Higher duties on foreign cars trigger a conflict among protesters.
In Ulyanovsk and Tolyatti, mass rallies were held yesterday in support of a government decision to raise duties on foreign cars imported into Russia. They came after earlier protests staged in the Far East and Siberia against these protective measures that threaten to cut jobs there. Government policy has thus led to a large-scale conflict between the interests of different regions in Russia, and the opposition is warning of new social upheavals.
Yesterday, in two large centres of Russian motor industry, Tolyatti and Ulyanovsk, workers staged rallies to support the Russian automobile industry and duties on used cars, which were raised by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on December 5. The Prime Minister signed an executive order (which takes effect on January 11) to raise import duties on foreign cars, automatically driving up their prices. The organisers did not hide the fact that the rallies had been organised to oppose Primorye workers protesting against the protective measures.
On December 14, as it may be recalled, several thousand protesters blocked traffic in Vladivostok's central streets for half the day and tried to seize a local airport, demanding cancellation of the government decision. Protests were also staged in other Far Eastern and Siberian cities and towns. Dmitry Penyaz, the leader of the Society for the Protection of Motorists in the Primorye Territory, predicted that higher duties and, as a result, increased prices, for foreign cars would leave 80,000 people in Vladivostok's auto business without work as early as February. Yesterday, the Vladivostok Duma sent a letter to the federal authorities asking them to revoke their decision. Deputies are pointing out that "no necessary estimates were made when the government passed the decision. In particular, it failed to look into the effects of increased duties on the employment situation in the Far East." Protesters are not going to give up. Over the weekend, the capital of Primorye is planning another and larger march. Anonymous text messages are being sent to Primorye subscribers with calls to block the Trans-Siberian Railway and motorways.
Yesterday's rally in defence of the Russian automobile industry outside the Ulyanovsk Motor Plant gathered 7,000 workers from the plant, Avtodetalservis, Utyos, and Ulyanovsk Engine Plant. "The people of Primorye have put Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev in an embarrassing position," Anatoly Chuvashlov, the chairman of the plant's trade union, said. "The thousands of people engaged in the car import business do not realise that millions of people may find themselves without jobs. The slogan of these people is: ‘Let the Russian car industry die quietly.'" Chuvashlov noted that massive layoffs were out of the question (the plant intends to cut 490 staff between January and March), "because the trade union stands up for every worker, and all reductions will be made in strict accordance with the law". According to Alla Akimova, the plant's press officer, "the rally was almost spontaneous", although the trade union chairman did not conceal the fact that the event had been agreed upon by the management of the Sollers holding, to which the auto plant belongs.
In Tolyatti, 500 workers of AvtoVAZ (which belongs to the state corporation Russian Technologies) gathered on the square outside the Volgar Sports Centre to support higher customs duties. "We consider the decision right and stand up for the interests of the millions of people employed by the Russian automobile industry," Nikolai Karagin, the chairman of the AvtoVAZ union branch, told Kommersant, adding that governments of other countries had long been putting limitations on the used car market. The protesters adopted an appeal to the President and government of Russia, saying that "additional measures to support Russian producers will create conditions for a stable economy and its successful development."
According to AvtoVAZ spokesmen, similar rallies are being planned by the GAZ and KamAZ auto manufacturers. Yelena Matveyeva, deputy chairperson of the GAZ Group board, confirmed to Kommersant that a large rally in support of the government's decision could be held in Nizhny Novgorod even today. "Workers are taking well to the government's measures," she said. In Naberezhnye Chelny, they refused to comment on possible rallies; the plant is preparing for a visit by Vladimir Putin, which is to take place today. On Thursday, the Prime Minister again spoke in support of the Russian auto industry (see page 4).
"All this has been arranged from the top: they issued a command and people walked out," said Sergei Khramov, the chairman of Russia's Sotsprof metal workers' trade union, commenting on yesterday's rallies. "It is strange that people should turn out in large numbers about some customs duties, and not about their wages." Pyotr Zolotaryov, the chairman of AvtoVAZ's Yedinstvo (Unity) independent trade union, who approves of the government's protective measures, said that "the event was held to once again prove their loyalty to the government". He added that the federal authorities had been lenient to AvtoVAZ before, but the steps proved useless, because "these measures were used in the selfish interests of the plant's former management". One high-ranking official in the Ulyanovsk government told Kommersant on condition of anonymity, "When such events are organised at such a level, is it not understandable that there is a motive behind them?"
"The scheme could have been as follows: after a series of rallies in Primorye, Russian producers became concerned that the government might withdraw the duties, so it was decided to push the rally idea through the trade unions," believes Alexei Mukhin, the general director of the Centre of Political Information. "In this situation, the government pretends it is meeting the workers halfway, choosing the group it finds convenient." Mukhin is sure that this is "not a social protest, but a clash between two lobbyist groups".
"It does not matter whether the workers themselves staged the rally or were made to do so by their management," Valery Rashkin, the secretary of the Russian Communist Party central committee, told Kommersant. "What is important is that the Russian government, in crisis conditions, proved ineffective, and the country is getting out of control. And this is not the crisis itself, it is only its very beginning - we will see far more strange and fearful situations when people in one part of the country rally for one thing, and in another, for the opposite." Communist Rashkin added that he could not see "measures likely to prevent new social upheavals".
Sergei Titov, Roman Malinin, Maria Kuznetsova, Alexei Chernyshov, Ivan Tyazhlov