Newsletters / Plan for life after Putin
MBK: “Today, despite enormous pressure from the authorities, thousands of activists participate in Russian election campaigns to support the democratic opposition. Included are 24 young political leaders supported by Open Russia. This educated, engaged and passionately pro-European generation is already looking ahead to the challenges the country faces post-Putin.”
Read MBK’s op-ed for Politico here
In May at Oslo Freedom Forum 2016, Open Russia hosted a panel discussion entitled “All the Putin’s men: media and elections in Russia”. Speakers included Andrey Goryanov, Aleksandr Artemyev, Maria Baronova, Oleg Kashin, Maxim Katz, Polina Nemirovskaya. Panelists discussed the upcoming Duma elections in Russia.
In June 2016 MBK talked to Euronews Global Conversation and BBC Newsnight. In conversations with Isabelle Kumar and Evan Davies Khodorkovsky discussed Russia’s relations with Europe, the upcoming Duma elections, the future of EU sanctions against Russia, and the consequences of Brexit for Moscow.
Masha Gessen: “When the Putin regime disappears, its ideology may simply crumble, creating an opening for Khodorkovsky’s pragmatic politics of good people and good governance. But [MBK] may also be completely wrong. If that’s the case, all he will have accomplished over the course of the next decade is supplying meaningful jobs for several dozen Russians and public engagement for thousands. That’s the biggest investment anyone is making in Russia’s future these days.”
On June 9, at the Atlantic Council headquarters, the Institute of Modern Russia, the Atlantic Council, and Free Russia held a panel discussion on the prospects for Russia’s 2016 parliamentary election. Vladimir Kara-Murza, Pavel Khodorkovsky, president of the Institute of Modern Russia, John Herbst, Miriam Lanskoy, and Steven Lee Myers discussed the vote, the opposition’s plans, and the international community’s role in ensuring free and fair elections.
The Open Russia Club has launched its English-language programme. Highlights included:
An Evening with George Soros, where the normally reclusive financier and philanthropist broke with his usual habits, telling Lenny Benardo about his life, about his collaboration with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and about his foremost accomplishment – the Open Society Foundation.
MBK was a guest of the FT Festival of Finance and talked to Lionel Barber:“We should understand that the Russian economy has had, and still has, many opportunities. But there are two things that need to be borne in mind. First of all, the Russian economy under the current regime is not stable, including the question of property rights. Secondly, under the current regime, you are unprotected in law.”