Press Release, 27.10.2024

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 25 October, on the anniversary of the creation of the Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin electoral bloc, which then turned into the Yabloko party, the Yabloko party office in Moscow hosted a screening and discussion of Grigory Yavlinsky’s interview for the documentary The Unfinished Time project. Young people, children of the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the older generation, eyewitnesses to the collapse of the Soviet Union, gathered in Yabloko to talk with Grigory Yavlinsky not only about past events, but also about the current situation in Russia and the world. The meeting was moderated by Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Yabloko Kirill Goncharov.

The video:

vk.com/video-63575_456241705?ref_domain=yabloko.ru

As we have already noted, the final version of the film included only a few minutes of conversation with Grigory Yavlinsky, but a two-hour full version of the conversation without any cuts is available to the public. Grigory Yavlinsky describes the events that laid the foundation for the formation of the current state system and led to the tragic events that Russia and the entire world are experiencing now.

The audience asked Yavlinsky about the essence of his 500 Days economic programme of market reforms for the USSR and Russia and the reasons for its rejection by the US political establishment, which supervised Russia during the period of economic reforms and imposed another programme that led to hyperinflation and criminal privatisation. The chain of events and decisions that followed these reforms (merger of business and government, liquidation of independent courts, mass media and parliament) led to the formation of the current state system, which has become dangerous not only for its citizens, but also for its neighbours.

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Another reason for the current situation in Russia was the refusal of the state to assess the crimes of the Stalinist regime and, as a result, another increase in the popularity of Stalinist ideas in society. Answering the question about how to overcome these sentiments in society, Yavlinsky suggested that this would be one of the tasks when restructuring the state.

Young people listened with particular interest the answer to the question of what reforms need to be carried out in the future and what mistakes should be avoided. They were eager to learn both about the general principles and the specific examples. According to Grigory Yalvinsky, a person, his/her dignity and freedom, the inviolability of private property represent the key values ​​that all reforms should serve. At the same time, Yavlinsky noted that the whole world was experiencing a crisis of values. But, according to the politician, the world community should turn to the most important things – human rights, peace and freedom – by the middle of the century.

What should be done now so that by the time it is necessary to carry out reforms, Yabloko will be the main political force? This was the key question of the evening. According to Yavlinsky, politicians need to have an answer to the question of what should be done in the new Russia and how.

“When the chaos ends, there will be a short period when the prospects for the future of our country and our people open up. We must be ready for this. It is not then that we should sit down to develop programmes, but today we should roughly understand what should be done. There may be answers like mine, there may be others. I may be wrong. But all of these topics are very important. …That is why I am talking to you, that is why we are doing all of this. One of the questions is to understand how we reached the present situation. What were the reasons, and what needs to be done to prevent this from happening again. Then the second chapter will be about positive changes,” Yavlinsky noted.

During the two-hour discussion with the founder of Yabloko, the participants also asked questions about the threat of ethnic discord in Russia and the disintegration of the country, economic prospects under sanctions, repressions against the opposition, etc.

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

“The Unfinished Time is an interesting and important project that showed the first two decades of the new Russia. At each fork in the road, Russia had a chance to get on democratic rails and prevent the current situation. But this did not happen. That is why we considered it important to organise a large discussion with Grigory Yavlinsky to understand why so many wrong choices were made and how to avoid these mistakes in the future. In my opinion, those who came to Yabloko today received a lot of food for thought,” Kirill Goncharov, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Yabloko, commented on the results of the meeting.