Belgorod clans: Governor Savchenko leaves his nephew on the farm. Governor-poacher Evgeny Savchenko Evgeny Savchenko resigned

In the Belgorod region, local hunters caught red-handed the head of the hunting and fisheries inspection department, who was organizing “poaching tours” for the region’s leadership.

Belgorod police opened a criminal case of poaching in the Krasnogvardeisky district of the region. There are no official suspects yet. But local hunters caught red-handed the head of the zonal department of hunting and fishing supervision, Nikolai Evdokimov. Judging by what they say in the region, the official was organizing poaching raids not only for the leadership of the region, but also for the “top” of the Belgorod region. If the authorities like to “shoot out of season,” why not help?

An initiative group of local residents of the Belgorod region has been engaged in surveillance for some time now. Activists look out for officials in the forests who, despite the ban, shoot animals. A group of hunters on January 8 - on the eve of the initiation of a criminal case - discovered Evdokimov in the forest, riding a snowmobile. The carcasses of five killed roe deer were tied to the vehicle. Evdokimov ran away from the hunters, activists say. He threw the animal corpses right there on the spot.

Witnesses called the police, who arrived accompanied by a huntsman. “He started talking about how all five animals threw themselves under a snowmobile and were accidentally run over. After examining the carcasses of the killed animals, the raid activists discovered gunshot wounds,” said activist Alexey Kargapoltsev. In fact, Evdokimov was caught poaching, because the roe deer hunting season ended on December 31. However, the fact of illegal shooting of animals still needs to be proven. And as lawyers say, such cases rarely end in punishment for the poacher.

Something else is important. Evdokimov is called not so much a poacher as an organizer of “poacher’s picnics”, the participants of which are people in authority. According to rumors, the head of the Krasnogvardeisky district, Oleg Shapovalov, is in the forefront among those who like to illegally shoot animals. Kargapoltsev openly called him the most avid hunter.
However, apparently, the strings from the district administration stretch even higher - to the leadership of the region.

Poacher Governor

It is difficult to find mention in the Belgorod press that Governor Evgeny Savchenko also likes to hunt. It is known that the head of the region pays special attention to the issue of hunting. For example, they say that it was Savchenko who “prompted” State Duma deputy Sergei Muravlenko to “register” the Belorechye hunting complex in the Korochansky district of the region. Then Savchenko more than once cited this hunting ground as an example and made statements that “a different hunting culture should be formed.” If another culture is poaching officials, then Mr. Governor achieved his goal.

Savchenko managed to use the “hunting question” for his own PR. Thus, local media widely covered how the governor banned hunting not only roe deer, wolves, moose and wild ungulates, but even hamsters! And now to the main thing: how did poachers “from the authorities” multiply in the Belgorod region? Apparently, the same local hunters know the answer to this question. In particular, one of them, Sergei, who for obvious reasons preferred to remain incognito, said that Evdokimov, caught almost red-handed, most likely shot the roe deer not for himself, but on order. Maybe for a “high-ranking” holiday table?

“I don’t believe that Kolya himself got on a snowmobile and went to shoot roe deer in order to eat them,” the informant expressed confidence. The most interesting thing is that the hunter, like many of his “colleagues” in the hobby, said: problems with the prohibited shooting of wild animals in the region appeared in 2015. Just after Yegor Krasnikov became the head of the regional department of environmental safety and supervision over the use of wildlife and aquatic biological resources.

And Mr. Krasnikov is a former adviser and, as they say, a close associate of Governor Yevgeny Savchenko! One gets the feeling that Krasnikov got the post of “supervisor” so that his superiors, if he suddenly wants to “indulge” in prohibited hunting, would not have any problems with the law.

“Since then, hunting has not existed in the Belgorod region; ordinary people have no opportunity to hunt, only those elected in the regional administration. During the entire last season of hunting ungulates, which lasts from November 1 to January 1, I never managed to hunt. I had to travel to the Kursk region and other regions,” summed up Sergei.

Stayed too long

Evgeny Savchenko is a real long-liver among Russian governors. The politician has ruled the Belgorod region since 1993. The beginning of Mr. Governor’s biography is vague. For example, in the late 80s, Savchenko unexpectedly resigned from the CPSU of the Belgorod region “of his own free will.” Those familiar with the situation tell how it most likely happened. The future governor simply decided to speculate on the distribution of Volga cars, which were to be distributed to preferential categories of citizens. At that time, the car cost a lot of money - 15 thousand rubles. Some had the means, but not always the opportunity to purchase transport. Instead of “citizens from preferential categories,” more than 50 cars were sold out.

When Savchenko’s boss found out about what had happened, the politician faced the prospect of being behind bars. But Mr. Savchenko got away with only dismissal and the return of a large sum of money to the party treasury. For reinsurance, the politician moved to the capital. In Moscow, Evgeny Savchenko managed to sit in high-ranking chairs in the Ministry of Agriculture. But while the official was working in the Russian Agricultural Corn department, a new scandal occurred. The details are unknown, but there are rumors that after the audit, it was Savchenko who deposited a “large sum” into the cash register, after which he again resigned of his own free will.

If the rumors are true, then the situation with poaching officials in the Belgorod region against the backdrop of the current governor’s “easy” attitude towards the law today becomes quite understandable. In 2005, already as the head of the region, Mr. Savchenko found himself in a situation typical of Russian officials, when the amount of official income does not coincide with the amount that their lifestyle should cost the “people’s servants.” For example, Mr. Governor declared a little more than 10 thousand dollars that year, but he went on a luxurious vacation to Greece. According to the calculations of those interested, the politician’s vacation should have cost five annual salaries.

In 2015, it turned out that Mr. Savchenko’s subordinates sold off the three largest agro-industrial complexes in the region: Prioskolye-Agro Seeds, Belogorye Milk and Rovensky Broiler. All APCs were successful. The sale of liquid state assets in itself smacks of corruption, but enterprises were also sold at almost face value. In particular, Belogorye Milk became private property for 300 million rubles. whereas the asset was valued at 297.8 million.

The “sale” was discovered by ONF activists, who transferred the materials of their investigation to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Among the participants in the Belgorod agro-industrial complex market there is almost certainty that the transaction could have been carried out directly in the interests of Governor Savchenko. The opinion that it is time for the head of the region to at least resign is shared by the residents of the region themselves, who organized the corresponding collection of signatures. “You and the officials who came with you brought our beautiful city and region to the brink of bankruptcy. To the point of poverty. This astronomical debt for the Russian regions is the result of your personal activities... Leave and give us and our children the opportunity to survive,” the text of the petition says.

It seems that Savchenko may well sign loud decrees banning the shooting of roe deer with one hand, and hold a gun and illegally shoot animals with the other. Alas, poachers are rarely punished for illegal hunting. But Mr. Savchenko, obviously, has accumulated a whole bunch of serious reasons not only for resignation, but also for criminal proceedings.

The press conference of the governor of the Belgorod region, Evgeny Savchenko, held on February 8, was presented in the media as “unexpected” - due to persistent rumors about the resignation of the head of the region. In fact, Savchenko’s meeting with journalists turned out to be the usual summing up of the results that are held every year. The conversation took almost two hours, and the head of the region even complained that “we need to meet more often.”

Speculation and rumors

Evgeniy Stepanovich relieved the tension hanging in the air at the very beginning of the press conference.

Evgeny Savchenko found himself on the list of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation who were predicted to resign soon for various reasons. The media assumed that the heads of Karelia and Buryatia, the governors of the Ryazan, Sverdlovsk, Novgorod and Ivanovo regions, as well as the head of the Perm Territory, would leave their posts. So far, the head of Buryatia, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, has left his post, and its Perm governor, Viktor Basargin, said that he wants to resign early the day before.

“As for the main question, which I feel is in the air: this year my next term of office expires in October 2017. And the gubernatorial elections will take place in September. In accordance with the current legislation, nothing prevents me from running for another term in the elections for governor of the Belgorod region. I have the right to this and I want to inform you that I plan to use this right,” said Evgeniy Savchenko.

When asked about rumors of resignation, the governor firmly stated that they were unfounded.

“This is probably someone’s speculation,” commented Savchenko and suggested conducting a dialogue “in a less tense and more creative atmosphere.”

The governor, as he has done more than once before, skillfully avoided answering the question about a successor, saying that at least 10-15 people are worthy of leading the region.

“Now I’ll name the person. And everyone will attack him and start tearing him apart - why is that?” - answered the governor.

Don't stand still

Savchenko does not intend to relinquish his post ahead of schedule. Photo: AiF/ Tatyana Chernykh

After all the i’s were dotted, the conversation moved into a more “peaceful” direction. The governor called the past year successful for the region, and a record one in terms of harvest, and dwelled in detail on development plans and prospects in the leading sectors of the economy: metallurgy and agriculture. He called the situation with the region’s debts not at all critical and spoke about new projects in the field of healthcare and construction. Thus, young Belgorod families have the opportunity to obtain housing at a minimum price with the support of the regional government.

“The region is clearly moving forward - we are not going to stand still,” he said.

Belgorod authorities are preparing to work actively in the Year of Ecology. Ecology, according to Savchenko, is “a broad concept, and there are always problems in it.”

“If we speak segmentedly, by area, say, the air should be clean, and here we are developing and implementing a number of projects; for each industrial enterprise there is a clear program for reducing harmful emissions. The “Gas Filling” project is being launched - a massive transition of cars in the private, commercial, and public sector to gas fuel, to methane. The rivers Seversky Donets, Vorskla, Psyol, Seym originate from us - we must ensure their cleanliness. This year we are launching the “Small Treatment Plants” project, allocating almost 300 million rubles for production so that multi-storey residential buildings are provided with local treatment facilities.”

Regarding the ratings, Evgeniy Savchenko noted that he does not really believe them, “because in the ratings there is always someone who ends up in last place, and this is not always the fault of the head of the region.” However, the ratings of the Belgorod region please him: second place in Russia for major repairs, third place after Moscow and St. Petersburg in terms of investment attractiveness, fifth place out of 82 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

"Governor for the Ages" Opinions of political scientists

Yevgeny Savchenko's resignation was predicted due to his state of health. After all, the 66-year-old governor has been in office for a quarter of a century.

“He (Savchenko - ed.) is ready to participate. But he has been governor since 1993. Although it is for him that the president can make an exception. The best governor in the country. But length of stay and age are against him. Will your health be enough for another 5 years? - commented the head of the “Political Expert Group” Konstantin Kalachev.

“Savchenko has always been very careful in terms of assessing both federal policy and the internal politics of the region. Evgeniy Stepanovich has a reputation as a progressive governor, an effective governor - no one questions this. But in the context of the fact that the governor’s corps is now actively rotating, many expected from the sudden press conference that the governor would announce his resignation, but he said that he would remain. This is a rather interesting move on his part, unexpected in the context of the upcoming elections this year, says political scientist Vladimir Slatinov.

- There is now a lot of material on the Internet on a large number of resources directed against Savchenko. In the last elections there was no such active company with compromising evidence in the information and network space.”

According to the expert, in a situation of “rejuvenation” of the governor’s corps, Savchenko, who has been ruling the region for a quarter of a century, considered it necessary to clearly and firmly say that he will remain for at least one more term, that the region has achieved a lot and that he has clear , a clear vision of how to develop the region further.

Online harassment against the Governor of the Belgorod Region, Evgeny Stepanovich Savchenko, who has headed the region for 23 years, since October 1993, is gaining momentum. Thus, online petitions appeared on a number of Internet resources, allegedly from “concerned citizens” with an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to dismiss the Belgorod governor.

It is significant that on one of the most popular Internet platforms for online petitions, change.org, registered in the American San Francisco, as many as 463 people, or about 0.03% of the more than one and a half million population of the Belgorod region, signed the appeal against Savchenko in four months. Moreover, among the signatories there are many people who have nothing to do with the Belgorod region.

It’s hard to say what they were guided by when signing the “petition.” It is important to understand that the persecution of Savchenko began on the eve of the election campaign in the region. In 2017, the next term of office of the Belgorod governor ends, and on September 10, 2017, the residents of St. Belogorye will have to elect a new head. Let us note that Evgeniy Stepanovich himself has not yet made official statements about a possible nomination, however, the authority of the governor in the region and the high indicators of the region, which is one of the most successful not only in the Black Earth Region, but throughout Russia, allow us to confidently predict that in the event Savchenko's decision to run for a new term has no chance for his competitors. Thus, in the regional elections of 2012, 77.64% of Belgorod residents voted for his candidacy with a turnout of 60%.

What is the secret of the success of Evgeny Savchenko, who is already called the author of the “Belgorod miracle” and compared with the late Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, under whom this Asian city turned into one of the leading economies in the world?

In 2011, the Strategy “Formation of a regional solidary society” was adopted in the Belgorod region. According to Governor Savchenko, a solidary society is “a cohesive society united by common positive goals and active creative activities for the benefit of the region and the Fatherland.” It is based on such key concepts as patriotism, spirituality, morality, unity, responsibility, and trust. From Savchenko’s point of view, a solidary society is an alternative to the consumer society imposed on Russia from the outside. " In it, a person is not a consumer, not an outside contemplator and not an object, he is a creator, a builder, an active subject of social life", the Belgorod governor noted, speaking at a meeting of the Council under the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District.

Within the framework of the concept of a solidary society, which the Russian Eurasian philosopher Alexander Dugin called the “Belgorod ideology,” a program is being purposefully implemented in the region, aimed not only at economic development, growth of material well-being and well-being of the population, but also at spiritual development, support of traditional values, strengthening family institution. An extremely important role in this regard is played by the Russian Orthodox Church, which is represented in the region by Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol. As Pyotr Gorbunov, member of the Public Chamber of the Belgorod Region, head of the regional branch of the public organization "Patria" emphasized in a conversation with a Tsargrad correspondent, in the Belgorod region quite harmonious relations have developed between the Church and the secular authorities.

In the ranking of Russian regions for the quality of life of the population for 2015, the Belgorod region ranks 6th, behind only Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Moscow region, Tatarstan and Kuban. Adjusted for the predominantly agricultural specifics of the Belgorod region, this is a fairly high figure, clearly indicating the successful economic development of the region.

Thus, for several years now, the Belgorod region has been the undisputed leader in the Russian Federation in the production of pork and poultry meat. As of the end of 2015, the pig population in the region was almost 4 million heads (18.5% of the all-Russian figure). Belgorod farmers produce a fifth of pork and a seventh of poultry in Russia. These products are in demand not only on the domestic Russian market, but are also actively exported to countries near and far abroad. Thus, according to Evgeniy Savchenko, markets for Belgorod livestock products have already reached China, South Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the economic turmoil of the 1990s did not spare this rich black earth region. The collapse of collective farms, the destruction of cattle, the abandonment of fields - all this was stopped and overcome only thanks to the activities of the Belgorod governor and his team. Savchenko actively opposed attempts to privatize land.

Let us recall one already half-forgotten conflict. In the early 2000s, the Inteko company, headed by Elena Baturina, the wife of the then capital mayor Yuri Luzhkov, showed active interest in the natural resources of the Belgorod region. In the memory of the author of this article, the privatization of the Volokonovsky milk and canning plant by the Inteko company resulted in a massive layoff of workers and a sharp drop in production. Ultimately, the regional leadership managed to oust influential Moscow owners from the region.

"While it was the 1990s and everyone was competing to steal the economy, here they tried to preserve it, and in the well-fed thousands they began to actively develop it in all major areas", notes publicist and public figure from the Rovensky district Ruslan Lyapin. In a conversation with the author of the article, the publicist expressed the opinion that this is precisely what the attacks on the Belgorod governor are connected with.

"Liberals don’t like Savchenko because he broke two of their fundamental pillars in two directions, continues Lyapin. - Firstly, it suddenly turned out that Russians are not drunken cattle who need to be flogged and dragged to Europe, but a hardworking people capable of running their own economy, living in a society without the control of curators represented by “white” people from the West. Moreover, by abandoning curators, the region was able to launch large-scale social projects and developed its own ideology.

Secondly, it turned out that all the “research” about the unprofitability of the Russian economy and agriculture is not worth the paper on which it is written. And this is not a flight of fancy from theorists, but an absolutely real fact implemented in practice.

And Savchenko will never be forgiven for this. Neither the elitists who remained from Yeltsin’s legacy nor the new liberal monetarists and their ideologists will forgive".

Currently, the Belgorod region has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Russia. Guests of the region are pleasantly surprised by its appearance, the quality of roads, and the development of social programs, in particular individual housing construction. Thus, over the past 10 years, more than 6 million square meters of individual housing or about 50 thousand manor houses have been commissioned. And this is an obvious merit of the Belgorod governor and his team. " If it were up to me, I would ban multi-storey construction altogether.", Savchenko explained in a conversation with a correspondent of the Trud newspaper.

"So that for 50-150 thousand rubles (depending on the location and size) you will be allocated a plot of 15-30 acres with gas, electricity, roads, sewerage, water, I have not heard something anywhere else, - Pyotr Gorbunov, a member of the Public Chamber of the Belgorod Region, told Tsargrad. - This opportunity is widely used. Most of the families I know are either under construction or have already moved".

The leadership of the Belgorod region pays serious attention to the problems of youth education and the development of physical education and sports in the region. As the honored coach of Russia in sambo, judo and mixed martial arts, vice-president of the regional sambo and judo federation, mentor of the famous Fedor Emelianenko, Vladimir Voronov, explained to the correspondent of the Tsargrad TV channel, thanks to the support of the regional administration and the governor personally, young athletes have the opportunity to realize themselves in competitions at various levels. " So, in boxing in the Belgorod region we have three Olympians. This is an indicator. In sambo-judo we have representatives in the Russian national team", Voronov noted.

"Belogorye"

"We travel all over Russia, all over the world, continues the coach. - And people from different regions come to train with us in the Belgorod region. They note the difference in people's lives, the quality of roads, and the lack of unemployment. The main merit of Evgeniy Stepanovich is that the region is developing economically, that people have a place to work, where to put their efforts, people have hope for the future. It is most important".

Let us add that the modern cultural image of the Belgorod region and its recreational potential were also formed largely thanks to the activities of Evgeny Savchenko. Thus, in the region, a significant number of previously closed Orthodox churches and monasteries have been restored, and the construction of new spiritual monasteries is also actively underway. In particular, the Holy Trinity Kholkovsky Cave Monastery, which is one of the calling cards of the Belgorod region, has been revived. Every rural settlement must have at least one Orthodox church. The largest memorial complex was created on the site of the Prokhorovsky tank battle. The great attention to patriotism and the revival of the spiritual and moral foundations of the life of the Russian people on the part of the Belgorod governor cannot but cause gnashing of teeth among those who would like to see Russia as a servant of the global world elites.

Holy Trinity Kholkovsky Cave Monastery

Hence the frenzy of the liberal media in connection with the bans on celebrations in state educational and cultural institutions of the so-called region established by the leadership of the Belgorod region. Halloween and Valentine's Day, the production of some theatrical plays that are openly immoral in nature.

We can only hope that the successful experience of the Belgorod region and its governor Evgeny Savchenko will become a guideline for the development of not only other regions of our country, but also Russia as a whole. It is not for nothing that the topic of a solidary society became the subject of discussion at the World Russian People's Council and received the approval and blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

About life credo

Evgeniy Stepanovich considers his credo to be “Obey without humiliation, command without impudence” - a thought formed by Russian nobles. Although the politician himself notes that he is of peasant blood.

About the ideal spouse

The head of the region considers Victoria Petrovna Brezhneva, the wife of Leonid Ilyich, to be the ideal politician’s wife. Evgeniy Stepanovich notes that: “If the manager’s wife even works somewhere next to her husband, she will immediately be surrounded by all sorts of whisperers. Gossip and intrigue will begin. What is this for? If he can’t stand it, he’ll start saying something and giving advice.”

About the Soviet Union

“Already at the conference [in 1989 – approx. ed.] felt: the Soviet Union does not have much time left. It was in the air,” Evgeniy Savchenko.

About the rally in Chechnya

Evgeniy Stepanovich oversaw two regions in the Central Committee: Kursk region and Checheno-Ingushetia. A politician spoke about a rally of five thousand people in Grozny. Then the participants speculated on environmental problems: because of the construction of a biochemical plant, local residents raised a cry that “they want to destroy the Chechen people.”

Savchenko was sent from Moscow to extinguish the conflict. According to my recollections, he went out to the people and said: we’ll create a commission and we’ll sort it out. Everything worked out. At that time, the unrest was quickly quelled.

About returning to Belgorod

The politician worked in Moscow for a year, then they offered to return to Belgorod. According to him, he agreed with joy: “...I didn’t like the paperwork. Maybe someone likes phone calls, negotiations, writing certificates and reports, but I have always been attracted to real, real work.”

On appointment to the post of governor

They recommended Evgeniy Stepanovich for the post of governor of the Belgorod region in 1993. At that time he worked as a consultant at the Ministry of Agriculture. He was included in the list of candidates because “they were looking for Belgorod residents who worked in Moscow.”

About the governor's term

Yevgeny Savchenko did not think that he would last so long as governor. However, he reflected: “... one would have to work for at least ten years to leave a worthy mark in people’s memory.”

About the nineties

As elsewhere, at this time in Belgorod “everything was falling apart.” There were also brothers: “We also had to find a common language with them. Well, in what sense? I came to defend the interests of the state, law, and order. Do you want to do business? Please! But - strictly legal. So, so as not to cross the red line, not to interfere in someone else’s diocese.”

About security and bribery

The governor said that he does not have security.

“Security is needed if you do something illegal, if you double-deal, but I have always served the state. And only to him." Evgeniy Savchenko

No one has ever tried to bribe the head of the region. According to the governor, he understood perfectly well that if he accepted “leftist” money at least once, then all his life he would fulfill someone’s whims. And he didn’t become a politician for that.

About personnel

Rotation, according to Evgeniy Stepanovich, is a natural process. Some simply change jobs, but there are also those who have remained with the politician to this day (the governor cites Valery Shamaev as an example).

Savchenko is proud that during the years of his leadership, none of the district heads or deputies went to prison.

“I didn’t bring it to this point. If I felt that unpleasant questions were starting to arise for the person, I recommended looking for another place of work. Out of harm's way. There have been such cases." Evgeniy Savchenko

About debt

The head of the region notes that the region is paying back its debts. Thus, 5 billion rubles of a bank loan were recently repaid. Three years ago, the region was among the TOP 5 most heavily indebted regions. Today, the Belgorod region has moved to the middle of the list.

About faith

“Without the sky - how? Without the Creator nothing is possible. I always feel that he is the main actor in everything that happens.” Evgeniy Savchenko

About the mat

Evgeniy Stepanovich is of the opinion: “We need to create a culture of communication. The more internal prohibitions, the higher the degree of external freedom.” Although he himself admits that strong words can escape from his heart.

About the monarchy

Savchenko has nothing against the constitutional system. Moreover, he believes that Russia can come to this: “The Russian person was brought up on autocracy, it is in his blood.”

The elder of the governor's workshop, who has headed the Belgorod region for almost a quarter of a century, is in the TASS special project “First Persons of the Regions.”

- I’ll try to guess your life credo, Evgeniy Stepanovich. “Modesty adorns.” Got it?

Probably not, though. Excessive modesty is a sure path to oblivion. Another motto is closer to me: “Obey without humiliation, command without insolence.” It wasn’t me who came up with the idea, the idea was formulated by Russian nobles long before I was born. Although I have no blue blood, it’s all peasant blood.

There were three brothers in our family. Anatoly is eleven years older, he worked at the Krasnoyaruzh sugar factory, he has been dead for a long time, he died early from cancer, in his early fifties. Alexander graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Kursk, taught, and was a school director. Now retired.

According to the passport, both older brothers are Russian, and at the age of fourteen I came to get the document, at the registry office and they said: Zhenya, your parents are Ukrainians. I thought about it and agreed: well, then sign me up like that too.

My father and mother are from the Sumy region, I am from Krasnaya Yaruga, now it is the regional center of the Belgorod region.

- What did your parents do?

I’m telling you: they were peasants.

My father went through the entire Great Patriotic War. When the war began, he served as a conscript in Odessa. He was an artilleryman. Together with the Red Army, he retreated to the Volga, and in 1943 he reached the Kursk Bulge. Belgorod is located on the southern front, and my father fought on the northern, on the border of the Oryol region. Then - to the West. He celebrated victory in Koenigsberg with the rank of sergeant major. Served under the command of Marshal Rokossovsky. He was awarded three Orders of the Red Star and two medals "For Courage". We saved all our military awards and keep them at home.

After the war, my father worked as secretary of the district executive committee, then he was sent as chairman to the collective farm named after the 12th anniversary of the October Revolution, in Ukrainian - 12-richchya Zhovtnya. I was in charge for ten years. In the mid-60s, farms began to be enlarged, my father was appointed secretary of the party committee of the united collective farm, more precisely the special farm named after Sverdlov, where the emphasis was on sheep breeding. Then in several regions of the country - Brest, Omsk, and two or three more - they decided to develop specialized agricultural production. As time has shown, this was generally the right direction, but with the sheep there was a mistake. Cattle, pig and poultry farming, which were traditionally present in the Belgorod region, are one thing, sheep are another. They have never been bred in our area. But who among the high authorities cared? They sent down instructions from above that we must follow them. So they united three collective farms into a special sheep farm. My God, what a horror it was! To fulfill the plan, wool had to be harvested in the North Caucasus.

- Buy there and bring here?

Including. People were sent to prison for real terms. Payment was made in cash. In a word, the school is harsh.

- Did your mother also work in a special farm?

She was a housewife all her life. Like other collective farmers, we were entitled to half a hectare of land. A vegetable garden, a cow, ducks, geese... Do you know who the chairman's wife is? Every day we had guests for lunch. Authorized representatives from the district and region, inspecting and supervising. Mom had to meet, feed, drink.

We lived very modestly. In the third grade, I was already herding collective farm calves. In the village they start working early, helping elders with housework. So I was constantly doing something until, after the seventh grade, I went to Stary Oskol to a geological exploration technical school. Sasha studied there, I decided to follow in my brother’s footsteps. He was finishing his studies, and I was just starting. I unlearned it and don’t regret it. My specialty was search and exploration of uranium deposits. All students were paid a stipend of twenty rubles a month, and in our department - twice as much, forty. Taking into account the premium for harmfulness.

After studying he joined the army. Called up at nineteen. He served in Yaroslavl in the air defense forces. 75th anti-aircraft missile system. Now the S-300 and S-400 are in service, and then there was the S-75, the so-called “Volkhov”. This is 1969-1971. He received the rank of junior sergeant, rose to the rank of squad commander, and even went home on vacation for ten days.

I was thinking about where to go after the army, deciding whether to continue geological exploration or try my hand at something else. Geology is expeditions, exploration of subsoil, romance. And yet the call of the earth prevailed. He was demobilized and submitted documents to the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy.

I chose the Faculty of Agronomy, specializing in field cultivation.

I settled in a hostel on Larch Alley. The house still stands. True, there is nothing to recognize around, everything has been built up and rebuilt.

I got married in my second year. Nadya studied at my same faculty, but a year older. Two families lived in one room. The second pair of students is behind the partition. And, you know, they didn’t complain about crowded conditions or everyday inconveniences.

Not so long ago, on January 26, Nadezhda Nikolaevna and I celebrated forty-five years of marriage. We sat down in the evening and began to remember how we met. The wife asks: “Have you forgotten our first date?” And to be honest, I forgot everything.

- At least remember who noticed whom?

Women always choose. Men can only obey.

We got married in 1973. During the winter holidays. The exam was passed and celebrated like a student. The table was set in the dorm room, friends came, relatives gathered. My father, however, was ill, my mother stayed with him, and Sasha, my brother, came. Nadya's mother was there too.

The wife is from the Tver province, from the northernmost region - Sandovsky. There is Ustyuzhna nearby, the birthplace of the poet Batyushkov.

- Have you been?

I didn’t have the chance, although I planned to go many times.

Nadya was the first to graduate from the academy and was assigned to Rakitnoye. This is a regional center in the Belgorod region. She worked as an agronomist-seed grower in the Department of Agriculture while I was finishing my fifth year of study. I convinced Nadya to go to my homeland, I didn’t want to hear about any other places, I was drawn here. I was sent as the chief agronomist to the special farm named after Sverdlov, the same “sheep” farm. After a couple of years, I got promoted, was taken to the district department of agriculture, but didn’t have time to work for long, was transferred to the district party committee, and made an instructor. I suffered for a month or a month and a half and asked to be released.

- Didn’t take root?

The work is completely incomprehensible and unusual for me. The first secretary saw that I was burdened by the new occupation, and let me go with God, and did not keep me. Appointed director of the elite seed-growing state farm "Rakityansky". It was a wonderful farm! There were a dozen of them throughout the entire Soviet Union. They grew selected sugar beet seeds and did selective breeding. In Akhtyrka - this is in the Sumy region of Ukraine - there was a processing plant that worked exclusively with our product. From there he went to the second generation state farms, and they were already growing seeds for industrial crops.

This is the very end of the seventies.

Then I was recommended for the position of deputy chairman of the Rakityansky district executive committee, head of RAPO - the district agro-industrial association. Mikhail Gorbachev then became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for Agriculture, and some new movement began.

In 1985, I was appointed first secretary of the Shebekino city party committee. Ninety thousand population, and by the standards of that time I was a boy, 35 years old. Worked for three and a half years. Great experience, good school.

I realized that I shouldn’t give orders and bang my fist on the table, but get used to the problems, delve into them, and look for the right solution. And don't puff out your cheeks. That's the whole secret. It seems that I succeeded. Especially in agriculture. Plans were fulfilled and exceeded.

In 1988, I was sent to Moscow as an instructor in the organizational department of the CPSU Central Committee, although I internally resisted. The 19th Party Conference was just taking place, which caused a great resonance in society.

- They gave you housing in the capital?

Straightaway! They even offered options to choose from and issued inspection orders. I took an apartment on Novocheremushkinskaya Street. People called the area a “beaver reserve” because of the nomenklatura’s comrades’ love for hats and coat collars made from beaver skins... I got a good apartment - 107 “squares”, three rooms. Everything is according to the law: a family of four, an adult couple and two children. Now Tatyana, my youngest daughter, lives there. The eldest Olga has her own home.

- Did Nadezhda Nikolaevna leave for Moscow with joy?

Without any desire. She’s from the earth, she didn’t want to give up what she loved. She worked as an agronomist at a state farm, then at the district agriculture department. In Moscow I went to the Ministry of Agriculture, but did not have time to build a career. Less than a year later we returned to Belgorod. Here Nadya no longer went to work, she became a housewife.

- And no charitable foundations, public councils?

God forbid! You know, in this case I see Victoria Petrovna Brezhneva, the wife of Leonid Ilyich, as the ideal. By the way, she comes from Belgorod.

Home, children, household, reliable rear... But you can’t go anywhere yourself. For what? If the wife of a manager even works somewhere next to her husband, she will immediately be surrounded by all sorts of whisperers. Gossip and intrigue will begin. What is this for? If he can’t stand it, he’ll start saying something and giving advice.

No, everyone should have their own sphere of influence and responsibility.

Nadya loves housework - vegetable garden, garden, beds, chickens. This is for her. We have a plot of about sixty acres. The earth requires constant care and attention. Fruits, vegetables, berries - only your own. For the winter, we prepare pickles and make jam - apple, apricot, raspberry, plum, cherry, blackberry. Nadya usually manages everything herself, only sometimes inviting help. Spray the garden, do some rough work. I'm not very useful, I'm constantly missing at work.

- Why didn’t you stay in Moscow in 1989?

Already at the party conference I felt: the Soviet Union did not have much time left. It was in the air. I supervised two regions in the Central Committee - the Kursk region and Checheno-Ingushetia.

I remember a rally of five thousand people at the stadium in Grozny. Nationalist speeches and speculation on all sorts of problems began. At that time we focused on the environmental theme. The leader was a certain Bisultanov, I don’t know what happened to him later. A biochemical plant was being built in Gudermes. And then they raised a cry: “They are poisoning us, they want to destroy the proud Chechen people.” The people are truly wonderful. But the issue was deliberately promoted, promoting some of their own national interests.

Five thousand people gathered at the stadium, well, we were sent from Moscow to resolve the conflict. The director of the Institute of Genetics, the instructor of the chemical department of the Central Committee, some other specialists, and I - as the senior one. We flew to Grozny and sat down to discuss with local party and Soviet leaders how to resolve the situation. Meanwhile, at the meeting they decided: we are going to the regional committee. The crowd moved towards the square. We had a command: not to interfere. But I went out to people.

They shout: “We need a direct line with Moscow!” I called Bisultanov over and showed him my service ID. He didn't expect this. I decided to address those gathered. He said that we would sort everything out, there was no reason to worry. He spoke through a police megaphone; there were no microphones. At the end he suggested: “Let’s create a commission.” And he named those who flew with me. Then I say: “And we need three or four people from you. Tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning the first meeting will take place, we will definitely inform the entire republic about the decisions taken. In the meantime, please go home." And, you know, everyone left in unison.

The organizers of the rally were disarmed. They were absolutely not interested in this ecology; they set other goals, but we mixed up the cards. At that time, the unrest was quickly extinguished, but how it ended in the end is well known.

I worked for almost a year in the Central Committee and returned to Belgorod as deputy chairman of the regional executive committee. The first secretary of the regional committee, Alexey Ponomarev, made a proposal after knowing my opinion. He asked: how are you? And I - with pleasure. I didn’t feel very comfortable in the Central Committee; I didn’t like the paperwork. Maybe some people like phone calls, negotiations, writing certificates and reports, but I have always been attracted to real, real work. I returned home with joy.

True, it so happened that in 1990 I had to leave for Moscow again. Forced. He got a job at the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, was a consultant, and deputy head of the plant production department.

- What does “forced” mean, Evgeniy Stepanovich?

For starting to build a house, they slapped me with a planner and gave me a severe reprimand according to the party line.

More precisely, it wasn’t even me who built it, but my father who took twenty thousand rubles from the bank. Then all front-line soldiers were given loans for construction at a small interest rate. They allocated money to my father, and I began to build and helped. Some people thought this was immodest. They called me to the bureau of the regional party committee with a group of the same poor fellows and discharged me in full. Essentially, they forced me to resign and submit an application of my own free will. My last words were: “You are sitting here, judging us, and I wish that each of you builds a house for yourself.” He turned around and left. It's funny, but then they actually built everything. Already with my help. Some don't even belong to the same house.

- What kind of immodest mansions have you built for yourself?

What kind of mansions? An ordinary brick box is ten meters by twelve. With an attic.

They didn't let the construction finish. I managed to raise the walls and close the roof; nothing was done inside. I wrote a statement and left. He completed it when he returned here as governor. In the mid-90s. My wife’s sister now lives in this house; she is retired and moved from the Tver province to our region. And in the 2000s, I built a new house for Nadya and me next door. We've been living there together for the last seven years. Well, and also mongrel dogs. While the builders were working, the first one got lost. Then the second one came running. So both remained. The grandson gave them nicknames - Lucky and Kotya. He often comes on vacation and goes to school in Moscow.

And then, in 1990, I went to the Ministry of Agriculture. The minister was Gennady Kulik. A remarkable specialist, an economist by training. Lump! We are still on good terms with Gennady Vasilyevich. He is in the Duma from the Kursk region.

The ministry valued me and I liked my work. A real professional job. I traveled a lot on business trips and dealt with crop production problems.

And in October 1993, after tanks fired at the White House, I was unexpectedly invited to the presidential staff and recommended for the post of governor, or rather acting governor.

- Why were you chosen?

They were looking for Belgorod residents who worked in Moscow. I was the deputy head of the main department, apparently I ended up in the personnel file. And so...

- So you weren’t personally acquainted with Yeltsin?

No, we didn’t even meet then. I just talked to the head of the administration, Sergei Filatov, and then go ahead. I went to perform my duties. With great pleasure! It’s not a matter of position, not a matter of status, I was attracted by the region, my native place.

Since then, I haven’t set foot from here. Was acting once, appointed twice and elected five times.

Almost a quarter of a century in office. An absolute record among Russian governors. Did you think you would stay this long?

The thought didn't even arise. Although, of course, I thought: I would have to work for at least ten years to leave a worthy mark in people’s memory.

I noticed that in the annual collections of Belogorye, dedicated to the main events in the life of the region, the name and photo of the governor are extremely rare. That’s why, in fact, I suggested at the beginning of the conversation that modesty is your motto.

My work experience is such that I don’t need any extra flashing. This was my wish to the compilers. After all, it is probably possible to cause allergies in some people. For what?

An active public policy was required in the first years, then there were noisy meetings and discussions. The 90s were a turning point in many ways.

- Are they dashing for you?

Yes. In the original Russian sense. Dashing means bold, unpredictable, daring. It seems to me that this concept cannot be literally translated into a foreign language. As well as will. Will a stranger understand? But to a Russian it’s immediately clear, there’s no need to explain anything. For me, the word “dashing” has more positive than negative.

- What was it like here, in Belgorod, in the nineties?

Probably, like everywhere else, it’s different. Everything was falling apart. Industry, the defense complex, collective farms, state farms, medicine, education - they fell, they fell, they fell...

And there were brothers. I also had to find a common language with them. Well, in what sense? I came to defend the interests of the state, law, and order. Do you want to do business? Please! But - strictly legal. So, so as not to cross the red line, do not interfere with someone else’s diocese. We immediately defined the framework. There was a good team of security forces here - the police, the FSB, the prosecutor's office. I was lucky in this.

- Were you threatened?

I don't remember. And I don't use security. There is an assistant, he accompanies. All. As they say, no one has yet saved you from the first bullet, but you can manage to protect yourself from the second. Security is needed if you do something illegal or double-deal, but I have always served the state. And only to him.

- Did you try to bribe?

Nobody ever. I immediately put myself in the right place. They knew: it was useless to meddle. And he wouldn’t have taken it, and declared where he should. I understood perfectly well what would happen if I ever accepted “left” money. Then for the rest of your life you will fulfill someone’s wishes. That's not why I came here.

- Have you been removed from your position over the years?

There was a very conflictual situation in the mid-2000s. With Viktor Baturin, brother of the wife of Yuri Luzhkov, the then mayor of Moscow. I could barely resist.

- Why did the fuss flare up?

Baturin arrived and began to beautifully talk about how he would develop agriculture and dairy production in our area. We were interested in this and said that we were ready to support. With pleasure!

Naturally, I consulted with Yuri Mikhailovich. But instead of the declared goals, Baturin began to buy land and ruin farms, bankrupt private farms. Strange logic: before building, first destroy everything.

- “To the ground, and then”...

I didn’t like this basis, I saw people’s reaction. And by that time Baturin had already bought about fifty thousand hectares. We began to look for errors in legal registration and return the land to the owners. As a result, everything was sued, down to the square centimeter. Baturin was expelled from the region!

It was a big risk for me. The pressure was intense. But it’s okay, we did it.

- Did you quarrel with Luzhkov?

Unfortunately. Although I always respected him and still respect him. However, this is how it happened.

Another difficult situation occurred in the 1999 elections. If you remember, then the question of impeachment of President Yeltsin was raised in the State Duma. Charges were brought on five counts. At a key moment, the LDPR faction did not support the communists; the decision did not receive the required three hundred votes. Apparently, as a sign of gratitude for his loyalty, Zhirinovsky was promised the Belgorod region. An interesting conflict has arisen. Vladimir Volfovich came here for a reward, everything resulted in a tough campaign, even cruel.

- And what did they tell about you?

Like, there are bandits around here. TV journalist Andrei Karaulov, who poured water on me at the peak of the aggravation of relations with Baturin, also got involved this time, simply destroying me verbally. He was talking such nonsense, it’s embarrassing to retell it.

That’s when I saw what black PR and the behind-the-scenes work of professional political strategists are... Zhirinovsky actively participated in the campaign; his resources, as you might guess, were worse than mine. The entire party worked for the LDPR leader. He and activists traveled a lot around the region, met with people, made promises, and weaved tales about their rivals. But the fight only brought our team together.

It ended with Vladimir Volfovich taking third place, losing to both me and the communist candidate. In the first round I received more than 53 percent of the votes. However, I repeat, the campaign turned out to be unforgettable.

- Are there anyone on your team with whom you started together almost a quarter of a century ago, Evgeniy Stepanovich?

Rotation occurs, it is a natural process. Some retired due to age, others changed their place of service. For example, Oleg Polukhin headed the office of the head of the regional administration for twelve years, and now works as the rector of Belgorod University.

But Valery Shamaev is still next to me. Now he is the first deputy governor, in the 90s he was involved in land relations here. Smart, honest, absolutely reliable person.

It is important that during all this time not a single head of the district, nor any of my deputies, went to prison. I didn't bring it to this point. If I felt that unpleasant questions were starting to arise for the person, I recommended looking for another place of work. Out of harm's way. There were such cases.

There are always temptations. Some made mistakes by allowing themselves more than they should have, going beyond the perimeter in modesty. It just seems like no one sees anything. Everything is immediately noticeable from the public reaction. People instantly change their attitude towards dishonest people. Man is weak...

- Are you speaking with regret?

I state. That's life. This is how it should be perceived. Ideal people do not exist in nature.

- Do you talk about your weaknesses out loud?

I do not have them. Except for the ones I hide. Joke.

- Have you ever encountered betrayal?

Never explicitly. So that today he fraternizes, works with me soul to soul, and tomorrow he goes against me.

I didn't betray anyone either. There was no such thing. Those who lost my trust left. But I still keep in touch with them. Why not?

- Even with those who reproached you for immodesty, essentially forcing you to resign in 1990?

Yes, I have maintained a wonderful relationship. I helped and continue to do so now. I understood: there was a party system that implied a strict hierarchy, including personal loyalty. I didn’t fit well into the careerist framework, I didn’t curry favor for the sake of the position, I despised it. And today I behave evenly with everyone, including my superiors. I maintain self-esteem and independence in judgment. I also don’t tolerate fawning addressed to me.

- And how do you fit into the current power vertical?

Trust my experience: these are the most favorable years to work as a leader of a region, district, or municipality. What is vertical? In responsibility.

If we take a strictly formal approach, the security forces, the prosecutor's office, and representatives of a number of other federal structures do not report directly to the governor. In principle, I could stay on the sidelines, not get involved, not delve into it. But such a position, in my opinion, is absolutely destructive. I’m used to thinking that I’m responsible for everything that happens in the region. If a problem exists, it must be solved, and then we will share responsibility.

It is important not to serve a number and sit out a chair, but to act, generating changes and ideas. I have enough of everything - both rights and responsibilities, so I feel comfortable.

Yes, times are difficult. But was it easier in the nineties? We have already talked about this. Anarchy reigned then; if it had continued, our country would no longer exist. It’s good that a president came and began to restore order in the legislative field and took on the economy.

And difficulties... They strengthen you. I like the words of the mayor of a South American city, who said this: the fewer zeros in the city budget, the more creativity in work.

This can also be projected onto the area.

But the Belgorod region now has a national debt - mother, don’t worry. About forty billion rubles. Since 2008, the amount has increased fivefold.

Yes, that is right. Well, what's wrong with that?

- Debt, you know, is worth paying.

Look, the US national debt is over twenty trillion dollars, which is equal to one hundred percent of America's GDP. Greece's debt is over 250 percent of national GDP.

The GDP of our region is 750 billion rubles. So, consider and compare.

- But how did you collect such a sum?

Firstly, banks and investment funds trusted us and our securities. Secondly, this is how the circumstances developed. In 2012, a law on consolidated groups of taxpayers was passed. For example, the Stoilensky GOK annually brought about five billion rubles in profit tax to the budget of our region, and was an excellent taxpayer. And suddenly he goes to Lipetsk, since the NLMK group is registered there. In fact, we received ten times less money. Over the years, such losses have accumulated to the amount of about twenty billion rubles. You could fold your hands, do nothing, say: there is no money. Do not build roads, do not repair housing. But we tried to compensate with something.

The second reason for the growth of debt is the crisis. It crippled our metallurgical complex.

I consulted with my deputies and chose a tactic. Do they trust us? This means we need to borrow money, issue securities, and provide guarantees to local entrepreneurs. Everything they could was put into the consolidated guarantee fund - theaters, sanatoriums, palaces of culture, even the regional administration building. In the 2000s this was allowed. Industry and agriculture began to develop, businesses were able to take out billions of loans and create agricultural holdings, and form a road repair fund. Investment projects took place thanks to us, because we gave budget guarantees.

Last year, the global situation changed - and we began to repay our debts. We recently repaid a five billion bank loan.

We are not alone in this situation; almost two and a half trillion rubles in loans have accumulated across the country, half of which are commercial. The government was repeatedly asked to replace these loans with budget ones. And President Putin made this decision. Extremely important for the economy. You understand, we took commercial money, mainly from Sberbank, at 8-10 percent per annum, and now we have replaced it with budget money - at 0.1 percent. And the repayment period has been extended. As they say, feel the difference. Three years ago we were one of the five most debt-ridden regions, but now we have moved to about the middle of the list.

- Allah helps Ramzan Kadyrov, and what about you?

Without the sky - how? Without the Creator nothing is possible. I always feel that he is the main actor in everything that happens.

- How long ago did you come to faith, Evgeniy Stepanovich?

I don't think I've ever been an atheist.

- What about your membership card?

So what? They were not forced to renounce religion. My mother Ulyana Filippovna was a very pious woman, my father Stepan Semenovich was considered a communist, but he never did anything against the faith. My mother baptized me secretly, as a baby, and then told me everything. I, of course, didn't remember anything.

He was not a militant atheist, nor was he a convinced believer. Internal evolution gradually took place. The older a person is, the more aware he is that the visible world is controlled by the invisible. Unfortunately, not everyone understands this. What is the truth? I read in a wise book and I’ll quote it to you: “Eternal life is the result and continuation of earthly life.” Or here's another one. The meaning of existence can be summed up in four words: acquiring the ability to overcome evil. Brief, but what depth!

-Have you acquired this skill?

The main thing is not to return blow to blow. Yes, it’s difficult, but why increase the concentration of anger in the world? Our atmosphere is already too aggressive.

You don't need to shout to be heard.

- You forbid swearing and threaten with fines.

It happens that a strong word breaks out in my heart, although, of course, I try to do without it.

It’s bad when you hear swearing from children. Often they don’t even swear, but say so. This has become the norm. No good! We need to create a culture of communication. The more internal prohibitions, the higher the degree of external freedom.

- On another topic. You once talked about the monarchy.

They asked, and I answered that I see nothing wrong with the constitutional system of England, Sweden, Japan, Belgium, and Holland. And it can be like that for us. The Russian person was brought up on autocracy, it is in his blood. Yes, the president is the head of state, but this is a position. Came and went.

We need a symbol of the highest justice. Father Tsar. With powers like the British Queen.

I do not exclude that over time Russia will address this topic. Give it time.

-Have you ever kept a diary before?

No, although sometimes I regret it. Something is forgotten over the years, erased from memory. But I’m not going to write memoirs. For whom? Who is interested in the details of my biography? It seems to me that a person should not pay much attention to himself. I worked and left. People remember and that’s great.

Yes, some people erect monuments to themselves during their lifetime. For what? I sincerely don't understand. I say without showing off. This is my natural state, there is no pose here. Every leader is like in an aquarium: he is constantly in sight. People look closely at any little thing or fact, starting with the laces on their shoes and ending with their inner circle. You need to watch your words and even your thoughts. Be clean and delicate in every sense.

And to those who offer themselves as literary assistants, I answer: look at the Belgorod region, here are my memoirs.

- When was the last time you went on vacation?

Last September. After the gubernatorial elections, I went to Sochi for ten days.

To be honest, there have been several years of vacations accumulated. I noticed that rest has a destructive effect on me. Every time I lose some important thread in my work, it takes time to get back on track. When you are immersed in everyday affairs, in the logic of the actions of your own and your subordinates, you get the most effective management. It's important to keep the rhythm.

In our region we have a famous collective farm named after Frunze, it was led by twice Hero of Socialist Labor Vasily Gorin for almost sixty years. In ninety-three years of his life, Vasily Yakovlevich had never been on vacation; he believed that even such changes were a trauma for the body from a physiological point of view. Of course, we need to rest, but where are our main long-livers? In the Caucasus, where everything is based on tradition and consistency. Get into a rut and follow it until you fall. Yes, so that straight from the saddle to the ground - without intermediate stages.

- Sounds optimistic.

But honestly and fairly.

I never rested for more than two weeks. Once my wife and I went to Zheleznovodsk. We drank some water and that was enough. I’ve been abroad many times, for three or four days, but I can’t do it anymore. There is nothing to do in America and Europe. I don’t understand how Russian people live there. It's boring! And you’ll fly here and immediately - ah! Right from the door. We can't live without our family's chaos. This is our secret weapon!

Although I love order in everything. I'm not a minute late. Why make you wait?

And I tried to teach my daughters these rules. But they are already adults, they live with their own minds, they decide for themselves and act as they see fit. Olga has a foreign language school “Interlingua” and a chain of clothing stores in Belgorod. I don't interfere in her affairs. As it turns out, so it turns out.

The region has created favorable conditions for business - honest and open. We welcome everyone who works transparently.

It is known that about a quarter of our economy still remains in the gray zone. These are official data concerning the country as a whole. This means that in Russia from 12 to 17 million citizens do not pay taxes. In the Belgorod region, at least fifty thousand people work only for themselves. You can't even call them freelancers. People have some kind of business, do not pay a penny to the budget, and their children study in schools, go to kindergartens, we treat family members, and ensure security.

To understand: from the consolidated budget of the Belgorod region, about 60 thousand rubles are spent per person per year. In fact, in order to cover expenses, the head of a family of four must annually bring 200-300 thousand rubles in taxes to the regional budget. And he gives zero.

No good! I have been raising this issue with the government and the Ministry of Finance for a long time, asking: allow us to issue patents so that people pay at least 3-4 thousand rubles a month. In total we would receive a lot of money. Unfortunately, the law has not been adopted. I do not know why. It seems to me that it is not entirely reasonable that they do not allow us to do everything ourselves on the ground.

- Did many refugees from Ukraine come to the region?

Several tens of thousands. Some have received citizenship, others work this way.

- Are your relations with your neighbors ruined forever?

I'm sure they will get better quickly. We are one family. Sometimes siblings fight too.

I used to often visit Kharkov, the distance is 75 kilometers. An hour by car. People went to Ukraine to have dinner and buy goods. Now this is gone. Unfortunately. But I am convinced that everything will get better.

- Ukraine recently planted a pig on the Belgorod region. Literally.

Are you talking about ASF? Yes, African swine fever came from there. The infection was spread by wild boars. I don’t know what the neighbors are doing, whether preventive measures have been carried out. Now the danger seems to have passed for us, but last year there was a strong drift in the Shebekinsky and Korochansky districts. It was necessary to destroy the livestock of two pig farms with 25 thousand animals each. Burn everything. First Rusagro, then Miratorg. We have a high concentration of industrial pig farming. Herd - five million heads! Twice more than in all of Ukraine.

We have depopulated wild boars and continue to do so. By the way, they were not found on the territory of the Belgorod, Kursk and Kharkov regions a hundred years ago. Such is the paradox.

- I heard you became a vegetarian?

I hardly eat meat. The body does not require it. Although we recently brought a piece of lard from the Bessarabian market in Kyiv. Delicious! Sometimes you can enjoy it. It's even good for health.

- Have you got a family doctor, Evgeniy Stepanovich?

Why do I need it? My medical file is in the regional clinical hospital. Once a year I undergo medical examination.

The question is different. What is the name of the relevant ministry in Russia? Healthcare. This means that its main task is to protect health. But in fact, it treats the sick. Sometimes neglected and hopeless. Half of the budget, including the medical insurance fund, goes to their rescue. A minority of the population consumes the lion's share of the budget. The situation is similar in our region and in the country as a whole. This is true? No.

- Do you suggest not treating?

We are a humane society. Be sure to treat! But we must make sure that there are fewer such patients. It is necessary to monitor your health from childhood, conduct medical examinations, and medical examinations. This was the case in Soviet times, and this is normal and correct. Cuba adopted the method and brought healthcare to the highest level. Family medicine is developed there, but we have taken the path of health insurance, which operates according to different principles. Insurers are interested in people getting sick more often, then everyone will make money, including doctors and the powerful pharmaceutical industry. In the West, the healthcare system has long been flooded with money; it needs a sick person! This is a way to make a profit; the health of patients is the last thing they think about.

In the USA, 11 thousand dollars per year per person are allocated for healthcare, in Germany - more than 6 thousand euros, and in Russia for 2018, each citizen is allocated... 10,800 rubles. It is difficult for us to compete with America and Europe in terms of funding, so we need family medicine that is responsible for health conditions.

In the Belgorod region, in rural areas, we have already created medical districts, where one doctor has a maximum of one and a half thousand people, and not, as before, three thousand patients per local therapist. And he didn’t know them, and they didn’t know him.

I repeat, healthcare must be placed on a solid foundation of family medicine. I'm convinced! If we do this, in a couple of decades there will be no need to treat neglected patients throughout the country. There won't be any left. Our people die from diseases, but it should be from old age. He lived until he was 90-100 years old and quietly, calmly passed away into another world. At home, not in a hospital bed. Where he was born, he died there.

Our attitude to health is purely Russian, complete indifference, only family medicine can save us. Responsible family medicine.

Vladimir Putin supported our initiative. We have actually completed the project in the village, we have been working on it for two years now. Now it’s the region’s cities’ turn. We will manage here by the end of 2018 too. I personally supervise the progress of work. We have adopted project management. There is no such thing as an official coming to work in the morning and starting scratching his head: what should he do? Each department, regional administration employee, and member of the government is involved in the implementation of specific projects. This allows you not to get bogged down in routine, to see the future, and to control the situation.

- When was the last time you were invited to Moscow for high positions, Evgeny Stepanovich?

It seems like in 2012. Then a new government was formed.

- To the Ministry of Agriculture?

Yes. I never refuse, and that time I politely thanked him, trying to explain that I was more needed here. In Belgorod.

And before that there were proposals...

- But is your current term as governor final?

That's how it's supposed to be by law.

- Stirlitz said that the last thing is always remembered.

Without any pathos, I can say that yes, now is the most important stage for me. The most important!

First you work for elections, then for re-election...

- And now - on history?

In general, this is true. I want to be remembered for good deeds.

- Old woman Shapoklyak argued that one cannot become famous for good deeds.

She is not my hero.

- Who is yours?

Do you remember in the novel “War and Peace” there was a battery commander, Captain Tushin? Calm, responsible, did not utter loud words about the feat and did not think about recognition of merit. He honestly, quietly and modestly carried out what was entrusted to him, in the place allotted by fate.

I am convinced that the world rests on such people. Here is my hero. Captain Tushin. Did I make myself clear?