Vladimir Putin proposed that each member of the government contribute one month's salary to the monument. Izvestia got a rough idea of how much it costs.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin laid the foundation stone for a monument to Pyotr Stolypin in front of the Government House on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment. The monument will be constructed as soon as the necessary funding is raised. Vladimir Putin decided to collect the funds himself in order to ensure that the monument is completed in time for the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian reformer.
"This is everyone's duty," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told his subordinates. "This is not an order, but I hope that each member of the government will contribute some of their own money to the monument. And later we will launch a public campaign to collect donations for the project. I don't think it will cost much, and I hope that we will easily raise the necessary funds."
The ministers on the organising committee exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. Putin even decided on the amount that ministers should donate by the end of the meeting – one month's salary – and he encouraged deputies and senators to do the same. After that he delivered a speech on Stolypin's reforms.
"Pyotr Stolypin became the country's prime minister at a very difficult, truly dramatic period in Russia's history, a time of political and social turmoil," Putin said. "He understood that radicalism and resistance to reform were equally dangerous to the country."
He added that Stolypin created the foundation for social policy in Russia, reformed state institutions and government agencies, and was responsible for the impressive growth of industry and Russia's industrial breakthrough. At the time, Russia had the fastest growing economy in the world.
Pavel Pozhigailo, president of the Fund for the Study of Stolypin's Heritage, said that while compiling the minister's genealogy he discovered that director Nikita Mikhalkov, who was also present at the meeting, was related to Stolypin through the Gorchakov line. Incidentally, a film about Stolypin is in the works. The director wasn't forced to secure funding for the film, as Channel One's management asked for 20 million roubles for a live-action film instead of 900,000 roubles for the documentary that was initially planned. Mikhalkov then proposed a Stolypin movement within the Popular Front.
Meanwhile, Putin was absorbed in the pamphlet "Pyotr Stolypin and His Reforms: 100 Years Later." He highlighted some quotes of the great reformer that he especially liked and even read one of them aloud.
"After enduring bitter trials, Russia cannot help but feel dissatisfied. It is dissatisfied not only with its government but with the State Duma and the State Council. It is dissatisfied with the parties on both the right and the left, because Russia is dissatisfied with itself," Putin read from the pamphlet. "Therefore, I think both the deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council will make a personal contribution to the building of the monument," Putin said.
Izvestia calculated what the cost of the monument might run if all ministers contribute a month's salary to it. There are 18 ministers altogether. According to sources in the Government House, each minister earns 152,000 roubles a month, except Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who earns 162,000 roubles a month. A misprint might have crept into the payroll, but that's another matter. The ministers' total contribution would be 2.8 million roubles. According to Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's press secretary, the prime minister's monthly salary is under 200,000 roubles, and the same goes for the nine deputy prime ministers. Peskov said that the prime minister would also contribute one month's salary. Thus, almost 5 million roubles will come from members of the government. This is not much. To compare, in 2005, the monument to Alexander II by Alexander Rukavishnikov cost 35 million roubles (funded by private businessmen), and the monument to the victims of Chernobyl, which has not been built yet, will cost 10 million roubles (it will be funded by the Chernobyl Soldiers organisation).
However, if lower-ranking officials (heads of services, agencies, departments, etc.) as well as deputies, senators and others help raise funds, there should be more than enough. As Pavel Pozhigailo said, the funds raised in Kiev were enough to build both a monument to Stolypin and a new orphanage.
Anastasia Novikova, Yelena Shishkunova