History Suggests Cheaper Ways to Get Bureaucrats Out of Capital than Moving It, Moscow Mayor Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 20 –  Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin says that the idea of moving the capital of Russia east of the Urals is just “brilliant.” But instead of spending trillions to move officials 8,000 kilometers from 110 million Russians, those who back the idea should recall that bureaucrats have been exiled there before and at much lower cost.

            Sobyanin’s reaction to the idea (see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/08/krupnov-proposes-shifting-capital-to.html)has attracted widespread attention (ura.news/news/1052301195, republic.ru/posts/85924 and gazeta.ru/politics/news/2017/08/19/n_10456502.shtml). 

It has even prompted Novyye izvestiya to publish the entire document Yury Krupnov prepared for Vladimir Putin on how to “de-Muscovize” Russia and why doing so is essential if Russia is to keep control of the territory within its current borders (newizv.ru/news/politics/20-08-2017/spasti-moskvu-i-rossiyu-chto-predpolagaet-doktrina-razmoskvichivaniya).

While Putin is unlikely to accept and act on the idea, Krupnov’s words are certain to provoke discussions among many in Russia  beyond the ring road who feel that Moscow has sucked up too much of Russia’s resources and left too few for all the rest, thus contributing to anti-Moscow sentiments which are never far below the surface outside the current capital.