "Popular politics with regional accent". My relation to this project was described in explicit form there. I don't deny my words.
— Then tell me, please, how it appeared...
— It all started with the fact that the Fund to fight corruption prepared a newspaper "Popular politics", but we decided not to repeat the Moscow newspaper circulation, and to add a local theme, the most relevant, which can be influenced. It was the situation with radioactive waste disposal facility in Ukhta. We wrote an article there, instructions on how you can speak "for" or "against" this project through the website RСI. That's all. Thus two regional pages have appeared in the newspaper.
— How is the project funded?
— Actually the funding is not so big. We spent 17 thousand rubles considering all the costs of publication of the newspaper, its delivery to Ukhta, its preparing. To look for some third-party financing here is generally the ultimate in "nischebrodstvo". That means we have enough money to publish newspaper once every 3-4 months.
— What kind of money is this?
— It's money of caring people. The best part is, let's say, the contributions of the "Progress Party" members.
— As you've already heard, recently the news agency "Komiinform" published a so-called correspondence between the Ukhta activist Roman Khakimzyanov and Moscow representative of the Fund to fight corruption Georgy Alburov. Your reaction to this news, and in general - whether Roman has anything to do with the project "Popular politics"?
— To tell the truth, I don't know, how Roman is related to this project, because I have never been in Ukhta and have never seen Roman Khakimzyanov. I think he supported the collecting of signatures informationally, and some materials were partly from him. In the sense that maybe he was preparing something. As for the correspondence, it is fake, of course. This is evident by the fact that dates are erased. But in one place they overlooked and one date is visible. It is Saturday, June 14.
It is clearly seen that the correspondence was made when the newspaper has already been distributed to a large part. Maybe even the most part. My post, which I mentioned, is dated June 16; there I say that the most part of the circulation is spread, and here is a progress report. So it was all creating when the newspaper was not only paid, but also spread. It emphasizes all the fake, not to mention the fact that these are not their emails. I don't know the emails of Khakimzyanov and Alburov, I didn't correspond with them, I don't do it, but these contacts are obviously ficticious.
— In this regard, what can you say about the professionalism of journalists of the news agency?
— I don't see any professionalism of the new agency's journalists, I never read it, but I think that more serious — "BNKomi", "Yurgan" — will get involved. Well, we'll see...
— Do you have concerns that something like that may appear towards you?
— If something like that appears, it would be an honor for me.
— The last question: evaluate the situation, when negative background information is deliberately created towards civic activists. What could this mean?
— This means, firstly, that the local republican authorities worry about the fact that some information may be distributed without their control, without their knowledge, and in general independently from them. They worry about such "offline". Secondly, they'll try to discredit people who have some informational value, a positive public image. So they try to "cover them up", and the most simple is to indiscriminately call them "agents of the State Department". The biggest foreign agent is an organization that gets the most money from abroad is "Gazprom". All the rest are nothings.
Let us recall that the recent scandal was provoked by the agency "Komiinform", which published unverified correspondence of Roman Hakimzyanov and Georgy Alburov, calling it real. The result of this was the fact that the Head of Ukhta Igor Mikhel suspended Roman from status of adviser to the head of public administration.
Yaroslava Parkhacheva, Maxim Polyakov, «7x7»