All week, the political elite of the Northern capital was in a state of culture shock. Opposition MP Boris Vishnevsky* recognized as a foreign agent. Now the public is concerned with only two questions: how will the deputy carry out his immediate duties, and how will the Legislative Assembly pay his salary?

Bad Guy Syndrome

The news that Yabloko deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislature Boris Vishnevsky was recognized as a foreign agent instantly blew up the information space of St. Petersburg. The parliamentarians fell into a kind of prostration, although many political commentators had long predicted for deputy Vishnevsky a similar ending to his political career. Many political observers even wondered why it took so long?

He was accused of many things. For example, a scandalous and provocative video is still circulating on the Internet about how Vishnevsky, at the height of the sanctions confrontation with Western countries, and the deterioration of relations at the state level with Finland, had lunch with the Consul General of Finland Sannamaaria Vanamo. As evil commentators later wrote, they were talking not about the culinary merits of satsivi and khinkali, but about how Europe (together with Finland, of course) could establish its own order in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism).

But in fact, commentators, and the entire public, seriously discussed the meal with the Finnish consul, because, as we already wrote, during the dinner they talked about some kind of “investment”. St. Petersburg residents massively perceived this lunch as “a jar of jam and a box of cookies” by Malchish-Plokhish, i.e. sale of the Motherland. In addition, the parliamentarian is also accused of meeting with employees of the French diplomatic mission. They say the man he met is painfully similar to the French Ambassador to Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) Pierre Levy. Everyone knows what they think about such meetings in the house on Liteiny 4, for example. But you can also repeat folk words.

The beaver is not kind

It is still unknown how this situation was perceived, “where it should be,” but as we can see, the reaction of government agencies nevertheless followed. This is all because, as many believe, Vishnevsky has developed an anti-Russian position. But in fact, the history of the executive branch’s dislike for Boris Vishnevsky stretches back to the distant 2000s. Even then, they were whispering about him on the sidelines that he was protesting somehow strangely.

Boris Vishnevsky became widely known thanks largely to his urban planning initiatives. He fought extensively and qualitatively against the demolition of historical buildings and other dense development in the center of St. Petersburg. The matter, as they say, is quite necessary and useful. But there is a “but”. After several years of such protests, the media began to write that this was already some kind of “urban planning terror”, they say that Yabloko is happy to take part in any scandal, so he agrees to any pickets and protests. They even hinted that these protests are sometimes well paid, saying that once Vishnevsky was incited to attack one developer, as part of a merciless construction struggle between competing organizations.

It should be noted that the security forces have Vishnevsky on their “pencil” a long time ago. Back in 2016, controversial MP Maxim Reznik said that he had a list of 13 names of deputies who were “closely watched” by Big Brother. Among his own surname was the name of Vishnevsky. Reznik was eventually convicted, but as local residents wrote in their comments, the police “apparently didn’t get around to it.”

But they reached the Ministry of Justice. It was decided to include deputy Boris Vishnevsky in the register of foreign agents after monitoring the media during the presidential elections. The reason is a comment from a parliamentarian to the media who was declared a foreign agent. Also, in the official statement of the government agency it is said: deputy

Vishnevsky’s new status came as a surprise to the entire deputy corps, to the speaker of the legislative assembly Alexander Belskyand even for the governor Alexandra Beglova. For many politicians, Vishnevsky established himself as a familiar, “home” oppositionist who, in fact, did not bother anyone.

Status and consequences

When everyone recovered from the first shock, the main question became how Vishnevsky would carry out his deputy activities, because no one had deprived him of his deputy status. He has not yet committed any offenses that would discredit his title as a parliamentarian. There is also no criminal prosecution against him. The deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly really quickly came to their senses, leafed through the legislation, and by a majority vote excluded the deputy head of the Yabloko faction, Boris Vishnevsky, from the commissions on the demolition of emergency apartment buildings in the Admiralteysky, Vasileostrovsky and Central districts of St. Petersburg, as well as the commission on land use and development in the Central area. This is due to the fact that, by law, a foreign agent cannot take part in the activities of commissions, committees, and other bodies formed under public authorities.

A new sign indicating the new status immediately appeared on the office of the parliamentarian – foreign agent. Legislative Assembly meetings began to be more fun: before each mention of Vishnevsky, the speaker of the Legislative Assembly said that the deputy was recognized as a foreign agent. Vishnevsky himself also spoke about this every time he took the floor.

But something else is much more interesting. A legal conflict arises. He was expelled from the commissions, but parliament cannot take away his salary. Therefore, to be more precise, he will pay money to a foreign agent, i.e. it turns out to actually sponsor him. What will Legislative Assembly Speaker Belsky do?

Another thing is interesting. Today on the sidelines they are discussing who will be next, and whom Vishnevsky will drag with him to the “bottom” and which of his associates will earn themselves a new status for the next distribution of “titles” by the Ministry of Justice.