Alexey Navalny
Encyclopedia
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny is a Russia
n political and social activist who in recent years gained great prominence amongst Russian bloggers and mass media due to his social campaigning activity. He uses his popular LiveJournal
blog to organize serial large-scale petitionings by Russian citizens addressing issues mainly related to heavy corruption in Russia
in accordance with Russian laws which appear to be widely ignored by top Russian officials and state-controlled businesses. He also regularly writes articles on topics he is concerned about in several top Russian mass media such as Forbes
Russia.
He was dubbed "Russia's Erin Brockovich
" by Time magazine and named Person of the Year 2009 by Vedomosti
. Navalny was a World Fellow at Yale University
's "World Fellows Program
" aimed at "creating a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden international understanding" in 2010. He graduated from People's Friendship University of Russia in 2003.
, such as Sergei Magnitsky
's case, improper usage of state's budget funds, quality of state services and so on.
In October 2010, Navalny turned out to be an outstanding winner in virtual "Mayor of Moscow elections" held in the Russian Internet by Kommersant
and Gazeta.ru. He received about 30,000 votes, or 45%, with the closest rival being "Against all candidates" with some 9,000 votes (14%) followed by Boris Nemtsov
with 8,000 votes (12%) out of a total of about 67,000 votes.
In November 2010, Navalny published confidential documents about Transneft
's auditing. He claims that the published scan is the one of original document. According to Navalny's blog, about four billion dollars were stolen by Transneft's leaders during the construction of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.
In February 2011, in an interview with the radio station finam.fm, Navalny called the main Russian party, United Russia
, a "party of crooks and thieves". Shortly after, a pro-party lawyer declared that some regular members of United Russia had asked him to proceed against Navalny. In May 2011, the Russian government began criminal investigation into Navalny, widely described in Western media as "revenge", and by Navalny himself as "a fabrication by the security services".
Meanwhile, "crooks and thieves" became a popular nickname for the party.
In August 2011 Navalny publicized papers related to a scandalous real estate deal between Hungarian and Russian governments. According to the papers, Hungary sold a former embassy building in Moscow for $21mln to an offshore company of V.Vekselberg
, who immediately resold it to the Russian government for $111mln. Irregularities in the paper trail implied a collusion. Hungarian officials responsible for the deal were detained in February 2011, but no investigation was started on the Russian side.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n political and social activist who in recent years gained great prominence amongst Russian bloggers and mass media due to his social campaigning activity. He uses his popular LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
blog to organize serial large-scale petitionings by Russian citizens addressing issues mainly related to heavy corruption in Russia
Corruption in Russia
Corruption in Russia is a significant problem that impacts the lives of Russia’s citizens. Russia is on the 154th place out of 178 in the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International...
in accordance with Russian laws which appear to be widely ignored by top Russian officials and state-controlled businesses. He also regularly writes articles on topics he is concerned about in several top Russian mass media such as Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
Russia.
He was dubbed "Russia's Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich-Ellis is an American legal clerk and environmental activist who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, or any legal education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company of California in 1993...
" by Time magazine and named Person of the Year 2009 by Vedomosti
Vedomosti
Vedomosti is a Russian language business daily. It is a joint venture between Dow Jones, the Financial Times and Sanoma, publishers of The Moscow Times....
. Navalny was a World Fellow at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
's "World Fellows Program
Yale World Fellows Program
The Yale World Fellows Program is a program run by Yale University that seeks to build a network of emerging global leaders and broaden international understanding at Yale...
" aimed at "creating a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden international understanding" in 2010. He graduated from People's Friendship University of Russia in 2003.
Activity
Navalny is a minor stockholder in several major Russian state-related corporations and some of his activities are aimed at making the financial properties of these companies transparent. This is required by law, but there are allegations that some of the top managers of these companies are involved in thefts and are obscuring transparency. Other activities deal with wrongdoings by Russian MilitsiyaMilitsiya
Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...
, such as Sergei Magnitsky
Sergei Magnitsky
Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky was a Russian attorney whose death in police custody generated international media attention and launched an investigation into allegations of abuse. Magnitsky, who had alleged wide-scale tax fraud sanctioned by officials before being himself arrested, died days...
's case, improper usage of state's budget funds, quality of state services and so on.
In October 2010, Navalny turned out to be an outstanding winner in virtual "Mayor of Moscow elections" held in the Russian Internet by Kommersant
Kommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
and Gazeta.ru. He received about 30,000 votes, or 45%, with the closest rival being "Against all candidates" with some 9,000 votes (14%) followed by Boris Nemtsov
Boris Nemtsov
Boris Efimovich Nemtsov is a Russian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 1997 to 1998. He was a co-founder of the Russian political party Union of Right Forces and is an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.-Early life:...
with 8,000 votes (12%) out of a total of about 67,000 votes.
In November 2010, Navalny published confidential documents about Transneft
Transneft
Transneft is a Russian state-owned business responsible for the national oil pipelines. It was founded in 1993 and owns the largest oil pipeline system in the world, with a total network length of almost...
's auditing. He claims that the published scan is the one of original document. According to Navalny's blog, about four billion dollars were stolen by Transneft's leaders during the construction of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.
In February 2011, in an interview with the radio station finam.fm, Navalny called the main Russian party, United Russia
United Russia
United Russia is a centrist political party in Russia and the largest party in the country, currently holding 315 of the 450 seats in the State Duma. The party was founded in December 2001, through a merger of the Unity and Fatherland-All Russia parties...
, a "party of crooks and thieves". Shortly after, a pro-party lawyer declared that some regular members of United Russia had asked him to proceed against Navalny. In May 2011, the Russian government began criminal investigation into Navalny, widely described in Western media as "revenge", and by Navalny himself as "a fabrication by the security services".
Meanwhile, "crooks and thieves" became a popular nickname for the party.
In August 2011 Navalny publicized papers related to a scandalous real estate deal between Hungarian and Russian governments. According to the papers, Hungary sold a former embassy building in Moscow for $21mln to an offshore company of V.Vekselberg
Viktor Vekselberg
Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg is the owner and president of Renova Group, a large Russian conglomerate.-Business empire:Victor Vekselberg was born in 1957 in Western Ukraine. He graduated from the Moscow Transportation Engineering Institute in 1979...
, who immediately resold it to the Russian government for $111mln. Irregularities in the paper trail implied a collusion. Hungarian officials responsible for the deal were detained in February 2011, but no investigation was started on the Russian side.