On the Line

Riva Froymovich
United States - 09/02/2005
  [Rostov-on-Don, Russia]
A rusted floral entrance plaque decorates Alexandra Vasilievna Guzeva’s lifelong home with the date of the building’s construction -- 1864. The flimsy muddle of wood and brick patchwork rests on 30th Line, a seedy and narrow street. The buckled home is nearly collapsed, but no one is paying attention.

Leaning on a bandaged cane, cracked and bent by time and use, Alexandra Vasilievna, 78, slouches teary-eyed in recognition of her reality. Her daughter, Tatiyana, 46, stands beside in tattered slippers, wrapped in a slinky leopard robe. Just a stench away sits a communal outhouse -- probably not renovated since the plaque was erected 140 years ago -- for the 23 or so families of the apartment complex.

Inhabitants declare that the crumbling facade at #9 30th Line of the Proletarsky District in Rostov-on-Don, Russia is condemned. Surrounded by rotting trees, the apartments survive broken ceilings, severed gas tubes, and three-decades-old stairs. Residents survive without promised social services, and feel imprisoned by the unfit shelter. They lack the resources to move or an agency to turn to.

On the other side of 30th Line, just across the street, the local mayor’s parents comfortably live with Rostov-on-Don’s upper crust in a new multi-story building. Nearby is an English school for the well-heeled students of the district.

No outhouses there. No decaying wood panels.

“The children of rich people study there, and they smell this every day,” on their walk to class, Alexandra Vasilievna sobbed, as she dragged her calloused and tired feet around the apartment courtyard, the dirt landscape of her refuge.

On January 1st, the family’s meager government assistance package will be completely altered by President Vladimir Putin’s controversial effort to wipe away any remnants of Soviet-era social service subsidies and replace them with lump sum cash payments. Residents worry that the money will not cover their needs or prior discounts, and some look to the nongovernmental sector. President Putin has expressed suspicion of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the past, but they may be able to provide the services and money that low-income families need.

With a population of more than one million, Rostov-on-Don is the largest city in Southern Russia and one of its biggest industrial centers, according to the Russian American Chamber of Commerce. Rostov is located more than 700 miles from Moscow, about the distance from New York to Chicago. The southern capital boasts a diverse population of Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Greeks, Ukrainians and others. They stroll down the cracked steps of downtown Pushkinskaya Street, where some flaunt strollers or a significant other, often with a beer in hand--picture a cement Coney Island boardwalk, sans the ocean. Men casually march in relaxed dress in contrast to the ladies, but with command and certainty. Women strut in their tightest and fanciest attire, stilettos no matter the bumps and pavement. Many skirts and denim are embroidered with faux Dolce & Gabbana tags made in some far corner of town and sold in a cramped, tented bazaar lined with eager vendors who stockpile their tight cubicles to the brim with European fashions--an alligator Channel wallet goes for $10. Along the broken boulevard, a haggard few sell nuts off little makeshift stands of milk crates and cardboard, while young musicians charm passersby for a ruble or two.

Russia’s bumpy road to capitalism, which included increases in unemployment and welfare losses in the 1990s, pushed many into poverty. The resulting undersized middleclass, and greatly polarized rich and poor, impelled the need to build an efficient civil society to help Russia’s victims of transition--entire populations still rehabilitating from the Soviet switch to a market economy. Today, the country continues its struggle to answer the needs of low-income communities reliant on social services, many still accustomed to depending on the government. In President Putin’s annual address last May, he stressed the necessity of advancing the welfare of the nation, especially in light of what he has referred to as a “creeping catastrophe”: a declining population, a rising median age, and a public-health sector in a “financial crisis,” as reported by the Washington Post based on a 2004 report from the National Bureau of Asian Research.

In July, the government presented the sweeping social reform bill that was approved by the Federation Council in the beginning of August. An estimated 30 million people will be affected, including low-income individuals, the retired, the disabled, and veterans. The bill grants between 1550 rubles ($75) down to 150 rubles ($5.40), according to The Associated Press, to cover expenses for medicines, therapy; some forms of treatment and local train trips for those that previously received discounts or coupons. The former benefits were remnants of a supportive social system that subsidized services such as utilities, free public transport, or medication. Alexander Brideau, an analyst for Eurasia Group, a political risk-consulting firm based in New York, affirms that it is unlikely the lump sum will equal the amount of money distributed in subsidies.

“Ultimately this was a matter of cost cutting,” Brideau explained. The federal government will be responsible for one-third of the payments, and individual regions are expected to take care of the rest. “My take is this is going to be a difficult transition,” Brideau said. “[The government has] to reassure people that these cash benefits are going to be worth something, and better than what they had before.” He added, “They may not have prepared as much as they need to.”

And, if that is the case, the legislation’s pen, Putin, is unlikely to suffer. The president’s tightened grip on the country allows him to make the changes without taking the blame, according to Brideau. The legislation on regional governors signed into law on December 12 gives Putin the power to hire and fire governors, dismiss regional legislatures if they reject his nominees for governor, and ultimately the ability to shift blame onto them should the social service reform not work as he planned.

“There is an increasing amount of discontent among the Russian public about the lack of progress,” according to Brideau. 30th Line residents echo the sentiment. The Rostovites are hungry for something more, a definitive solution instead of an unlikely answer.

On Paper...

Svetlana Urievna Lehonina heads The Social Welfare Department’s Family, Motherhood, & Childhood division of the Proletarsky District in Rostov -- just a walk away from a #9 resident’s poster of Lenin imparting a “figa,” the Russian hand gesture akin to “the finger.” It is his declaration of what Russia has given him--nothing--and how the government sees him--as nothing.

The agency specializes in providing money, services, and special needs for low-income households, in particular with children, those in extreme situations, the disabled, or retired. Households and individuals must register their income, citizenship status, living situation, and family history through the department’s bureaucracy. They are promised full or partial subsidies for bussing, medicine, and food--to be replaced by cash payments come the New Year--as well as child welfare of 70 rubles per month or a retiree pension based on former income and position, all dependent on their needs.

The department defines low-income wages as roughly less than $71 each month, less than half the average monthly salary in the Rostov region.

Lehonina is composed and careful as she thumbs through desk papers to locate the office’s statistics for the early summer months. The reports show that 11,082 poor families with 13,479 children, along with 337 disabled children, who live in the Proletarsky District received aid from the Family, Motherhood, & Childhood Department.

The figures show that $3,156,100 was doled out, in addition to those monthly payments and subsidies, to 3,343 people for walk-in services like extra food, walking aids, school uniforms, and miscellaneous staples.

But, the socio-economic reality turns hazy outside Lehonina’s clear window. The numbers don’t match what 30th Line residents claim to receive and they stand waiting for assistance from local authorities.

In Practice...

On International Children’s Day, Alexandra Vasilievna’s granddaughter wanted to celebrate June 1st like others her age. The welfare center declared that it provides gifts each year, sponsored by the Fund of Social Programs -- an organization of regional corporations that raise money -- to children who walk in.

When the little girl appeared at the office this year, they told her that all the presents were gone.

So is the family’s trust in the government.

For Natalya Nikolaevna, hope is not a reality. “In our Russia, no way.”

Natalya Nikolaevna Kulikovna, 50, stepped forward among the women of the courtyard in her safety-clip fastened wrap waving an arm, embittered over fees and utility costs for the unsuitable housing and withheld guaranteed aid. “I want the world to see how we live,” she said. “We pay for reconstruction and don’t know where the money goes.”

The inhabitants of one 30th Line apartment, a walk up the unlit rickety stairs and passed the cardboard covered windows near their blue-painted door, are familiar with what happens to those who cannot afford the bills. Their gas line was physically disconnected. In order for the residents’ power to return they must pay for new tubing and service fees -- all for the crumbling space they call home.

The #9 tenement lies in the shadow of the district’s Housing Agency, on the 39th Line, which is no stranger to Kulikovna and other residents. They have appealed to authorities, who responded with financial excuses instead of reconstruction, and directed them towards another office, she recalled.

When they wrote to the recommended department, it responded with an objective renovation date for early 2004. But in January, when the shanty’s families stepped forward for their promised repairs, the department’s new director had a familiar reply: “No money.”

Kulikovna receives a pension of 994 rubles per month (about $34) from the Social Welfare Department. The average pension in June 2004 was 1,760 rubles per month (about $60), which does not leave extra change to pay for other needed services, according to the Eurasia Daily Monitor.

Under President Putin’s new social welfare law, the cash compensation for a low-income benefits recipient will likely be spent on necessities such as food, not its intended welfare purpose, and recipients will risk going without vital medication, reports The Moscow Times. Furthermore, the effort for equal social support across all regions will likely leave local governments in a deficit. To foot the bill, regions will re-appropriate money from “the only financial reserve” available to most, according to The Moscow Times: “funds for housing and utilities.”

Under the Soviet-era plan, Kulikovna and her husband pay 664 rubles per month (about $23) for apartment bills -- like water and electricity -- after a 50 percent discount for disability. He continues working in order to make up the difference after living costs -- such as food--and she considers herself lucky to be eligible for disability status. When Putin’s plan takes effect, Kulikovna doesn’t expect the cash compensations will do any better.

Lehonina says The Social Welfare Department sends someone to help clean, buy food, and similar assistance for the disabled of Category 3, the most severe level. In addition, those holding such status may request items such as new wheelchairs or linens at no cost. Pensioners are also eligible for free medication and usually receive receipts from their doctors to obtain drugs without charge.

In order to take advantage of the social welfare guaranteed by law, applicants must prove their low income through documentation and present their passport. However, people are overwhelmed by the specifics of the laws as implemented by local authorities, and feel it is there to hinder access to subsidized amenities, not secure them. Even after paperwork, they don’t trust they will receive the benefits. “We have in Russia for free? Only orphanages are free,” Kulikovna exclaimed.

There are five people qualified for disability services at the deteriorating development, Kulikovna said, including Alexandra Vasilievna. She has held disability status for 23 years -- now, Category 3 and applicable for assistance per Lehonina’s requirements -- but asserts that she has never received such help. And when she used her antiquated cane to go over to the local Social Welfare Department, where she hoped to collect a new walking stick, Alexandra Vasilievna declared that she was instructed to obtain 15 necessary documents worth 750 rubles.

When you go for medications, she continued, pharmacists will say it is sold out -- until you offer payment, which falls on her daughter’s shoulders.

The crux of the issue, then, may not be the law or program design itself, but “administration and service delivery,” according to the Urban Institute, in parallel with country’s problems of privatization.

Transition

The Urban Institute, a research organization, indicates in a 2003 report by Raymond Struyk that the transition from government control to privatization is blemished by, among other things, the transfer and distribution of social assistance and social services from national to local governments, “because of unfunded and under funded national mandates.” Thus, many argue that Putin’s cash compensation program may prove ineffective as well, because it too will underestimate funding and rely on the organization of local authorities. Under the new system, the federal government will pay one-third of the stipends, while regional governments will shell out the rest. Yet, some consider it one more unfunded mandate, and with inflation rates running at almost 10 percent a year, the new stipend’s value may decrease, according to the Eurasia Daily Monitor.

Local governments have the power to determine how and when -- either through municipal agencies, grants, nongovernmental, non-profit, or for-profit organizations -- social services will reach those like aging Alexandra Vasilievna.

Located on Rostov’s drab streets, the Department for Distribution of Living Areas (DDLA) publicly lists 950 identification numbers of locals waiting for new residences. All of them, according to the DDLA, currently suffer in “unlivable” conditions or are officially “homeless.” They are considered priorities of the “non-waitlist” category, but even they wait.

And, for a complete public record, “We have to put paper on the ceiling,” an administrator commented on the list length.

The listed include victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and those rehabilitating from the aftermath of Stalin’s purgatories, Gulag labor camp survivors and people oppressed until the 1980s when Gorbachev took power, waiting since the fall of the Soviet Union in December 1991 for assistance. They must prove their disabilities and history, again, through a number of documents confirming their living status.

Nearby, the Administration of the Proletarsky District edifice is under construction. They, it seems, have a sufficient budget for renovation.

Vitali Victorovich Permyakov, Vice-Director of Economics and Trade for the Proletarsky District of Rostov-on-Don said that the privatization process has affected low-income families the most. They cannot afford housing improvements or moving. Furthermore, district authorities are mostly dependent on funding by the national government, and are often unable to foster matching budgets to expand apartment development and distribution.

Vitali Victorovich was unable to definitively estimate the waiting time for the “priority” roll of the more than 950 homeless waiting for housing and skirted the issue.

However, the government, in cooperation with private investors, constructed 500,000 square meters of new living spaces this year -- the most in Rostov’s history, he announced proudly.

About 20 percent were given to the classified needy, according to Vitali Victorovich.

He is familiar with the homes at #9 30th Line, and explained that the site is not among the city’s priorities. It is difficult to build something new on the grounds because the foundation itself is weak.

When it comes to overall social services, he claims that it is harder to make significant changes in larger cities such as Rostov because of its large needy population and few available financial sources. He admits that what they offer is a “very modest package.” Vitali Victorovich maintains, “We deliver as much as we have.”

“Municipal agencies hold a monopoly position in delivering publicly funded services,” according to a December 2002 Urban Institute report. Struyk and Patrick Corvington found that increasing competition could improve service delivery, and can be done through contested contracts that would be open to nongovernmental organizations as well. Furthermore, they concluded, “the range of capability of Russian nonprofit organizations engaged in providing such services is indeed wide.”

Those suffering in Rostov’s bureaucratic back alleys may have another option as civil organizations outside the government begin to offer supplemental resources. The number of officially registered NGOs-- excluding religious, political, consumer, and professional groups--in Russia has risen to over 60,000 in recent years, according to the Non-Governmental Organizations Sector Support Program (NGOSS), funded by United States Agency for International Development. Elizabeth T. Boris writes in “Nonprofits & Government” that, “voluntary organizations are identified as central to prosperous and successful democracies.”

Future

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the importance of cultivating a civil society at The Civil Society Event in Moscow on January 27, 2004. "You can’t always rely on the government... it has to be a partnership between government, between business, and...people who are willing to devote their energies to the betterment of their society."

NGOSS reports that, “Russia’s current economic climate limits NGO Sector financial viability.” Furthermore, they continue, local governments are not fully developed nor have adopted laws that allow them to utilize or support NGOs.

President Putin recognized the work of nongovernmental organizations in his annual address this year, however subsequent actions are not forthcoming, although cuts in social benefits may be, indicated Katya Greshnova, Co-Director of The Center for NGO Support (CNGOS). “[NGOs are] not seen yet as part of the Russian economy or social system,” she explained. But, through greater state interaction and mutual partnerships, NGOs can find the support to make them more relevant in communities, Greshnova continued, like the one on 30th Line.

Greshnova believes that there should be a system of options.

She agrees that government agencies provide necessary services, but they are not sensitive to the specific needs of individuals, a gap that residents at #9 30th Line fall into and that she asserts nongovernmental organizations can fill.

“We are looking to set up an alternative system of high quality services... accessible to all different people of different sizes of income.”

Rostov’s governor, Vladimir F. Chub, this year addressed the need to cultivate more nongovernmental partnerships to answer the region’s social needs. He said that the necessary financing for better healthcare, education, and other social services requires assistance from both the private and public sectors.

The government, she contends, is merely one facet. It is necessary to promote a three-way relationship between nongovernmental, governmental, and business spheres for the fullest impact of social services on the nation.

One example of nongovernmental services that work locally in the Rostov region is the American Jewish Distribution Committee’s Hesed program, which helps nearly 3,000 people with food packages, home care, medical assistance, and personal needs. However, many NGOs are too small and isolated to be able to pursue their interests effectively, according to Canada International Development Agency.

“At some point, the government will have to recognize the new reality, which is not just the state can provide services,” Greshnova said. “Money should be distributed on a competitive basis for services.”

But, as the Urban Institute, 30th Line residents, and Alexander Brideau of Eurasia Group show, the spring of finances towards such services is negligible from federal authorities and the local delivery of allotted funds by regional governments is questionable.

The social reform law’s cash compensations may not cover personal welfare expenses and could further jeopardize the status of social welfare and its beneficiaries. President Putin is certain that one-third of the population will benefit from the package though, according to The Moscow Times. The paper also reported that following the law’s passage Mikhail Zadornov, an independent State Duma deputy and former finance minister, suggested that one-third of the regions will not be able to follow through with those cash payments.

Either way, those waiting in #9 30th Line’s dirt courtyard aren’t holding their breath. For them, the weight of government accountability is reminiscent of Lenin’s “figa,” -- nothing -- and neither plan cut it.

Children Rights | United States | Reports