Shantsev.Net, Shanzev.net — a website on the international computer network The Internet, dedicated to the ousting of Governor Valery Shantsev. The primary, though not the only, Media devoted to this subject.
As of the present time (February 2011) it is inactive, and the phrase "Denis, I miss you, call me" has been embedded in the source code, symbolizing the project's lack of funding.
Nature of the Phenomenon
Arguably the most expensive-to-produce website criticizing the activities of Governor Valery Shantsev, his associates, and members of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Government.
Contains a Flash game based on Shantsev's adventures in Nizhny Novgorod.
The main page of Shanzev.net features an animation depicting the chimes of the The Kremlin with V.P. Shantsev hanging from the second hand, frantically kicking his legs. A calendar next to the tower counts down the days remaining until the Governor's term expires.
Public Benefit
Contains over 9,000 articles detailing the Regional Government's misappropriation of funds.
Site Sections
- Shantsev Eats! — analytical articles
- No Chance! — Shantsev chronicles 2005–2009
- Catch Your Chance — Flash game
- Shansiki — dossiers and portraits of officials
- Chansonnier — Poems, songs, videos, stories
- Give Me a Chance! — the unofficial reception office of Governor Shantsev
Criticism
The successes of the Shantsev.Net website naturally provoked a stream of anonymous posts on internet forums about the nature of the project.
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- A curious little memo recently caught my eye. Unfortunately I cannot quote it verbatim, but I will recount from memory everything I learned. This memo concerns the Shantsev.Net website. It is not really a memo in the traditional sense — more like information that people apparently collect for their own use. Why they collect it is a separate question.
So, regarding the anti-Valery Shantsev website. The Shantsev.Net project began development back in 2008. The project's technical director is Alexander Yakovlevich Briskin, an employee of the Moscow PR agency "Mikhaylov and Partners." Before 2005, Briskin worked with the team of presidential envoy Sergei Kirienko as a specialist in black PR and took part in actions against Klimentyev (remember the houses painted with "We're for Klim"?). He then worked in the press office of the company "Russkiye Avtobusy" (a Deripaska structure). Last year he left that position due to a certain interesting offer. That offer may well have been connected to the Shantsev.Net project. The site was registered by him under a front person — one Olesya Bagredddinova (I hope I've spelled her surname correctly), residing in Leningrad Region. Under this Briskin's direction, the ideology was formulated and the design and management of the site were developed. The site's ideology was also co-developed by former TV presenter Alexander Bludyshev, who for the past ten years has been involved in various election campaigns in cities and towns across our vast country and in Ukraine. At the same time, they began recruiting staff for the site. They reached out to Molokin (former director of the TV studio NNTV and the TV channel "Dialog"), who recommended Gennady Grigoryev, with whom he had worked in black PR for a number of years. This Grigoryev had until recently been working in Dzerzhinsk at local television, and was then dismissed, apparently for drinking. The initiator of the site was allegedly the head of Mayor Bulavinov's press office, Roman Skudnyakov. Whether he personally proposed the idea to Bulavinov, or Bulavinov conceived it himself, or whether it was the collective effort of Bulavinov, Skudnyakov, Briskin, Bludyshev, and Molokin — is still unknown. But it appears to be reliably known that Bulavinov approved the idea and allocated money for it. And not a small amount, by all indications. Whether this entire group is involved in the project is also unknown, but what is known for certain is that Roman Skudnyakov is actively running the project today. He regularly gathers the people working on the site and briefs them. He passes them various documents which, as the memo suggests, he receives from Bulavinov, who in turn receives them from some deputy chief of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate whom he once knew from his previous work in the police. Apparently there are photographs of Skudnyakov and Grigoryev discussing something, but I haven't seen them yet. It is clear that a mayoral aide would not be meeting with people connected to an anti-government website without his boss's knowledge. Which means Bulavinov. (That's how badly Shantsev has gotten under his skin!). On Bulavinov's orders, the entire staff of the newspaper "Leninskaya Smena (newspaper)" was brought into the project. Their pay is laughable — 10–15 thousand wooden rubles. This, while Grigoryev gets 100 thousand rubles a month. Skudnyakov supposedly receives 300 thousand rubles. But this information has not been fully verified. Well, that's essentially all. I don't know any more for now. If anyone has any information on this — send it in. It's interesting, after all. - This site is made by Gena Grigoryev, with a couple of people from LS contributing. Budget — around 50–60 thousand a month. No astronomical sums are involved. |
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