Complete version of Grigory Yavlinsky-s position. In the publication of Izvestia of February 10, 2006, the first and part of the fifth abstracts were cut.

National projects do not imply simply giving out money for some important things. This means creation, and for dozens of years ahead, of the mechanisms for solution of the tasks vitally important for the nation. This may be compared with development of a rod, rather than simply giving out the caught fish.

I would propose three projects: human rights, fight with corruption, justice and fair trial.

A national project ?human rights¦ includes establishment of an investigative committee and deep reconstruction of the public prosecutor-s office. Initial estimations show that this would require 220-230 bln roubles and will take at least tree or five years. Reconstruction of the old and building of new detention facilities may cost approximately 300 bln roubles and will last for about seven years. The most important element of the project v Public Television v will demand about 300 million roubles in the first year.

Another project is fight with corruption. Our bureaucrats are not worse than bureaucrats in other countries: they are as thievish, malicious or indifferent as the other. But there is no public control over them, the control of the citizens on whose money represented by taxes they live; they have only higher rank bosses who are always interested in keeping everything in hugger-mugger.

Such a project envisages support (also a material support) of independence of the press, which will be able conduct journalist investigations and make public the corruption cases; normal elections that will lead to a change of leadership and disruption of corruption ties; enhancing the division of the branches of power, so that really independent legislators could conduct real parliamentary investigations on unjustified expenditures, inefficient property management, actions or negligence of the authorities, etc.

The third project implies justice and fair trial, but this is a separate large discussion.

Such tasks are not solved by the launch of election campaigns. They are targeted at creation of prerequisites for preservation of the nation and the country, rather than PR actions.

***
See also the publication in Russian at Izvestia web-site
http://www.izvestia.ru/debate/article3071617

Translated by Olga Radaeva