– I kept the Philharmonic! I supported the Soviet Union by releasing my CDs! And Alla Pugacheva supported the whole of Russia, which now presents something to her, – 68-year-old Laima Vaikule was taken aback the other day.
Subscribe and read Express Newspaper at:
Amazing ego! Has the memory gone completely? I forgot how I met Reznik, Pugacheva and Boldin, whom Raimonds Pauls brought to have fun in the Jurmala variety show Juras Perle, where half-naked Laima lifted her legs? And he invited her to the table only because she was a girl in his choir. How for several years she begged the poet and composer to write a song for her, but they shied away? .. How did they finally let her sing “Night Bonfire” and the song “It’s Not Evening Yet” fell from the master’s shoulder, which Alla Borisovna flatly refused? ..
The public liked Vaikula. Plasticity, the ability to present oneself from the stage and a slight accent, giving a “foreign” charm, covered up the complete absence of a voice. We went to concerts, sold records. Ordinary Soviet people – who built, plowed, taught, treated – brought her their hard-earned money. And we know perfectly well how performers even then made excellent money at leftist concerts, despite the low official rates. Plus, the adoration of the whole country and connections, which in the Union were much more important than money.
And following the collapse of the country, a citizen of “free European” Latvia, Laima Vaikule, for some reason continued to earn money in hated Russia. Concerts, “blue lights”, corporate parties – it is unlikely that she would have had the same number of Latvian songs in her homeland. Moreover, the singer opened a business in 2000: the sale of professional hairdressing equipment, accessories and cosmetics, as well as salon furniture. The company is still afloat, and, according to open data, its revenue for 2021 is 390 million rubles. But the profit – 13 thousand. Deftly! Where is the rest?
In 2014, Laima condemned the return of Crimea to Russia. And she quickly transferred the business to her sister Tatyana. So all Russian branches – in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar, Kaliningrad – work. By the way, there is only one representative office in Latvia.
And here’s something else. In agencies where you can order artists for corporate parties, even today they offer to invite the Russophobe Vaikule for 2-3.5 million rubles.
“Rain” * ended
However, Laima is a typical representative of his people, who easily falls under a strong master and hates Russians. The story of the Dozhd TV channel* proved this once once more.
Let’s remind: the channel blocked in Russia in March has got over to Latvia. The other day, host Alexei Korostelev called the Russian army “ours” on the air and called for sending stories regarding violations (we must kick once more), noting, they say, at least we will help the military with something. At the same moment, the management threw out the journalist who gave the channel eight years. And it became absurd to make excuses that they were misunderstood. But the Latvian authorities revoked the license and blocked the YouTube channel.
– We continue to work and consider all the accusations once morest us to be unfair and absurd, – the management of the TV channel tried to strike a pose.
On it, and flew in: a couple of hours later, CEO Natalya Sindeeva* started talking regarding obtaining a license in another country. In the evening of the same day, smearing snot on the camera of the phone, she asked for forgiveness from Alexei. They caved in, handed over a colleague, but they were still kicked in the ass.
And what did you want? Latvia even humiliated non-citizens with passports of Russians who lived there all their lives and worked for the good of the republic. The language was banned, Soviet monuments are being demolished, marches of SS veterans are being held. After the start of the special operation, the border was closed even for those Russians who own real estate in the country.
This is not “totalitarian” Russia, where you can call on Navalny to go to protests and conduct polls with impunity on the topic: “Should Leningrad have been surrendered so that there would be no blockade?” In “democratic” Europe, I almost fell out of the agenda – come on, goodbye!
It’s funny: the channel broadcast in Russia for 12 years. In Latvia, he did not last even five months. Such is the freedom of speech.
Successfully turned out
In 2008, KIT Finance Bank was on the verge of bankruptcy. However, he is not alone: the crisis then hit everyone. But Alexei Kudrin, then Minister of Finance, ordered this to be allocated 135 billion rubles of state aid. – to this day it is the most expensive rescue operation in the banking sector.
As soon as the money arrived in the accounts, the head of the bank, Alexander Vinokurov, resigned. And soon his wife Natalya Sindeeva* began launching the Dozhd TV channel*.
In 2013, United Russia Sergey Neverov found out that the Central Bank has documents on spending only 118 billion of those 135.
*They act as a foreign agent.
Photo source: Larisa Kudryavtseva, Vladimir Velengurin/KP