Rigi neil. “Russian” mayor of Riga: “violator” of language laws, cat lover and supporter of “Euro Sabantuy”

25.07.2023

On June 3, municipal elections were held in Latvia. Interest was mainly focused on Riga - the capital, where the government coalition is traditionally weak and the opposition is strong - the Harmony party, led by the “Russian mayor” Nil Ushakov. Despite all attempts to prevent Ushakov from coming to power for the third time, the intrigue did not happen - “Concord” is in a coalition with the party “It’s an honor to serve Riga!” received almost 52%.

On the night of the counting of the results, it still seemed that the result was not obvious and another candidate might become the winner. The mayor election system in Riga differs from the Russian one - citizens vote not for the mayor, but for the party. The party that receives the majority of votes in the Riga City Council forms a coalition, which appoints the mayor. Moreover, if a party was unable to overcome the 5 percent threshold, the votes cast for it are proportionally divided among the others.

Another feature of the Riga elections that affects the results is the problem of non-citizens, which Latvia has not yet dealt with. Non-citizens - those who moved to Latvia from the early 40s to the end of the 80s from other republics of the USSR - cannot take part in elections. Interestingly, citizens of other EU countries - provided they have a residence permit in Latvia - can vote.

On the eve of the elections, three parties - the Union of Greens and Peasants (has a majority in the national parliament - the Seimas), Unity and the National Association "Everything for Latvia" entered into a memorandum of cooperation - to coordinate actions during the election campaign and not enter into a coalition with Ushakov under no circumstances. After the publication of the exit polls, Nil Ushakov’s opponents already began to celebrate: according to preliminary results, the mayor’s party received no more than 42%. In this case, the rest, having united, could form a coalition and nominate their own candidate.

However, the final vote count did not live up to these expectations. The coalition led by Harmony took almost 52% and again won the elections to the Riga City Council - however, now receiving 32 seats out of 60, and not 39 - as was the case in 2013. This, by the way, is not yet a very alarming, but already important wake-up call for Ushakov - he is still the most popular politician in Riga, but his support is no longer as limitless as before. Perhaps, over the past four years, Ushakov has lost a certain percentage of his audience because of his position on Russia: until now, the young, active and popular mayor was forgiven for friendly relations with some Russian politicians (in particular, the cooperation agreement signed by the parties “Consent” and “ United Russia" in 2009) - now for many this has become unacceptable. For example, the recent visit to Latvia of the Governor of the Pskov Region Andrei Turchak, who posted a photo with Ushakov on his Instagram, calling him his friend and writing: “Good luck to you on June 3 and a clean victory! »

Latvian political scientist Ivars Ijabs believes that Nil Ushakov’s confident victory is the result not so much of his strength as of the weakness of his opponents. It is interesting that the main favorite from the opposite camp, Martins Bondars, an ex-presidential candidate and former banker, largely based his campaign on the thesis “Let’s bring down Ushakov!”

The laurels of Maria Zakharova, the sharp-tongued blond beast of the Russian Foreign Ministry, now haunt official representatives of other states. Of course: the diplomatic field has stripped itself of unnecessary officialdom and began to defend the country not only with deeds, but also with poisonous words. Therefore, recent publications of political cartoons by the mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov also caused a wide resonance in society. The Baltic politician published on his page in social network a comic that ridiculed Ruta Pazdere, who came up with another initiative to calculate the damage from the “Soviet occupation.”

The point is that Latvia, as part of the USSR, allegedly suffered a loss of 185 billion euros. To which the mayor of Riga responded as follows:

The mayor of Riga himself Ushakov modestly explains his work as follows:

In Latvia, right-wing politicians attribute all the problems of the last 25 years to serious historical heritage. The main thing is not to forget to periodically publicly ask for compensation from Russia. Then all the sins committed are cleared and you can go on working.

Neil Ushakov

The caricature turned out to be not the only one - after the threat of imprisonment, Ushakov published a new drawing: this time it was personally Pazdera, who threatened him with prison for the previous cartoon. The second time Ushakov turned out to be bolder, captioning the drawing: “How to steal a bank/ruin a company/pay miserable pensions, and at the same time not have to pay anything for it. Advice from compensation specialist Ruta Pazdere.”

Ushakov has had such agility and loquaciousness since his youth, because Neil previously held the position of journalist in several well-known media outlets. In particular, in 1998, Ushakov got a job in the Baltic branch of the NTV television company, where he later held the position of producer, worked for a long time at the ITAR-TASS agency, and in 2004 he was awarded the Cicero Prize for his contribution to Latvian journalism. So Ushakov had the opportunity to sharpen his tongue over a long period of time, and on a suitable sharpening stone.

The figure of Ushakov is also interesting because his party managed to collect a record number of votes in the 2009 elections: then Ushakov’s association achieved a truly incredible thing, taking 26 seats in the Riga Duma out of 60. As a result, Nil Ushakov became the mayor of Riga on July 1, 2009.

In seven years, despite Ushakov’s young age (he will celebrate his fortieth birthday at the beginning of summer), Riga has truly “risen from the ashes.” The new mayor distinguished himself by large-scale reorganization and optimization of Riga's education system, the situation in social policy has been noticeably improved, the medical care system has been renovated and the tourist attractiveness of Latvia has been increased. In other words, life has become better for Riga residents. And now, apparently, it’s even more fun.

It is no coincidence that Ushakov received such enormous support from the population: against the backdrop of stubborn Baltic politicians who, instead of improving the lives of the population, engage exclusively in verbal provocations against Russia, a pragmatic and sober politician looks extremely advantageous. As a true patriot of the Baltic states, and not pro-Western puppets, he has been fighting the Russophobic sentiments of the ruling elite for a long time. No matter how much journalists dig into the mayor’s dirty laundry, “ clean water“So far no one has been able to get it out. Despite numerous accusations of espionage and connections with Russian politicians, Ushakov remains a mystery person, since he simultaneously adheres to pro-Western values, but does not spit on his common history with Russia.

Like almost all political figures, Ushakov certainly has his own “skeletons” in his closet. In particular, several times the young politician was overtaken by real amnesia. Fiercely defending the interests of the Russian language in the Baltic states, inviting local governments to submit information to the press in Russian and Lithuanian at the same time, Ushakov at some point accidentally “gets confused” in his testimony and claims that Russian should not become the state language. In the same way, with the speed of light, Ushakov changed his mind regarding the Riga street named after Dzhokhar Dudayev. Before being elected mayor of Riga, Ushakov actively declared the impossibility of living on a street named after a Chechen terrorist. However, after his election it became clear that there was no need to rush into renaming the street. It still remains unclear why this happened: either the statement was for the purpose of making a statement and winning a large number of supporters, or Alternative option the name was even worse.

The residents of Riga particularly remembered his ceremonial laying of flowers at the monument to the Liberator of Latvia from the Nazis and the honoring of Soviet veterans. At the same time, it is noteworthy that the mayor does this every year, persistently falling under the lenses of television cameras. Every time the politician assigns the main role to the fact that this is a common memory, and the Victory Day is intended to unite peoples, as it was 70 years ago. However, at the same time, Ushakov notes the violent nature of the change of power in 1940, despite the active denial of the so-called “occupation” of the territory of Latvia by the authorities of the former USSR.

In addition, the same mayor of Riga became one of the few Latvian politicians who were deeply outraged by the “black lists” on the entry of Russian pop stars into the country.

Nil Ushakov also distinguished himself during a recent official visit to Brussels, during a meeting with the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz. In particular, his frank statement to the European representative about the violation of civil liberties on the territory of Latvia and “real political repression” was devastating. The mayor of Riga stated that the citizen of Latvia, Maxim Koptelova sentenced to six months of real imprisonment for a comic declaration about Latvia's annexation to Russia. Andrey Bartetsky for such an act, but in relation to Latvia and the USA the same fate threatens. At the same time, Nil Ushakov clarified that the paranoid Latvian authorities consider such pranks to be nothing more than “a public call to undermine the territorial integrity of the Republic of Latvia,” condemned under paragraph 1 of Article 82 of the Law of Latvia.

And against the backdrop of such chaos in the Baltics with freedom of speech, the mayor of Riga was not afraid to publish recent cartoons. Of course, his honesty, fearlessness and lack of genuflection before Russia could not go unnoticed. Old friends of our magazine, regular authors and guests also supported the energetic and young politician.

Nikolay Starikov, publicist, historian, co-chairman of the Anti-Maidan movement: Anatoly Alexandrovich Wasserman

The mayor of Riga certainly deserves at least respect for his difference from other Baltic politicians. Against the backdrop of the widespread manifestation of acute Russophobic sentiments and dancing with a tambourine near fascist fires, Nil Ushakov remains the only normal, sensible politician capable of conducting a dialogue with all countries and not allowing a radical rewrite of history. Residents of Riga are lucky - their city is led by a young, energetic, sharp-tongued and at the same time balanced mayor. And they reciprocate his feelings. In any normal state, such a politician would become a promising figure on a national scale, and even in the European Union, if he independent organization, Ushakov could have had an excellent career. However, in modern Brussels and the Baltics, politicians like Nil Ushakov are doomed to resistance. It is possible that he faces a prison sentence and the stigma of being an outcast in the European Union.

10 facts about Nil Ushakov, who visited Kazan with the first airBaltic aircraft

On the night of April 27, the Tatarstan capital and Riga were connected by a direct airBaltic flight. One of the first passengers was the mayor of Riga, Nil Ushakov, a well-known cat lover and “violator” of the law on the state language of Latvia. In Kazan, Ushakov has a fairly extensive program - a meeting with the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, conversations with the rectors of leading universities in Tatarstan collaborating with higher educational institutions in Latvia. Ushakov will also give a lecture to KFU students. " Real time» prepared the top 10 most interesting facts from the biography of the mayor of Riga, who more than once became the target close attention MASS MEDIA.

The first "Russian" mayor

Residents of Riga are kind to Nil Ushakov, this is evidenced by the fact that he has held the post of mayor since 2009. Moreover, he is the first Russian mayor of the Latvian capital in the entire post-Soviet history of the country. In the 2009 municipal elections, Nil Ushakov and his association achieved record results in the elections to the Riga Duma, receiving 26 seats out of 60. To date, no party in the modern history of Riga has managed to achieve such representation.

Ushakov - journalist

Even before his political career, Nil Ushakov worked in journalism. After graduation, he planned to work at the University of Latvia, but ultimately chose a journalistic career. A year later he moved to Latvian Public Television, where he worked as a correspondent for the news service. In the early 2000s, he was editor of the news and politics department at the newspapers Respublika and Telegraph.

The longest in Ushakov’s journalistic practice was working on the Latvian private television channel TV5 Rīga. From March 2004 to November 2005 he worked as editor of the news service of the First Baltic Channel.

His professional achievements were awarded the “Cicero” award from the Union of Journalists of Latvia and the University of Latvia.

Ushakov lost consciousness while participating in the Riga Marathon at a distance of 21 km and was in a state of medically induced coma for several days. Photo euromag.ru

Ushakov and sport

In high school, the future mayor of Riga took up boxing, and later became interested in running and cycling. Against this background, the incident that occurred in May 2011 came as a complete surprise. Then Ushakov lost consciousness while participating in the Riga Marathon at a distance of 21 km.

He was in a medically induced coma for several days. Doctors diagnosed him with rhabdomyolysis.

Fines for “language”

They tried to fine Ushakov more than once for violating the law on the state language. The last time the State Language Center of Latvia (CLL) imposed a fine of €50 on him was on April 26 for informal conversation with schoolchildren in Russian. The Central State Law Center tried to punish Ushakov for violating the state language law also in 2015 and 2016.

IN currently Russian language does not have official status in Latvia. Meanwhile, Russian is the second most common language in the country. According to the 2011 census, 37.5% of the population speaks it at home.

The mayor of Riga is famous for his love of cats. Photo the-village.ru

Cat's embarrassment

The mayor of Riga is also famous for his love of cats. The city hall is home to two “official city cats” - Muris and Kuzya. Ushakov took both of them from an animal shelter.

But darling embarrassment, happened in live, is associated with another animal - Dumka, who jumped onto the mayor’s desk during an interview about the repair of city roads.

Thanks to this incident, the cat Dumka became famous throughout the world. The media wrote about her - from USA Today and the Washington Post to Chinese-language portals, news sites in Mexico, Turkey, Malaysia, and Spanish-speaking countries in South America.

Ushakov and selfie with an American tank

In March 2015, Ushakov posted a selfie on Twitter in front of an American M1A2 Abrams tank, delivered to the port of the Latvian capital from the United States along with another military equipment. The official wrote on his account that his week started “unconventionally.”

The weapons shipment arrived in Riga as part of the Atlantic Resolve mission. Local media noted that the technology “will create a united front against aggression in Ukraine.”

Scandalous caricature

Ushakov posted April 22, 2016 in Facebook cartoon related to the statement of Ruta Pazdere (representative of the Commission for calculating damage from the Soviet occupation - approx. ed.) about the amount of damage from the Soviet “occupation”. In the picture, a cyclist breaks a wheel and demands compensation from Russia for this. The official considered the satirical image to ridicule the history of the country and threatened the mayor with prison.

Ushakov himself explained the cartoon by saying that it is a mistake to attribute all the problems of the last 25 years to a difficult historical legacy.

Ushakov and the “Crimean scenario”

With the beginning of the Crimean events, some Latvian right-wing politicians began to reproach the “Consent Center”, headed by Ushakov, for having a cooperation agreement with “United Russia” and demand that Nil Ushakov and his colleagues publicly condemn the actions of the Russian Federation. And the radicals started talking seriously about the likelihood of a Crimean scenario in Riga.

Ushakov himself gave an interview to the tvnet.lv portal in 2014, during which he stated that “the government of Ukraine came to power as a result of an armed coup. Whether this will later be called a revolution or a coup, we’ll see.”

Ushakov also recalled that the Harmony Center association in 2007 advocated signing a border treaty with Russia and for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, since “any such changes are fraught with unpredictable consequences.” “There are many questions about the referendum in Crimea, but even if 97% did not vote for joining Russia, it is still obvious that they were the majority,” he said.

Weakening positions

However, the seat of mayor Ushakov (the political association "Center of Consent" - approx. edit.) before the upcoming elections is no longer as stable as 4 years ago, analysts believe.

Political scientist Ivars Ijabs is also confident that Harmony managed to gather Russian-speaking voters, but Latvians, who previously supported the Riga mayor, may be wary of it. In 2013, there were no military actions in Ukraine yet and Russia had not occupied Crimea. According to Latvian political scientists, the situation with the peninsula affects Latvian voters, which is why Ushakov cannot relax in these elections.

Ushakov’s Facebook page has already posted a photo taken near the plane’s ramp at Kazan airport. Photo facebook.com/NilUshakov

Tatars of Riga and the first “Eurosabantui”

Even during negotiations with the leadership of Tatarstan in October 2016, where the opening of a flight between Latvia and the Tatarstan capital was discussed, Ushakov said that many Tatars live in Riga, and that the first European Sabantuy took place here.

Then Ushakov, speaking about Kazan, noted that “he had heard about the city<…>I looked at the photos, licked my lips, but haven’t gotten there yet.” Maybe that’s why the mayor of Riga became one of the first passengers on the new airBaltic flight.

By the way, Ushakov’s Facebook page has already posted a photograph taken near the plane’s ramp at Kazan airport. “The first flight Riga - Kazan is open. We took off at 23.30 and at 1.30 we were solemnly greeted at the ramp,” he writes.

Damira Khairulina

Birth June 8 (1976-06-08 ) (43 years)
Riga , Latvian SSR , USSR

Neil Valerievich Ushakov (Latvian. Nils Ušakovs; genus. June 8 (1976-06-08 ) , Riga , Latvian SSR , USSR) - Latvian politician, mayor cities Riga With July 1 2009. In 2006-2009 was a member of the 9th Seimas of Latvia.

Education

Corruption scandals

Ushakov’s opponents talk about corruption and poor management in his department: some municipal enterprises are suspected of dubious schemes and embezzlement of budget funds:

Criticism of the board

Among the promises of Nil Ushakov that were not fulfilled or were not fully fulfilled include:

Nil Ušakov claims that the number of tourists to the capital of Latvia has increased thanks to the successful advertising program Live Riga, within which, since 2009, advertising of Riga as a tourist center. However, it was not possible to achieve the promised goal of 2.1 million tourists per year - in 2016, only 1.57 million tourists visited Riga [ ] .
In 2013, a promise was made to keep the Riga budget deficit within 2-3% [ ], however, in 2013 it was 8%, in 2014 - 4%, in 2015 - 0.5%, in 2016 - the budget was closed even with a surplus [ ] .
Organize bicycle paths on all main streets of microdistricts, but by 2017 they were built only on some large streets in the center of Riga [ ] .
A lot of money was spent on advertising and promotion of the “Riga Brand” project, in order to improve the promotion of Riga and Latvian products on Russian market, but this project did not bring any visible results and initially the project was brought to an absurd situation when the true owner of this brand was unclear. The Riga Yard project, which promoted Latvian products with the introduction of Russian sanctions, lost all meaning and was disbanded.
On the personal initiative of Nil Ushakov, the municipality spent part of the Riga budget to finance training state language, despite the fact that the state has already spent more than 12 million lats for these purposes and more than 55 thousand Riga residents have taken Latvian language courses paid for by Latvia by this time.
Order in the city and the safety of Riga residents and tourists from the very beginning of Nil Ushakov’s work in the capital were declared as one of the priorities. Despite economic crisis, security costs have not been reduced [ ], but this had no effect [ ] on the ability of the Riga municipal police to counter the spread of hard drugs. The lack of control of the situation led to the organization of mass protests, calls and even repeated cases of arson of places where dangerous substances were traded (with victims), and calls for lynching.
Between 2009 and 2011, housing construction and renovation continued to reduce the queue of people in need [ ] . The increase in the volume of delivery of social housing during the leadership of Nil Ushakov was accompanied not only by comments on the quality of the housing being delivered [ ], but also the largest recent history Latvia scandals at the level of the administration of the apartment management of the Riga City Council with the announcement of his persons involved in the international wanted list [ ] .

Achievements

Ushakov sees the development of the city economy as priority tasks - the spheres of tourism, construction, transport (Riga port and airport), services and leisure. The task is also to maintain social expenditures and expenses for maintaining law and order in the city with the necessary reduction in budget expenditures for other purposes.

Among the priority measures aimed at overcoming the consequences of the crisis was the decision to reduce the administrative costs of the mayor's office and its staff by a third, including two out of three deputy mayors. From the first day of work in self-government, he chose social support for the population, housing construction, order and safety on the city streets, and tourism development as his priorities. Throughout the three years of this convocation, the priorities remained unchanged and a lot was achieved [ ] :

Non-working pensioners and secondary school students are provided with free pass V public transport.
The Riga City Council under the leadership of Nil Ushakov set a kind of record [ ] optimization of the education system in Riga. In just 3 years, 11 schools with Russian language of instruction, 4 schools with Latvian language of instruction and one mixed school were closed in Riga. In particular, the oldest Russian school, which even survived the evacuation from Riga in 1915, was closed - the Lomonosov school.
While setting a record for the number of closed schools, successfully [ ] the problem of queues in municipal kindergartens is being solved. Over three years, the number of places in preschool institutions has increased by 4232. However, even in this social sphere By the end of 2013, extremely unusual saving methods were announced.
Renovation of municipal medical institutions also continues. At the end of 2010, a five-year plan for the reconstruction of the oldest city hospital, the 1st Riga Hospital, was approved. In 2009, the state intended to close this hospital, [