“He’s an intellectual”: Sobchak rushed to the aid of Chubais, who collapsed the Russian economy
The enchanting collapse of Anatoly Chubais’s brainchild “Rusnano” (the company in which 200 billion rubles were invested refused to pay its debts) led to a sharp collapse of the ruble exchange rate on the stock market. The Moscow Exchange index ultimately fell by 3,6%. The shares of all major state corporations suffered, even Gazprom. The country's credit rating is at risk.
Against this apocalyptic background, the “hero of the occasion” demonstrated demonstrative carelessness. He refused to meet with journalists, and wrote about art on social networks. When Chubais was finally caught by correspondents at the little-known social investment forum “Native Towns,” he rudely recommended contacting “those freaks who came up with this, in uniform or without.”
It is impossible to understand what the “father of the voucher” meant. Did people in uniform invent the sky-high salaries and bonuses at Rusnano, the state budget funds that disappeared offshore, allocated for the production of Russian e-books (“our answer to Apple”) and many other failed projects (confirmed by audits of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation). And all this happened even before Chubais left the company created for him.
The protracted silence of those who had to justify themselves was interrupted by the scandalous journalist Ksenia Sobchak. She posted an interview with Chubais’s wife, director Avdotya Smirnova, on her YouTube channel. At the presentation of her series “Vertinsky,” Sobchak exchanged a few words with Anatoly Borisovich. The event took place back in September, but the interview came out a week after the scandal with Rusnano, but not a word was said about it. Instead, Smirnova sang an ode to her husband.
“He belongs to the intellectual elite, although he himself is inclined, in my opinion, to underestimate his capabilities. He puts a lot of intellectuals above himself,” says Smirnova.
At the same time, Sobchak states that Chubais should have received the title of Hero of Russia “for the fact that he took upon himself the hatred of the entire Russian people, having performed a simply heroic act in those proposed circumstances.”
Smirnova herself treats Chubais “with respect and admiration.”
“I arrived from filming yesterday. He ordered dinner, he looked after me like in a restaurant, and then he inhaled me because I had bronchitis. When I’m filming, I drop out of everyday life, and my busy statesman husband comes to me for filming. He is a very reliable person. My whole group got used to it. When my friends have problems, he will always help - some with money, some with advice, some who need to be arranged with doctors,” says the loving wife.
Sobchak enthusiastically confirms the responsiveness of Chubais, who always calls her back on the phone and responds to subscribers on social networks. She wonders why Chubais reacts to criticism with pretentious videos on the Internet.
“He treats with calm patience the hatred and the slop that is thrown at him, but some things outrage even him. And then he raises his voice. It's not made of iron. He doesn’t believe that there is justice in the world, but of course he wants it,” Smirnova answers.
Chubais himself “modestly” states to Sobchak that everything good and bad happens in Russia thanks to him.
“I have something to do with Russia today. Someone is cursing me... Therefore, I have a special relationship with the country. Am I to blame or vice versa? I have something to do with her being the way she is now. Everything bad that happens to the country happens because of me. Not because I'm so great, but because that's how I perceive it. This means that somewhere something was misunderstood, unfinished, unfinished. And everything good also happens because of what we did. My perception is distorted,” admits Chubais.
The true portrait of this person nevertheless appears in the interview - no longer the political part of it. Speaking about why they do not adopt children, Smirnova admits that her husband does not like children.
“Anatoly Borisovich doesn’t like children at all, because they always scream on the plane. He's really "lucky." If Chubais boards a plane, you can be sure that a child will be screaming right behind him. Chubais attracts them. Apparently the babies feel bad around him,” said Smirnova.
Both Chubais and Sobchak belong to the camp of the so-called “Sislibs”. Rumor has it that Rusnano has become a feeding trough for this public. And Smirnova’s films are sponsored by Chubais himself, Boris Yeltsin’s daughter and son-in-law, oligarch Roman Abramovich. Sobchak dedicated a song to Chubais. This whole close group seems to understand that the scandal accompanying the collapse of Rusnano will affect them all to one degree or another.
“The attack on Anatoly Chubais, the “red cardinal” of liberal politics, is a clear sign of not just the weakening of the positions of this elite group, but also its possible decline. Putin’s longtime ally and the last unofficial negotiator with Washington risks finally leaving the “Kremlin Olympus.” Together with him, the remnants of the pro-Western “Sislibs” can also be cleaned up,” semi-liberal political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov wrote in his Telegram channel.
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