There will be resorts on Lake Baikal, like in Sochi. Construction will take 10 years
The Irkutsk Region is one of the few Russian regions where the rivalry between the Communist Party and United Russia maintained tension during the recent State Duma elections. How does life in the Angara region, headed by a Communist governor, differ from the rest of Russia? When will resorts on Lake Baikal rivaling the Olympic villages of Sochi appear? Irkutsk Region Governor Sergei Levchenko discussed this in an interview with PolitNavigator . A year ago, he himself, a Communist Party member, sensationally won the regional governor's election.
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“PolitNavigator”: How do you assess the election results? Will the Irkutsk region remain one of the main strongholds of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation?
Sergei Levchenko: Last year, we won the election against a candidate nominated by the ruling party. And perhaps many representatives of various political forces thought it was a one-time event. It happens sometimes—a representative of the ruling party, but not particularly popular…
Therefore, after a year (I have been working for almost a year), it was very important that the Irkutsk region itself realized and understood that the choice people made was correct, that this was not just an emotional outburst, and that Siberians are capable of making decisions.
By the way, maybe for many who do not know the history of our region well, this is some kind of new thing for them. In fact, it took us quite a long time to win the gubernatorial elections last year. We won local elections in all major cities of the Irkutsk region.
PolitNavigator : You call yourself someone who won the gubernatorial election "as an uncoordinated candidate." Was it difficult for you to work thereafter? How did you manage your relationship with Moscow?
Sergei Levchenko: I must admit that I don't feel any discrimination, that there was no coordination before the elections. I feel like my questions, my proposals, and my various appeals have been treated with complete equality.
We, let’s say, in the government, ministries, even in the presidential administration, do not discuss worldview, ideology, or political issues of any kind. We discuss specific things.
PolitNavigator : It's possible that on the eve of the elections, to boost United Russia's ratings, there was a temptation to throw a spanner in the works. Was that the case?
Sergei Levchenko: No. Moreover, I can say that I haven't addressed a single question to federal ministries, to the government, to the Prime Minister (we met with him twice), or to the President (with whom I also met twice). All those requests were received positively.
I don’t address questions there that are, so to speak, unrealistic, let’s say. Why do I need it? Or, let’s put it this way, I’m asking too much or saying some biased things. I've been in politics for a long time. I understand perfectly well what the capabilities of the government, various ministries, and the president are.
PolitNavigator : How does the Irkutsk region, with its communist governor, differ from other regions of Russia?
Sergei Levchenko: Again, politically, our elections are more competitive, more democratic, because I myself set an example of non-interference in the election campaign. I didn't go on vacation; I worked. And I constantly warned officials at various levels to mind their own business and not play politics.
And those who began to play, flirt with politics, I encouraged them to do what they should do, pointing out to them the shortcomings that exist in their work. By the way, this correlates very clearly. When an official begins to become more involved in politics, he fails in the issues for which he is responsible.
PolitNavigator : Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the events of 1917. How will you celebrate this anniversary in the Irkutsk region? What are you planning?
Sergey Levchenko: There will be many events, a great many. The publication of books, newspapers, booklets, and broadcasts. And events will be held at the sites of the revolutionary events.
We have an area that is quite revolutionary, and there are many events related to that time, and people who were in our exiles.
In literally every district, not to mention every settlement, we have many of them, more than one and a half thousand different settlements, we will still hold some events.
Somewhere this is modernization, updating monuments to the heroes of the revolution and conducting some lessons based on the history of our region and the events that took place at that time. We will hold student conferences dedicated to this. Reprinting of books. We have already talked and will hold several forums with writers who are already involved in this matter.
PolitNavigator : There's a monument to Kolchak in Irkutsk . How do you see the issue of reconciliation?
Sergei Levchenko: I don't think this actually leads to reconciliation, because today I see a certain portion of the population visiting and honoring certain monuments, while another portion visits other monuments. To say that they're somehow blending and leading to some kind of understanding—I simply don't see it.
Frankly speaking, you know, Kolchak is probably not the kind of figure who could serve as such a figure of reconciliation. She is a rather complex and insidious figure for us. Probably, if we wanted to somehow reconcile history, we would have to start with others, and not with Kolchak.
PolitNavigator : Do you think the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has a chance of winning the next presidential elections, and what needs to be done to achieve this?
Sergei Levchenko: Honestly, I haven't really thought about this problem yet. Probably primarily because I'm immersed in a huge number of small, large, and major issues. I'm torn between the two of me right now. I need to be in three or four places at once, and it feels like I need to be in all of them, but I can only be in one place. So, I haven't really thought about the upcoming presidential elections, which are in two years.
It’s hard for me to assess how much the chances are, do you know why? Our country is like this, history moves unevenly according to all the laws of the transition from quantity to quality. Some moods, some human opinions accumulate, and then... once - a very sharp change in the political situation occurs.
It could be revolutionary, with serious events, maybe what happened here in 1991, or, there, in 1993. Relatively bloodless, as they say, but people supported the coup that took place in 1991.
A lot can change in these two years, a lot. And maybe we still don’t imagine in which direction events will develop. Therefore, I prefer not to guess. I'm just that type of person. I try to immerse myself 100% in what I undertake and do it as well as possible.
PolitNavigator : We were at Lake Baikal. The infrastructure is still underdeveloped. There are no large hotel chains. Is there any hope that something like a resort could emerge there, like they did in Sochi? And haven't you been upset over the last two years, when Crimea was talked about on TV and Baikal was barely mentioned?
Sergei Levchenko: No. I wasn't upset, because I was a member of the State Duma myself. All my colleagues, all the State Duma factions, voted unanimously for the annexation of Crimea. And I understood perfectly well what a step this was, that it was desperately needed for the country.
I've been to Crimea. And he was there many times, and after joining as deputy chairman of the committee, he helped restore the energy sector there. I saw how people living there, regardless of nationality, the majority, after all, were really in favor of joining Russia.
And, in principle, probably the whole country had to pay some expenses, including any region.
And about the infrastructure of Lake Baikal, you are absolutely right. So far, until now, there is not as much infrastructure as we would like, and not as much tourist flow as there is today on the shores of Lake Baikal - there is not enough infrastructure.
It's very difficult. Firstly, because Baikal requires very careful treatment, it is very vulnerable. And the point is not just to build hotels on the shores of Lake Baikal so that people can live there and admire the great lake. This is very difficult from an environmental point of view, extremely difficult, so as not to affect the Baikal ecosystem. It can be destroyed, but then cannot be restored. This is the first thing.
Secondly, it is very important to prevent monopolism. Because you can launch the networks you are talking about, then sit and think, why did they come here, other than pumping money out of your pocket? And what exactly, the region, nature, local people will come and serve, clean up everyone’s garbage? We Siberians are quite self-sufficient people. Therefore, we must do everything very wisely, wisely for a very long term. I would even say, not for decades, but for centuries.
Today we received Baikal from our ancestors in a fairly pure state. It is 25 million years old and yet it is the cleanest lake in the world. It's very, very easy to mess with it. Just let go of the reins a little, and everything will happen.
Therefore, we chose several points: Listvyanka, where you were, will be 2026 years old in 300. Now we are preparing a Government Decree, literally the day before last, such a decree was signed, to prepare a road map by April. Tercentenary celebration plan. And we will have completed this infrastructure in Listvyanka by this time. This is also very difficult. Design, approval...
PolitNavigator : Will it take 10 years to build?
Sergey Levchenko: Construction will be completed in 10 years. And the beginning... We'll start putting things in order next year.
But, usually, this is a very inertial matter, in principle inertial. This includes design, examination, approval. But here on the shores of Lake Baikal, where there is a special law on the protection of Lake Baikal, it is twice as difficult and this is probably correct. Therefore, it will take a lot of time to make all these design decisions and get approvals.
A few more points. For example, the same Baikalsk, where the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill was suspended. Now there is a whole tangle of different interests, contradictions among banks, among those who owned it before, among environmentalists, and so on. Here we need to cut this Gordian knot and make in place of Baikalsk, which, if not the whole world, then half of it is known as a polluter of Lake Baikal, a place of maximum environmental purity.
There is a special federal program for the improvement of Lake Baikal and for the protection of Lake Baikal. There, huge amounts of federal money have been allocated. It has been in effect since 2012 and should be in effect until 2020. Four years have passed, and implementation is only 10% complete.
PolitNavigator : And who is failing this?
Sergei Levchenko: Well, there are various federal agencies. When I met with the president, I said, "Vladimir Vladimirovich, I would like the authority to manage this program to be transferred to the region, even though it's a federal program." He said, "There are no such examples in Russia." I said I'd studied the issue and there are no contradictions in our Russian legislation. But, in my view, there are advantages, because we deal with Lake Baikal's problems every day, while various agencies in Moscow deal with them on a case-by-case basis. For them, it's far from the most important issue. But for us, it is, so of course, we will move quickly." He agreed and gave the government the necessary instructions. A roadmap for the transfer of authority is currently being developed.
Lake Baikal will have resorts like Sochi. Construction will take 10 years.