Grigory Pasko: Secrecy – the Wisdom of Idiots

Recently they showed on the Russian television how head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) Yuri Chikhanchin was accounting before the prime minister of Russia for work done. He, in particular, reported that in the course of joint work with law-enforcement organs the service had identified “systemic problems” in the activities of the mayoralty of Moscow, connected with the financing of contracts, in particular, in health care. And he clarified these «problems» on an example: “Contracts are entered into with intermediaries, and then the money is received from the intermediaries without intermediation into the state unitary enterprises (GUPs) of health care of Moscow. The kickback part goes away, and that’s it“. In so doing the finmonitorist noted that the sum comprises around 1.2 bln rubles. Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда. In general, Chikhanchin’s subordinates were obligated to have noticed the disappearance of such a sum through a system long known to all before mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov became the former mayor. It’s strange that Mr. Putin didn’t pose a question to Chikhanchin: just where exactly were you with all your service earlier?

By the way, it would have been strange if Mr. Putin had posed this question. Because the system of state power , built among others not without Putin’s knowledge either, is absolutely non-transparent. Sometimes it seems to me that even Putin doesn’t know what this or the other agency in his government is engaged in.Secrecy – the wisdom of idiots. Thus spake the ancients. In today’s Russia their opinion does not withstand any criticism, for there is no way you would call modern Russian officials, concealing practically any information about their activity under a pall of secrecy in every which way, idiots. They have grasped long ago: the less people know about them, the sounder will be their sleep.Here, as an example, there is such a comrade Vasily Yakemenko – the spiritual father of the odious youth organization «Nashi» (the «nashists»), moonlighting as the head of the enigmatic organization Rosmolodezh – the Federal Agency for Affairs of Youth.If it weren’t for the assumed involvement of «nashists» in the attack on «Kommersant» journalist Oleg Kashin, it’s doubtful that any one of the citizens of Russia would have gotten interested in these days in Rosmolodezh and personally in comrade Yakemenko.On the site http://www.fadm.gov.ru/ of the organization it is said that the mission of the agency – is the development of the young citizens of Russia. And later – «Rosmolodezh – the operator of this most important strategic resource (youth – G.P.), the most valuable part of the human capital of the country. It is precisely at the improvement of its qualitative and quantitative characteristics that the state youth policy being implemented by the Agency (thus on the site – with a capital letter – G.P.) is directed».What -words: mission, operator of a part of the capital… Too bad that it’s not said on the site just how exactly the agency and personally com. Yakemenko are improving the quantitative characteristics of youth.No, in the part of general words and phrases everything with the site of this agency and those like it is in order: they do know how to write. But detailed and concrete reports on the boisterous activity of these agencies is not something you’re likely to find.Or to take, as an example, the site of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology (Minprirody). There many a time are announced the travels of head of this agency minister Yu. Trutnev beyond the border. However rare is the time when you can find a report about exactly what useful thing that or the other trip of his gave our country.As life shows, under an non-transparent system of managing the state facts of concealment of the results of checks of the activity of those or the other agencies become a totally everyday thing. It is completely possible that in the future the wave of such checks will roll its way to Rosmolodezh and Minprirody as well. However it is highly unlikely that we will learn the results of these checks. Like we didn’t learn them after the work of the Chamber of Accounts in the company «Transneft».The essence of the business with «Transneft» became broadly known after blogger Alexey Navalny appeared with unmaskings to the address of the company «Transneft». He accused the company of the stealing of 4 bln. US dollars. Only after this did it become clear that the Chamber of Accounts had conducted a check of the company and had not identified any violations. However the results of the check it for some reason classified as secret.But Mr. Putin responded originally to Navalny’s scribbles: he declared… gratitude to the company «Transneft». It is hard to assess this other than as a signal that you’ve got to steal and conceal information going forward as well.Against a general background of universal classification the following news seems like a spoonful of honey: The Procuracy-General has tasked procurators with fining officials responsible for the non-provision to citizens of the due volume of information on the activity of state organs and organs of local self-administration.Representative of the Procuracy-General Marina Gridneva has declared that «the right of citizens to familiarization with the documents and materials of organs of state power and organs of local self-administration directly touching upon their rights and liberties is guaranteed by article 24 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation».Those procurators sure know how to allay people’s concerns. True, I don’t think I heard from Gridneva commentaries on account of how rallies too are permitted by the Constitution, article 31. But this doesn’t hinder the OMONovites from dispersing those who disagree with truncheons.Now all we’ve got left to wait for is information about how often our courts are going to start examining such cases, initiated in relation to officials for the non-provisions of information to citizens.By the way, the secrecy of idiots, it looks, is getting in the way of the officials themselves. Here’s an example: New mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin underscored that inasmuch as the programme for the employment of the population is directly connected with migrational policy and migration flows, which influence the situation with jobs in Moscow in a root way, all such requests need to be made “public and clear”.”Put up,” he ordered, glancing at head of the department of labor and employment of the population of the city of Moscow Oleg Neterebsky, “on the site all these requests of yours with respect to the formation of common migration flows. So that tomorrow on the site of your department all of this would be put up.”I took a look at the site: the next day, indeed, behold it was put up.So they can get it done, after all – if you kick them.