--------------25A3B2A6CF2582BCDC362757 No Sympathy From Miners for Kiriyenko, Nemtsov August 25, 1998 Komsomolskaya Pravda (Translation for Personal Use) Report by Aleksandr Bukreyev and Yelena Ionova: "While Kiriyenko and Nemtsov Went to the Miners With a Half Liter..." On Sunday evening, having just learned of their dismissal, Kiriyenko and Nemtsov decided finally to have a man-to-man talk with the people. The ex-premier and the ex-vice premier went out onto Gorbatyy Bridge -- to the miners. Nemtsov took with him a bottle of our vodka, as a true admirer of everything Russian. On learning of this, we too decided to pay a call on the miners Monday morning. The miners readily shared their impressions of the visit by their celebrated guests: "At about 11 o'clock last night we were getting ready for bed when we saw Nemtsov and Kiriyenko come out of the White House and head toward us. There was a guard with them, and the local police. We thought: They are coming to repent and to seek sympathy. How naive! You see, they simply wanted to drown their sorrows with us guys." Boris Nemtsov was so upset that, according to the miners, he assured them that he himself was prepared to sit alongside them and bang a helmet. He would never again go near the government. He bowed his curly head: I have one way to go now, he said -- to my homeland, to Nizhniy [Novgorod], to run once again for governor. Kiriyenko cursed the oligarchs. He tried to explain to the miners that all the bad things in our economy stem from the magnates. He himself, Sergey Vladilenovich, is to blame neither for crises nor for devaluation. After all, first they set him up, and then they knocked him down.... But the "retirees" did not obtain the miners' support or even sympathy. The miners did not feel sorry for them: "Our paths are different. When it comes right down to it, they were never concerned about our problems. Admittedly, Nemtsov did once come to us in the summer. He tried to persuade us not to demand the president's resignation. But this was the first time we had ever seen Kiriyenko 'in the flesh'." The bottle of vodka that Nemtsov brought was never opened. The miners did not drink with them. It is said that the miners later threw that unhappy bottle into a trash can. Pathetic or not?! -- Gregory Schwartz Dept. of Political Science York University 4700 Keele St. Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3 Canada Tel: (416) 736-5265 Fax: (416) 736-5686 Web: http://www.yorku.ca/dept/polisci --------------25A3B2A6CF2582BCDC362757 <HTML> <FONT SIZE=+2>No Sympathy From Miners for Kiriyenko, Nemtsov</FONT> <BR>August 25, 1998 <BR><I>Komsomolskaya Pravda</I> <P>(Translation for Personal Use) <BR>Report by Aleksandr Bukreyev and Yelena Ionova: "While <BR>Kiriyenko and Nemtsov Went to the Miners With a Half Liter..." <P> On Sunday evening, having just learned of their dismissal, Kiriyenko <BR>and Nemtsov decided finally to have a man-to-man talk with the people. The <BR>ex-premier and the ex-vice premier went out onto Gorbatyy Bridge -- to the <BR>miners. Nemtsov took with him a bottle of our vodka, as a true admirer of <BR>everything Russian. <BR> On learning of this, we too decided to pay a call on the miners Monday <BR>morning. The miners readily shared their impressions of the visit by their <BR>celebrated guests: <BR> "At about 11 o'clock last night we were getting ready for bed when we <BR>saw Nemtsov and Kiriyenko come out of the White House and head toward us. <BR>There was a guard with them, and the local police. We thought: They are <BR>coming to repent and to seek sympathy. How naive! You see, they simply <BR>wanted to drown their sorrows with us guys." <BR> Boris Nemtsov was so upset that, according to the miners, he assured <BR>them that he himself was prepared to sit alongside them and bang a helmet. <BR>He would never again go near the government. He bowed his curly head: I <BR>have one way to go now, he said -- to my homeland, to Nizhniy [Novgorod], <BR>to run once again for governor. <BR> Kiriyenko cursed the oligarchs. He tried to explain to the miners <BR>that all the bad things in our economy stem from the magnates. He himself, <BR>Sergey Vladilenovich, is to blame neither for crises nor for devaluation. <BR>After all, first they set him up, and then they knocked him down.... <BR>But the "retirees" did not obtain the miners' support or even <BR>sympathy. The miners did not feel sorry for them: <BR> "Our paths are different. When it comes right down to it, they were <BR>never concerned about our problems. Admittedly, Nemtsov did once come to <BR>us in the summer. He tried to persuade us not to demand the president's <BR>resignation. But this was the first time we had ever seen Kiriyenko 'in <BR>the flesh'." <BR> The bottle of vodka that Nemtsov brought was never opened. The miners <BR>did not drink with them. It is said that the miners later threw that <BR>unhappy bottle into a trash can. Pathetic or not?! <P>-- <BR>Gregory Schwartz <BR>Dept. of Political Science <BR>York University <BR>4700 Keele St. <BR>Toronto, Ontario <BR>M3J 1P3 <BR>Canada <P>Tel: (416) 736-5265 <BR>Fax: (416) 736-5686 <BR>Web: <A HREF="http://www.yorku.ca/dept/polisci">http://www.yorku.ca/dept/polisci</A> <BR> </HTML> --------------25A3B2A6CF2582BCDC362757--
