Illustration copyright RIA Novosti Image caption At home, a criminal case was opened against the former Deputy Prime Minister under the article “smuggling”; Alfred Koch has been living in Germany since the spring of 2014
Now the former head of the State Property Committee and Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Viktor Chernomyrdin lives in Bavaria. He cannot return to Russia: a criminal case has been opened against him in his homeland under the article of smuggling.
Koch left the government 17 years ago, but the results of his work are still being debated. He himself also prefers to remain visible. True, not as a politician or statesman, but as a writer and blogger.
100 thousand people subscribe to his blog on Facebook. And, in the end, as the author himself suggests, it was the large audience of his ironic and critical posts that became the reason for pressure from the Russian authorities and the subsequent criminal case.
In an interview with a BBC correspondent Pavel Bandakov Alfred Koch spoke about his vision of Russia's place in world politics, the possible economic collapse of Ukraine and its consequences for the country, as well as his last meeting with Kakha Bendukidze, a recently deceased Georgian politician who is called the author of successful Georgian reforms.
The case of smuggling
Investigators claim that in November 2013, during a customs inspection of Alfred Koch's luggage, a “painting depicting a sea surf and a stone pier” was discovered and seized. Suspicion was aroused by the signature “I. Brodsky 1911” in the lower left corner of the picture. As follows from the investigation documents, a criminal case under Article 226.1 “Smuggling” was opened on February 11, 2014. In early April, Alfred Koch wrote on his Facebook that an FSB investigative team accompanied by “physical protection soldiers” arrived at his Moscow address. Koch himself was in Germany at that time, where he went on business. “I am now banned from entry,” he wrote. Alfred Koch claims that the painting is a late copy and has no historical value. Forensic examinations are currently being carried out.
I have long noticed that Russians are not very critical of themselves. I thought about this phenomenon for a long time. I live abroad a lot. When communicating, for example, with Germans or Americans, I noticed that they treat themselves with irony, and, in general, do not create illusions about themselves. And such an ironic attitude towards oneself is considered good manners in Western countries. Russians never treat themselves with irony - they are always at the last degree of seriousness, well, just with clenched teeth...
After all, what Russians say about the West, and even what Putin says about the West, is often true. The truth about American imperialism, and that they stick their noses in everywhere, and that they had nothing to do in Iraq, etc. But the right to such criticism must be earned.
BBC: Is it possible to say that there is now a virtual civil war going on in Russia?
A.K.: I cannot speak in terms of civil war, because the Internet is a specific space. This notorious anonymity and impunity operates there. It is so absolute that rudeness and the desire to unbalance one’s opponent become an end in itself. Therefore, the intensity of passions on the Internet for the last 10 or 15 years has been such that it seems that a civil war is going on between everyone and everyone...
In general, I don’t remember spontaneous civil wars that arose due to internal civil conflict in its pure form. They are always provoked by someone. Civil conflict is always inherent within society. But it very rarely turns into war.
Illustration copyright Reuters Image caption Since the beginning of the conflict in Donbass, several thousand people have diedBBC: Who or what provoked the conflict in eastern Ukraine?
A.K.: Of course, Putin. The conflict between the Russian-speaking east and the Ukrainian-speaking west – it can be characterized as a conflict between the collective “Yanukovych” and the democrats – has always existed in Ukraine. We've known about him for 25 years. But it never turned into a military confrontation.
BBC: Could you imagine that this would start in a neighboring country?
A.K.: Well, how can I say: you know, I always predicted it because it already happened. Explaining why this happened is always easier than predicting.
What did I see? I saw that since the end of 2011, Putin's rating has gradually and steadily dropped. The erosion of the regime was obvious. And it was clear that by 2016, when there would be Duma elections, and certainly by 2018, he would drop to such a level where no amount of manipulation could get him into the presidency again. And this meant that the regime had to come up with something.
I understood that they would come up with some kind of trick. Maybe canceling the elections... Yeltsin found himself in a similar situation in January 1996. Remember, he lost the elections to the Duma with pomp, the communists actually took the majority. Then Yeltsin’s closest advisers – precisely the security forces – advised him to dissolve the Duma altogether. And Kulikov and Chubais barely stopped this matter...
You can kill one person, one person can die of hunger, but it is impossible to destroy an entire state and an entire people. The Ukrainian people have now already matured as a nation. Right now it has taken place.
I thought Putin’s security forces would come up with something similar now. You know, as they like to say, they don’t change horses at the crossing (I, however, have the feeling that we are not walking across the river, but along it). I thought they would throw in some kind of idiotic rhetoric, push it through all channels, and on this basis they would close the “Democracy in Russia” project... To make things even more important, some terrorist attacks or something else would happen in Russia. And then say: “You see, we are sliding into anarchy again... Let's temporarily stop the operation of the constitution.” There was the burning of the Reichstag and the suspension of the constitution. We've been through it all, we know everything.
And I was expecting something like this. But life turned out to be richer. The constitution continues, we are building democracy, there will be elections. Only now 80% love the president.
BBC: In the spring, you actively wrote about Ukraine. Much more than about Russia...
A.K.: Well, it’s more interesting there. There is movement there.
BBC: In the spring, you wrote that everything is complicated in the Ukrainian economy. What is your attitude now?
A.K.: I talked a lot with Kakha Bendukidze, shortly before his death. Rest in peace. We talked with him for three days on this topic. He came to visit me. We walked with him, talked for a long time, drank, by the way. He felt great. In any case, he looked like a completely healthy person.
Kakha loved to repeat the same phrase that Nietzsche said before him: “Everything that does not kill us makes us stronger.” Therefore, his opinion was that it would be good if an economic collapse occurred in Ukraine. This will clear the clearing and give carte blanche for radical reforms, because things can’t get any worse anyway.
You can kill one person, one person can die of hunger, but it is impossible to destroy an entire state and an entire people. The Ukrainian people have now already matured as a nation. That's exactly what happened now.
The only problem is that the later these reforms begin, the harder they will be. The greater the gap will be with countries that continue to move while we mark time...
The same applies to Russia, by the way.
Illustration copyright AFP Image caption Kakha Bendukidze advocated radical economic reforms in Ukraine
BBC: You said that one of the main problems of Russia is the lack of institutional reforms. Your critics – and critics of governments of the 1990s in general – respond to this: you were in the government, weren’t you? Why didn't you end up creating something that works effectively?
A.K.: Lie. The institution of gubernatorial elections, for example, worked well for us. Why did they need to be canceled in 2004 because of the terrorist attack in Beslan? Now, I think, even Putin’s followers will not be able to explain how the terrorist attack in Beslan and the cancellation of gubernatorial elections are connected. It was a working institution with all the infrastructure, consisting of people, customs, laws, rules (spoken and unspoken, formal and informal)…
Other institutions were created: the stock market, the real estate market, political parties, controversy in the press... These are all institutions necessary for a market economy and a free society.
BBC: You were in a government that actively pursued reforms. Now your former colleagues find themselves in different situations. Anatoly Chubais heads the state corporation. Boris Nemtsov is a deputy of the Yaroslavl Duma. Are you in Germany...
A.K.: Oleg Sysuev - at Alfa-Bank... You can list them. We have a lot of people who have settled in well.
I don't think Chubais is doing what he thinks.
BBC: By the way, this is your situation. Do you think everything is fine with you?
A.K.: Well, listen, there is no limit to perfection. Of course, I would like it to be better.
BBC: Does the fact that you, for example, cannot appear in Russia, sadden you very much?
A.K.: Of course it's sad. But what does very strong mean? There are different degrees of nostalgia. There is nostalgia for Maxim Gorky, who could not live without money. And so Budberg returned to Moscow with Baroness. And there is Bunin, who did not want to return for any price. So he felt discomfort from the fact that he could not return to Russia? Probably he did. And there is Joseph Brodsky, who could have returned, but did not return...
BBC: You, too, could have a great job in some state corporation...
A.K.: So I worked in it - Gazprom-Media. Bad state corporation? But I left for the same reason I won’t work for any state corporation: I don’t want to!
You know, people are divided into two categories (this is not my formula, I don’t know who came up with it... Or maybe, by the way, it’s mine). For some, money is the equivalent of freedom. For others, money is the equivalent of power. And these are different people.
For me, money is the equivalent of freedom. And if I see that the further process of earning money limits my freedom and does not increase it, then I stop this process. Because freedom is more important than money. At least for me.
BBC: You were like-minded people with Anatoly Chubais...
A.K.: So we are like-minded people even now. But we are not like-minded people. We think alike, but do things differently. I do what suits my thoughts. But I don’t think Chubais is doing what he thinks.
Illustration copyright AP Image caption The cabinet of Viktor Chernomyrdin was in power from the end of 1992 to March 1998BBC: Boris Nemtsov is involved in politics.
A.K.: Boris, rather, does what he thinks is right. In this sense, he is like-minded not only with me, but also with his actions.
BBC: Nemtsov is organizing a rally in Yaroslavl against the abolition of mayoral elections. You share his views and are ready to subscribe to this...
A.K.:...But I can’t participate in this. You know, I will survive the tragedy of non-participation in the Yaroslavl rallies. There are much more prosaic and sad things related to the fact that I cannot come to Russia. For example, I cannot visit my mother. She, thank God, can come to me. I can't come to my father's grave. These things sadden me much more than the inability to participate in the Yaroslavl rallies.
BBC: If a person criticizes the Russian government, does he feel safe?
A.K.: Woland, in my opinion, said: “A brick will never fall on anyone’s head for no reason at all”... I am a rather callous person. No, I don't feel any danger. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I really like the proverb: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you’re not being followed.” Objectively, there must be some kind of pressure.
It is clear that I am causing a lot of trouble. Let them pretend that I don’t exist. But this is impossible with [my Facebook] subscribers of 100 thousand, with posts that have 200-300 shares, and sometimes even 1000. For several years, hitting where it hurts the most, and the government that closes publications with 10 thousand subscribers, does he look at this calmly? And he thinks I’m not doing any harm? Of course, you can put on such a face, but we are adults, it is clear that I bring them harm...
The main part of the democratic crowd says: “There is no need to save Putin’s face! It’s his own fault.” Well, okay. Then it will end in a war, some kind of massacre, you will all be imprisoned... Do you want it?
BBC: You spend quite a lot of time on Facebook.
A.K.: Contrary to popular belief, no. If you look, I post in the morning and late in the evening. And I work the rest of the working day.
BBC: Once in Germany, did you change your occupation?
A.K.: I have been doing business in Germany for 10 years. I don’t have any Russian business. I sold everything.
BBC: Is there no point in doing business in Russia anymore?
A.K.: Not now. In the near future - quite possible.
BBC: When is this in the near future?
A.K.: Someday either Putin will leave or he will be left. Or when he realizes that something needs to change. Both options are possible. In general, I believe that the key to solving Russian problems now lies in the West. First of all, among the European powers.
BBC: Why?
A.K.: Long story... I believe that Russia during the 1990s and even in the early 2000s made it clear to the West that it would like to integrate with it, to become part of the West. The West did not respond adequately to this. And even Putin, at first, was a rather sincere integrationist: he wanted a unified missile defense system, he wanted visa-free entry, he even wanted some kind of road map for joining the European Union. Then a series of misunderstandings, indifferences, etc. occurred.
My understanding is that Western leaders simply did not have the personal scale to understand the challenge (from the English challenge - editor's note) that lies before them. [...]
Now Europe faces a challenge, and if it does not understand this challenge, then this space will turn into China.
It seems to me, although I may be deluding myself, that the Kremlin itself understands that it has driven itself into an idiotic position. But he needs to be given some kind of algorithm for getting out of this situation while saving face. And now the main part of the democratic crowd says: “There is no need to save Putin’s face! It’s his own fault.” Well, okay. Then it will end in a war, some kind of massacre, you will all be imprisoned... Do you want it? No? But we didn’t save Putin’s face...
Russia can either be part of an alliance with China or part of an alliance with the West. There is no third.
And if he is given, for example, the status of the person who brought Russia to Europe and made it a European power? Maybe he will agree with this status?
BBC: This would be a compromise that would require a giant step on the part of Europe...
A.K.: What's wrong with this for Europe? Why not make this compromise? What, Russia is so backward and non-European that even Turkey bothered to get the [EU] road map, but Russia didn’t?
Russia does not understand that it cannot be an independent center of power. She will never understand this, and there is no point in hoping for it. No person can ever imagine - let alone a country with a population of 140 million - that he is actually a pawn. Russia cannot be an independent center of power due to its small population, due to its small economy, due to a huge number of reasons. It can either be part of an alliance with China or part of an alliance with the West. There is no third.
And there is no need to pull any customs unions out of thin air. No Russian defense potential, including nuclear, will be able to protect its true sovereignty, which, first of all, is based on the economy. The economy will still become part of a larger economic system - either Chinese or European. And if the patient himself does not understand this, doctors must decide.
And Europe must understand what it is ready for. Moreover, in the next 50-100 years we need to roll up our sleeves to integrate this vast territory into Europe. Invest there not only money, invest there institutions, customs, education...
BBC: The institutions don't allow this. Laws on foreign agents are adopted...
A.K.: This means that we need to integrate the authors of the term themselves. Let's look at this as a large systems project. How many children of the Russian elite live in Europe? This means that they are already agents of influence. They can be referred to their parents.
Illustration copyright AP Image caption Alfred Koch believes that the West has means of influencing the Russian eliteBBC: Would you agree to return to civil service?
A.K.: Never say never. But today I simply don’t see myself in government agencies. I don’t want to be part of that force that always wants evil and does... evil. No, this is impossible. If something changes... But it must change very much - Gaidar will rise from the grave and lead the country. Then I, cursing and swearing, will take out my rusty sword...
BBC: Your comrades Nemtsov and Bendukidze were ready to help the government agencies of Ukraine.
A.K.: I am still ready to help them... But with whom? Advisor? An advisor is complete irresponsibility. “Why did you listen to me? You never know what I said. You have 10 advisers - why did you decide to listen to me? Or maybe I’m a fool?” No. The advisor is no one. Take responsibility - then yes.
BBC: Do you regret the decisions you made while in government service?
A.K.: Look, I made dozens of decisions a day. Which of these 10 thousand should I regret? The scale of a particular decision becomes clear over time. Sometimes it seemed then that this was nonsense, but now it turns out that this was the key decision of your life.
Why should I analyze my mistakes? Let my enemies talk about them.
BBC: Is there a decision you feel responsible for? You, like Chubais, are accused of piling up a garden and destroying a great country...
A.K.: I can tell you frankly that I don’t give a damn about these accusations.
Why should I analyze my mistakes? Let my enemies talk about them. I last worked in government in 1997. 17 years ago! And now not a day goes by without my mistakes being analyzed. Why should I join the chorus of these voices?
BBC: This chorus says that all the current troubles come from the 1990s.
A.K.: When I was at school, we were always told that our life was so bad because the tsarist government made such a mess in 1913, and then there was the war - so we are falling behind. This was taught to me at school - and I studied at school from 1968 to 1978. But this is a joke!
I think that in Germany in 1968 they did not teach that they lived worse than the British, because they were devastated after the Second World War. Moreover, in 1968 they already lived better than the British. Or the Japanese. I think they were not taught in 1975 that they had devastation and the atomic bomb was thrown on them twice - because already in 1975 they lived better than the Americans.
How much can you talk about the “dashing 90s”?! You guys haven’t had any Yeltsinism for 15 years!
Alfreda Koch Alfreda Koch Interpol refused to put Alfred Koch on the international wanted list The International Criminal Police Organization did not find any crime in the actions Alfreda Koch, who was accused of smuggling cultural property. His case is being handled by the service... refused to put the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government on the international wanted list Alfreda Koch, follows from a letter from the general secretariat of the organization dated March 21, 2017... Alfred Koch Alfred Koch Alfreda Koch KochSociety, 16 Feb 2016, 23:27
Alfred Koch denied putting him on the international wanted list Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Alfred Koch stated that information about putting him on the international wanted list was not... and by the official bodies of Germany,” said the former politician. That Alfred Koch put on the international wanted list in a case of smuggling, previously... a decision to recognize the arrest in absentia as legal Alfreda Koch. The court made this decision based on the results of consideration of the defense complaint Koch on the decision of the district court. Former... Alfreda Koch Koch KohuPolitics, 16 Feb 2016, 17:17
The Moscow City Court recognized the arrest of Alfred Kokh in absentia as legal ... lawful arrest in absentia of the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia accused of smuggling Alfreda Koch, Interfax reports from the courtroom. According to him, about this... . It was announced on Tuesday following the consideration of the defense complaint Koch on the decision of the district court. Earlier on February 16, an Interfax source reported... An international search for the accused has now been organized,” he said. The source noted that Kohu charged with Part 1 of Article 226 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (smuggling of cultural property... ... Russia Alfreda Koch Koch Koch Koch KochPolitics, 16 Feb 2016, 16:13
Lawyer reported Germany's refusal to conduct searches of Koch ... Russia Alfreda Koch received a refusal from German law enforcement agencies in a request to interrogate and conduct searches Koch in Germany. The lawyer reported this Koch... the request was submitted by an FSB investigator back in the spring of 2015. Position Koch in a criminal case, she provided the investigation in writing and... her paintings through Sheremetyevo Airport. At the end of September 2015 Koch reported that he was charged in absentia with smuggling a painting, the cost... ... -prime minister Alfred Koch Alfred Koch Koch Alfred Koch Koch clarified...Politics, 16 Feb 2016, 07:53
The media reported that Alfred Koch was put on the international wanted list ... -prime minister Alfred Koch arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list for smuggling, an Interfax source said. Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Alfred Koch..., at which the defense complaint will be considered Koch to arrest in absentia. At the end of September last year Alfred Koch reported that he had been charged in absentia with smuggling a painting, the cost of which was 197.4 thousand rubles. Two acquaintances Koch clarified... Alfreda Koch Koch Koch The lawyer commented on reports about Koch being put on the wanted list Lawyer of the ex-head of the State Property Committee and former Deputy Prime Minister Alfreda Koch were not notified that his client was wanted. “I want to... take abroad a painting by the Soviet artist Isaac Brodsky. About the ad Koch Radio Liberty also reported that he was on the federal wanted list. At the end of September... examinations were carried out within the framework of a criminal case of smuggling of a painting seized from Koch. Then the newspaper reported that experts confirmed the authenticity of the painting by Isaac Brodsky... ...since then Koch Alfred Kohu Koch wrote... year Koch Alfreda Koch ...Politics, 21 Sep 2015, 18:57
Alfred Koch was charged in absentia with smuggling ...since then Koch is located in Germany. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and entrepreneur Alfred Kohu charged with smuggling the painting. About this myself Koch wrote... year Koch became a participant in the so-called book scandal, when five authors of the book “Privatization the Russian Way” - Anatoly Chubais, Maxim Boyko, Alexander Kazakov, Alfreda Koch ... Alfred Koch Koch Alfred Koch. By... Alfred Koch doubted the examination of the smuggling of Brodsky's paintings ...Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government, businessman Alfred Koch demanded to publish the results of examinations, which, according to the investigation, confirm the accusation...,” wrote Koch. Kommersant reported on Wednesday that the investigation had completed examinations as part of the investigation into the criminal case of smuggling, in which Mr. Alfred Koch. By... The investigation has completed examinations in the case of the removal of the painting by Alfred Koch ...about smuggling, in which the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government is involved Alfred Koch. A source close to the investigation reported this to the Kommersant newspaper. By... in order to establish whether the signature on the painting seized from Koch at customs, identical to the signature of the famous artist Brodsky) and art criticism carried out... the necessary permits were not issued. Border guards did not interfere with departure Koch, but the painting was left as evidence in the framework of the criminal investigation... Society, 09 Apr 2014, 19:12 The reason for the criminal prosecution of Koch was a painting worth 18 thousand rubles. ...who are against the former deputy chairman of the government and entrepreneur Alfreda Koch a criminal case was initiated. . With journalists Koch now he’s not communicating, but he told the details of the story... that she’s not worth 18 thousand,” he noted. Friends Koch They call the story "very strange." “According to Russian law, without a declaration you can... another RBC interlocutor who knows the circumstances of the case. About initiating a criminal case Koch posted on Facebook on April 8. "In Russia they initiated an action against me... Alfred Koch is suspected of smuggling ... now he Koch, according to him, is in Germany, where he went on business. “Now I’m banned from entry,” he emphasized Koch.Alfred Koch in 1996-1997 headed the State Property Committee of Russia. In 1997 he served as Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. Since 2000 Koch was the general... the owners of TNCs noted that Koch participated in making strategic decisions “since the privatization of the company.” Recently Alfred Koch criticized the president's policies... E. Mizulina complained to the prosecutor's office about former Deputy Prime Minister A. Kokh ..., former Deputy Prime Minister Alfreda Koch. The former official became aware of this through indirect data. . On his Facebook page A. Koch said that... RBC) Alekseev, in the near future she will take care of you too." A. Koch suggested that the appeal may be due to his emotional reaction...Well, the words that everyone was waiting for were spoken: the White House announced the conditions under which it is ready to reconsider the sanctions regime against Russia.
In short, it all looks simple and straightforward: there is no need for any final settlement in Ukraine, just shut up and do nothing. Let everything remain as it is. Let the LPR and DPR hang out between Russia and Ukraine, let there be self-proclaimed republics unrecognized by anyone (even Russia!), let everyone there at least die of hunger and cold. But stop shooting! Let Crimea remain Russian, but the United States will never recognize this.
But for this maintenance of the status quo (in general, rather more beneficial to Russia than to anyone else), the United States will demand from the Russians a mere trifle: a few thousand soldiers for a ground operation against ISIS.
What does it matter here: you will be surprised, but Americans really don’t like it when their soldiers die (they’re idiots!). They are willing to make big concessions and lose huge amounts of money if it means saving American lives. You and I, adults and serious people, cannot understand this slobbering: how is it that people are more valuable than money? But just take it for granted.
Actually, when starting the operation in Syria, Putin knew this American Achilles heel. Which, at the same time, is Russia’s strong point: we easily trade in cannon fodder. Ever since the Seven Years' War with Frederick the Great...
One way or another, Washington has long understood that ISIS cannot be defeated without a ground operation. But Obama did not want to start it for a long time precisely because he did not want to suffer losses. This is why Putin went into Syria to make it clear to Obama: I have a lot of soldiers whom we don’t feel sorry for. We will easily exchange their lives for the West (even if not de jure, but de facto) to recognize Crimea as Russian, just as it once recognized the annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union.
However, Obama, not wanting to make such a deal with Putin, abandoned this decision. He either flirted with the “moderate” Syrian opposition, or counted on the Turkish and Iraqi armies, or on the Kurdish armed forces. But nothing came of his calculations. The war with ISIS was (and is) going on smoothly, and the battles with the Syrian army of Bashar al-Assad are taking away from many of them the strength that, without the civil war, could have been used to fight ISIS.
Trump's tactics are apparently simple and straightforward: stop betting on the overthrow of Assad. In return, receive support from him and the Russians with ground forces in the fight against ISIS. And then Trump will be ready to accept the Ukrainian settlement method described above.
From Trump’s point of view, he did a great job: he saved the lives of American soldiers (Russians will die instead) and eliminated the main (in his opinion) threat to the United States - ISIS. The fact that Putin will remain with Crimea does not bother him: in the end, it is not the business of the United States and the West as a whole to liberate Crimea. Let the Ukrainians do it themselves. It is enough for the United States that they do not recognize its annexation by Russia. As a last resort, we can consider the issue of supplying weapons to Kyiv...
From Putin’s point of view, this is an ideal deal: he receives actual forgiveness, he is again accepted into good homes, sanctions are lifted, etc. And in return, he loses several hundred (thousands?) of his soldiers. Agree: sheer nonsense compared to the right to sit in the G-8!
Moreover (Putin reasons) that if you send mainly Chechens there, it will weaken Ramzan. And this is a long-standing dream of both Shoigu and Bortnikov... So I’ll kill two birds with one stone!
True, unless the Chechens miscalculate this move and, once in Syria, along with their weapons and equipment, go over to the side of ISIS. Then no one will find it enough. Neither Trump nor Putin...
P.S. Here is the finale of the Great Energy Power: the main product it trades on the world market is cannon fodder...
*) IS (ISIL) is a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation (ed. note)
Alfred Koch
Facebook
I have nothing to please you with, my dear ill-wishers: I am not a Jew. I could easily agree to be a Jew. It wouldn't bother me at all. And on the contrary, I would be proud of it in a sense. But not everyone is lucky in life. So I was unlucky. But I don’t suffer from this: it’s stupid to suffer from what you can’t change.
Let me tell you better about my nationality. She is like that. My mother is Nina Georgievna Karpova. Of course - Russian. Her mother was an orphan from early childhood. She lived among people, then, after the revolution, she built Turksib, Karaganda, then throughout the war she worked as a cleaner and janitor.
My mother’s father (my grandfather) Georgy Fedorovich Karpov escaped from collectivization to the city, worked as a carpenter, and in 1941 he went to the front. He fought until the summer of 1942 and was a sapper. Came under artillery fire near Rostov. Unconscious and completely wounded, they picked him up a day later and then it began - hospital, surgery, hospital again... He became disabled, limped all his life, and served as an orderly in a hospital.
They had five children. A son (died of typhus as a child) and four daughters. My mother is the third oldest.
My German father, Koch Reingold, was exiled to Kazakhstan at the age of six. Where he almost died of starvation during the war. Survived. Trained to be a car mechanic. Then I graduated from college. He built the Volzhsky Automobile Plant and then worked at it all his life until his death. He had orders and medals for valiant work...
Why am I telling all this? Here's what it's all about. My grandfather, already when my mother married my father, sometimes drinking, began to cry and talk about the war. His stories turned out to be unglamorous and more and more about guts on tree branches and about mountains of corpses of his fellow soldiers, which they (sappers, after all!) buried in huge pits after each battle...
As a boy, I asked him more and more about heroism and exploits, but he kept talking about his own things: crying and telling me about some senseless corpses. And his war was kind of strange: here comes a column. He walks and walks... Then he turns. Then waist-deep in snow. Then the shelling. Then they bury their dead. Then again they walk waist-deep in mud. Then deploy the battery and shoot. Then they go again, crossing the icy river. They repair bridges, they blow up bridges. Then again there was shelling and again they buried us.
And then numbness attacked him. He sat silently and looked at one point. And tears flowed down his cheeks. And then he showed the wounds. There is a huge hole in the leg, the entire thigh is almost without muscles. There is a huge scar on my stomach. On the cheek, as if cut by a saber, a splinter cut...
And then he took an ax and chased my father. “Right now, you fascist bitch, I’ll chop you into pieces! We haven’t killed you enough, so I’ll add more right now! I’ll strangle you! You German bastard! May you die!” The father was much younger and stronger. At first he fought back sluggishly, and then he got tired of it, he took the ax from his grandfather, took it by the scruff of the neck and locked it in the barn.
The grandfather shouted from there: “Yes, we crushed you like bugs! We defeated you! Yes, our army is stronger than everyone else! We will crush everyone! We will take revenge on everyone!” Neighbors gathered. Many front-line soldiers... They smiled, smoked cigarettes: “Fedorych is showing a concert again...”
The front-line soldiers looked at their grandfather and said: “Where did they gouge... Look, where did they go?” We boys were indignant: how come they didn’t gouge? How gouged they are! We saw the movie there. And the front-line soldiers looked at us, smiled sadly and said: “We’ve been gouged, we’ve been gouged... Of course, we’ve been gouged, no matter how we’ve been gouged...” And again: “Reingold, don’t be offended by your grandfather! Let him go, we’ll take him right now, Let's have a drink and calm down."
The father nodded in agreement, gave them the keys to the barn and left with a final wave of his hand and as if even wiping away tears: half of his family perished in Stalin’s camps: brothers, sisters...
This is such a Victory... And as boys, all we remembered from all this was that we were “gouged out.” And that “if necessary, we’ll go crazy!” How could it be otherwise: the front-line soldiers themselves confirmed it. And now it’s an axiom: we’ve been gouged and we can still do it if necessary...
Oh, by the way: I still don’t understand what my nationality is?
Alfred Koch
Born on February 28, 1961 in the city of Zyryanovsk (Kazakhstan) in the family of a Russian German who lived in a German colony in the Krasnodar Territory, but was exiled to Kazakhstan in 1941. Koch's mother is Russian. During the start of construction of the Volzhsky Automobile Plant, Koch’s parents moved from Kazakhstan to Tolyatti, where his father became the head of the department of related industries.
He graduated from school in Togliatti and entered the Leningrad Financial and Economic Institute with a degree in economic cybernetics, from which he graduated in 1983. In 1987, he worked as a junior researcher at the Prometheus Central Research Institute of Structural Materials, then until 1990 he was an assistant at the Department of Economics and Radioelectronic Production Management at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. In 1987 he defended his PhD thesis on the topic “Methods for a comprehensive assessment of the territorial conditions for the location of industrial facilities.”
In 1990, he was elected chairman of the executive committee of the Sestroretsk District Council of People's Deputies of Leningrad. Since 1991, he worked as deputy executive director of the territorial State Property Committee in St. Petersburg, and then as deputy chairman of the Property Management Committee.
From August 1993 to 1995 he was Deputy Chairman of the State Property Committee of the Russian Federation. Supervised the implementation of privatization. Responsible for conducting loans-for-shares auctions. In 1995, he became first deputy chairman of the State Property Committee of Russia. During the 1996 presidential elections, he informally participated in the campaign headquarters of Boris Yeltsin. From September 1996 to August 1997, he served as Chairman of the State Property Committee of Russia. He was a supporter of large-scale privatization.
From March 17 to August 13, 1997, he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. He resigned from his position due to the opening of a criminal case against him for abuse of office. In December 1999, the case was closed.
In 1997, he became chairman of the board of directors of Montes Auri (a securities market operator). In 2000, he was appointed general director of the Gazprom-Media holding, and in 2001, chairman of the board of directors of NTV. In September 2001, he hosted the first two episodes of the game show "Greed", but handed over his place to a new presenter due to his busy schedule. In October 2001, he resigned from his post as head of the Gazprom-Media company.
In 2002, he was elected as a representative of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region in the Federation Council, but soon voluntarily resigned because the results of the deputies’ vote on his candidacy were challenged in court by the prosecutor’s office.
In 2004-2005, together with journalist Igor Svinarenko, he published a series of books, “The Box of Vodka,” which was nominated for the “Big Book” award in 2006. In 2008, together with historian and demographer Pavel Polyan, he compiled the collection “Denial of Denial,” dedicated to the Holocaust. In 2013, with businessman Pyotr Aven, he published a collection of interviews with Russian political figures, “Gaidar’s Revolution: A First-Hand History of the Reforms of the 1990s.”
In 2014 he moved to Germany and lives in the city of Rosenheim (Bavaria). In the same year, a criminal case was opened against Koch in Russia under the article “smuggling” for attempting to take a painting home to Germany. According to the politician’s associates, the reason for initiating a criminal case was his criticism of the current authorities of the Russian Federation. In February 2016, investigators charged Koch in absentia.
Married to economist Marina Kokh, he has two daughters: Elena (1980) and Olga (1992).
If you find an error in the text, highlight it with the mouse and press Ctrl+Enter