Press Release, 5.09.2023

On 4 September, a meeting of the Federal Bureau of the Yabloko party took place in Novgorod. The Bureau held expert hearings on the problem of overcoming poverty in Russia. The participants of the event discussed the problem and the Yabloko plan for overcoming poverty. A corresponding statement on the Bureau meeting will be issued soon.

At the beginning of the meeting, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov expressed the opinion that the fact that dozens of millions of Russian citizens have been living in poverty for many years, even decades, profoundly changes their consciousness and their life.

“The inability to buy normal high-quality food, afford using cultural educational resources, the inability to use high-quality medicine and purchase medicines – all this drives people deeply into a state of heavy serfdom from the state,” Rybakov noted.  “The conflict of 24 February, 2022, was, to a large extent, a consequence of this problem, when society was unable to say anything despite what was happening. In many ways, precisely because there is a very strong financial dependence of people on the state.”

According to Yabloko Chairman, the way out of this difficult situation will finally mean the end of serfdom in Russia, which still takes place in Russia.

Yabloko Deputy Chairman Ivan Bolshakov said that poverty and lack of democracy were interrelated factors.

“Instead of systematic work to overcome poverty in Russia, a poverty management system has officially taken shape,” Bolshakov noted. “This system is supported by one-off allowances that are paid before elections or other major events. These handouts from the state support paternalism and the desire for a strong hand.”

“We need a fundamentally different approach aimed at creating conditions for the growth of the middle class, and the institutional modernisation of the economy,” Bolshakov said.

Yevgeny Gontmakher, a well-known economist, Doctor of Economics, and a member of the Yabloko party, delivered an expert report. He spoke about approaches to the definition of poverty in the world, and the causes and characteristics of Russian poverty. According to Gontmakher, we live poorer than we could at the current level of the economy.

“Reforms are needed. We will not be able to succeed just in one day or in one year. But there must be political consistency, because there must be a government that does not act on the spur of the moment, as it is now: come day, go day. We need a view that is not limited to cycles of four years or five years. This is a problem for many years or even decades,” Gontmakher said.

Saving a person, from poverty and degradation inclusive, should be the main task of the state now, Yevgeny Gontmakher summed up.

Anna Cherepanova, a member of the Federal Bureau, a current deputy and a candidate for the Novgorod City Duma, spoke about the situation with poverty in her native region.

“The consequences of Governor Nikitin’s disastrous policies in the field of healthcare are well known. They are even visible in the statistics. At the end of 2021, the Novgorod Region was the leader in mortality among all regions of Russia. The mortality rate was 22.3 people per 1,000 population. The average rate for Russia is 16.8,” Anna Cherepanova noted.

Anna Cherepanova also added that Yabloko in its programme for the elections to the State Duma and the Novgorod Regional Duma offered voters increase spending on healthcare two-fold. It was also proposed to significantly raise the salaries of all medical workers, restore all the district hospitals, outpatient clinics, and first aid stations in the districts of the region that were “optimized” [in other words reduced], and provide patients with medicines at the expense of compulsory medical insurance in full.

“But the elections in 2021 have developed in such a way that there no representatives of Yabloko passed either to the State Duma or the regional Duma. And, accordingly, there is no one to raise these issues now,” Cherepanova said.

It should be noted that holding of the meeting of the Federal Bureau in Novgorod was connected with Yabloko participation in the elections to the Novgorod City Duma. The list of the party candidates is topped by the leader of the Novgorod Yabloko Anna Cherepanova.

The Chairman of the Social Democratic Faction of the party, Anatoly Golov, believes that the root of the problem lies not in the economic system: it is necessary to consider, first of all, the political aspect when working to overcome poverty in the country.

“The key point is that all the actions of President Putin and his government are not aimed at solving people’s problems, or improving their well-being, or developing of the regions, but like in the old joke: everything is for a person, and we even know this person’s name,” he said. Heads. “The problem of poverty in our richest country cannot be solved without fundamentally changing the policies of the authorities and the goals of their actions,” Golov added.

The Federal Bureau decided to issue a statement with the Yabloko plan how to overcome poverty in Russia.