Nizhny Novgorod internet users complained to the president about the governor by mass-sending e-mails to the kremlin.ru website. The trigger for their virtual discontent was a hike in bus fares.
From October 1 of this year, fares in Nizhny Novgorod will rise by 27% — from 11 to 14 rubles. The cost of a monthly travel pass will increase even more substantially — from 440 to 700 rubles. After the regional government announced this decision, a lively discussion broke out across several threads on the city forum of the portal nn.ru. The most active users suggested that all those unhappy should send letters to the presidential website asking the head of state to intervene and instruct authorities to "check the legality and justification of such a fare increase, as well as the effectiveness of the officials responsible for public transport in Russia's largest city."
"Since the crisis began, a large number of Nizhny Novgorod residents have lost their jobs, and many have had their wages cut. This initiative by the authorities hits hard at the budgets of the most vulnerable segments of the population who rely on public transport," wrote user Kommi, offering his version of the message. "All of this is leading to growing tension in the region and is undermining the authority of government institutions," user Deathmaker stated in his letter. One after another, users reported that they had sent in their complaints. Forum participants recalled how, in the same way, six months ago Nizhny Novgorod mothers had united online, outraged by the closure of the city's milk kitchens. The women had even managed to get through to Vladimir Putin during a live broadcast and thus secured the preservation of the "molochki" that were so important to them. Some also cited Pikalevo as a successful example. "Pikalevo was public — this is just a letter to grandpa in the village," the skeptics cautioned, however.
By raising the fares, the regional government plans to bring an additional 100 million rubles into the regional budget this year. This money will allow the regional authorities to pay off part of their fuel debts: the state enterprise Nizhegorodpassazhiravtotrans owes LUKOIL approximately 200 million rubles for fuel. The total accounts payable of Nizhegorodpassazhiravtotrans has reached nearly 400 million rubles. Such debt has, however, already become customary for the enterprise. Last year the regional authorities directed 831 million rubles from the regional budget toward repaying its debts, and the year before that — 380 million rubles. The fare increase "will have a positive effect on transport enterprises," says Aleksandr Zubarev, director of the Nizhny Novgorod Region's Department of Transport and Communications.
Throughout the year, regional officials repeatedly promised that bus fares would not go up. Governor Valery Shantsev declared that measures would be taken to bring the enterprise to break-even operations. In his assessment, the culprits behind Nizhegorodpassazhiravtotrans's poor performance are "fare dodgers." "Practice shows that a very large number of passengers do not pay their fare, since there are no inspectors. I dealt with this issue very firmly today and gave the enterprise's management one week to optimize its operations. Otherwise, at some point, the regional budget simply will not have enough money to cover Nizhegorodpassazhiravtotrans's losses," the regional head said back at the beginning of spring. Nevertheless, according to the regional government, operating costs for passenger road transport have risen by nearly 34% this year.
Last Saturday, local communists held a rally against the bus fare increase. They sent an address to the regional government demanding that the decision be reversed. According to Vladislav Yegorov, a member of the regional parliament representing the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the budget's problems cannot be solved at the expense of low-income citizens.
Over the weekend, however, the ardor of the online activists began to cool — after they started receiving replies from the Presidential Administration's Citizen Appeals Office: "We inform you that your appeal, submitted to the President of the Russian Federation via public information systems, has, in accordance with Part 3, Article 8 of the Federal Law 'On the Procedure for Considering Appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation,' been forwarded for consideration to the Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region…" "So you complained about the boyar, and the letter went straight back to the boyar," summed up one of the action's initiators, user Deathmaker.
Published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 22.09.2009