Press Release, 18.08.2021

Photo: The election banner of the Pskov branch of Yabloko / Photo by the Press Service of the Pskov branch of Yabloko

The Pskov regional branch of the party is not allowed to hang 15 election banners in Pskov, Velikiye Luki and districts of the Pskov region. Pskov Yabloko has spent 600,000 roubles of private donations for the production and placement of the banners. Advertising companies admit that the regional authorities are putting administrative pressure on them. The Pskov Yabloko team filed a complaint with the Regional Electoral Commission with the demand to deal with non-fulfillment of contractual obligations.

The banners contain photographs of the three top candidates of Yabloko’s candidates list to the Pskov Regional Assembly: human rights defender Lev Shlosberg, doctor Artur Gaiduk and farmer Alexander Konashenkov. The slogan of the election campaign of the Pskov Yabloko team is “Real. For the future.”

Lev Shlosberg, leader of the Pskov branch of Yabloko, commented about the circumstances of the unlawful ban on placing Yabloko election banners in the Pskov region and about actions to protect the party’s lawful right to campaign:

“The authorities of the Pskov region are not afraid of a single political party as much as the Pskov branch of Yabloko. By and large, they are not afraid of anyone, except for the Pskov Yabloko.

For the second week already, the Pskov Yabloko has been unable to place 15 billboards (it has paid for) in Pskov, Velikiye Luki and districts of the Pskov region. Contracts were signed, production was made, payment for placement was carried out, almost 600,000 roubles of donations to the Pskov Yabloko were spent for these purposes. And already after the payment, companies that place billboards face unexpected problems: [vacant] areas for the billboards disappear.

In private conversations that are not for the press, representatives of these companies admit that they were subjected to administrative pressure and were verbally prohibited from posting billboards of the Pskov Yabloko. This is a criminal offense.

What do the events that are now taking place in the Pskov region indicate? They show that the Pskov Yabloko has the strongest team in these elections, that our opponents and, by and large, enemies recognise our strength, and the voters of the Pskov region have every reason to support our team,” Lev Shlosberg noted.

It is very indicative that the problems with the placement of banners began after the party submitted notifications to the Electoral Commission of the Pskov Region with the attachment of payment orders for payment for outdoor advertising. “And this is a big question to the Electoral Commission of the Pskov Region,” Lev Shlosberg said.

The team of the Pskov Yabloko filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission of the region demanding to deal with the default by the companies involved in placing banners within the framework of the election campaign in the Pskov region.

“If the Electoral Commission does not establish the fact of violations and does not take all the necessary actions for the companies to fulfill their contractual obligations within the framework of the election campaign, the authorised law enforcement agencies will investigate the situation.

The Pskov Yabloko will defend the right of voters to see and support us wherever we are.

I call on the friends of the Pskov Yabloko to strengthen the support of our team, urge citizens to donate to our election campaign. The unscrupulous efforts of our opponents should not hinder our success,” Shlosberg summed up.