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Mikhail Prokhorov

December 13, 2011 by · Comments Off on Mikhail Prokhorov 

Mikhail Prokhorov, State Duma elections are still the top topic of the Russian press, however, they are soon to be outshined by the presidential race, however. RBC Daily reports that on Monday Russian billionaire-turned-politician Mikhail Prokhorov announced his decision to run for the presidential seat next March. He gathered a spontaneous special briefing session where he made the announcement, emphasizing that despite working on his bid for the past 2 and a half months with his inner circle, he informed no one else of his decision, “not even friends in the Kremlin and White House”. The newspaper reminds that previously no member of the opposition could reach the stage of presidential registration before coordinating with the Kremlin; despite such abruptness, Prokhorov was prominently featured on all federal channels last night. He announced that his electorate is the middle class and promised a program with no populist agendas.

Experts believe that Prokhorov is the Kremlin’s jackpot in the wake of ongoing tensions in the intelligentsia circles that followed disputed State Duma election results and suggest that it is unlikely that he made this move without prior consultations with the current administration. However, it’s too early to identify Prokhorov’s position on the political map, the daily concludes.

Coincidentally, one year after Moscow ethnic-based disorders the Moscow branch of the Caucasus Youth Organization “Children of the Mountains” opened the doors of its psychological support centre aimed at helping Caucasus immigrants cope with their new lives. The daily’s correspondent visited the centre and discovered that Caucasus-born population has to deal with ethnic discrimination when applying for a job, renting an apartment and even dating. For instance, representatives of HR professions admit that about half the time when choosing which applicant to give the job to, the job goes to Russians simply because they’re Russian. If the employer doesn’t care for personnel’s ethnicity, clients do. Muscovite, whose parents immigrated from the Caucasus region told the newspaper that when talking on a phone her saying her name causes a distinct pause. During face to face interaction some clients exhibit signs of tension right from the start of the conversation. Thus immigrants have to rely on maintaining sort of a clan society to survive – relatives and fellow countrymen help each other with what some would call cronyism and nepotism. One Dagestan-born Muscovite told the newspaper that achieving a high-ranking position and preparing a spot for their child is normal and anyone, regardless of nationality, would do the same.

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