Viktor Vasilyevich Leonov was born on August 6, 1952, in the village of Novo-Ilyinka, Altai Territory, in the family of rural teachers. In 1969, after graduating from high school, he enrolled in the evening department of the Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute and simultaneously began working as an electrician at the Novosibirsk Tin Plant. From 1970 to 1972, he served in the Soviet Army in the Siberian Military District. After completing his military service, he returned to work at the plant.

He graduated from the Novosibirsk Institute of National Economy as an economist and from the Higher Party School.

From 1976 to 1983, he worked in the Komsomol and Party organizations. In 1983, he was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Kirovsky District Council of People's Deputies in Novosibirsk, one of the largest industrial districts.

From 1989 to 1990, he worked as an inspector at the Novosibirsk Regional Committee of the Party, and from 1990 to 1991, he served as an assistant to the Chairman of the Novosibirsk Regional Council of People's Deputies.

In 1991, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Novosibirsk Region Administration. Since 1993, he has been the Investment Director of the Left Bank Commercial Social Bank. In March 1995, he was appointed Deputy Head of the West Siberian District Inspectorate of the Presidential Control Department of the Russian Federation. Since January 1996, he has been the Deputy Head of the Novosibirsk Region Administration.

In December 1997, he was elected a deputy of the Novosibirsk Regional Council of Deputies, and in January 1998, he became the Chairman of the Novosibirsk Regional Council of Deputies. He has been a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation since February 1998. In 1999, he joined the Economic Council under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Major of the reserve.

- Viktor Vasilyevich, people still come to politics. Some say that politicians are almost born, others say that it's a matter of chance, and still others say that it's a well-planned, difficult, and gradual ascent to the heights of power. How did it happen for you?

- I think that people become politicians depending on the circumstances. Before I joined the army, I worked as an electrician at the famous Novosibirsk Tin Plant. When I returned to the plant after completing my military service, I realized that I had gained organizational skills and the ability to persuade people. This was noticed and appreciated, and I was soon elected as a Komsomol secretary. As we know, people become public figures when they are in the spotlight. Later, I combined my studies with work in the party and Komsomol organizations. I was also a good athlete at one time.

I was a candidate for the city's volleyball team, and I had a certain amount of authority and what is now called an image. However, it is not enough to be in the public eye. People quickly recognize the true nature of a leader. When there is no substance behind the ability to speak and make beautiful speeches, all of a person's endeavors, even the most well-intentioned, crumble like a house of cards. As the wise Fool in Shakespeare's "King Lear" says, "What is empty within is all that rattles."

And when you work at full capacity, without faking it, people notice it and usually trust you with their hopes for a better life. I'm saying this because the position of Chairman of the Regional Council is elected...

- You mentioned your military service. Do you regret those years? What did the army teach you?

- Let's not forget that I served at a time when the Armed Forces were universally respected. In addition, I grew up in an Altai village where military personnel and their remarkable heroic profession were highly regarded. This respect was instilled in me by my parents, teachers, and the entire way of life. In the village, a young man who had not fulfilled his duty to his country was considered inferior. Naturally, I never considered obtaining a deferment from military service, even though I had the opportunity (as I was studying at the time).

Now that many years have passed, I believe that my military service played a significant role in shaping my future. Although it may sound strange, it was during my time in the military that I gained self-confidence, understood the power of teamwork, and learned the importance of responsibility and determination. It was there that my future was laid out.

I ended up serving in the Siberian Military District, in a friendly missile division. However, I was assigned a secondary position, working with classified documents. This was a bit of a disappointment, as I didn't want to become a regular clerk, often met with a touch of irony from my colleagues. Nevertheless, I didn't take any shortcuts. I went to the training ground with everyone else, participated in exhausting marches, and fulfilled my duties as a guard. I felt that I was not falling out of the brotherhood family. I also felt a certain pride in belonging to my own division, and a desire not to let them down. The fact is that I was always placed on the right flank during military reviews because of my height, and I knew how my fellow soldiers would look at me during the parade. Of course, the highest reward was the simple words of my commander: "Well done, Private Leonov, you did not let us down."

The army also provided me with another valuable experience. Many years later, when I was working on defense issues, I realized that the most pressing concerns of the Armed Forces originate in small units such as platoons, batteries, and divisions. When we apply these issues to our legislation, we often find that they do not align with reality. However, this is a separate discussion.

I don't know how it is now, but twenty years ago, the army was a community of individuals, people you wanted to be like. And we had a lot of such people in our division. Over the years, many things have faded from my memory, but I still remember Major Fomin, the division commander, an officer through and through. They're often referred to as "military bone." He was always well-groomed and well-dressed. We thought he was incredibly strict, but he never offended a single soldier. He rarely praised me, but I remembered that praise for a long time. But he also scolded, sometimes, be healthy! But always on the case and not in an offensive tone, but in such a way that you will understand why you received a scolding and how to correct your mistake. And the difficulties? They certainly were. And the desperate homesickness of the first year, and the seemingly unbearable cross-country skiing, and much more, all of which you can't remember now. In general, the army was really a school of life, and I'm ready to sign up for these words... And I'm telling my son now: "Studying is one thing, and higher education is another, but you need to serve your country. The Leonov family has always done this faithfully."

Here I follow the good traditions that were followed in Russia. Do you remember the epigraph to A.S. Pushkin's "The Captain's Daughter"?

"If he were a guard, he'd be a captain tomorrow."

"That's not necessary; let him serve in the army."

- That's a lot to say! Let him suffer...

- I would like to hear your opinion on the legislative framework that will help revive military-patriotic education. How do you feel about this issue?

- In our attempts to build a new society (although we still don't have a clear idea of what we're building), we've often thrown the baby out with the bathwater. This is also the case with military-patriotic education. In their impulsive maximalism, many pseudo-democrats have methodically opposed the army and everything related to it, claiming that our society is overly militarized. As a result, we've lost the most precious thing - our traditions, which, unfortunately, are almost impossible to restore. You can only create them anew.

If you look into this situation, there are not so many regulatory documents regarding the revival of military-patriotic education. These include the Presidential Decree of August 15, 1997, No. 890, "On the Federal Target Program 'Youth of Russia 1998-2000'," and the draft federal target program "Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation, Commemorating the Memory of Russian Soldiers and Significant Events in the Military History of the Fatherland.""The Concept of Military-Patriotic Education of Youth, approved by the Coordination Council under the President, and others. There are decrees and resolutions. The only thing missing is a coordinated effort to unite the movement for the revival of military-patriotic education. This is difficult to achieve without a national idea.

Despite this, in the Novosibirsk region, thanks to the enthusiasm of its members, military-patriotic education is gaining a second wind. The regional council of veterans, led by retired Colonel V.V. Zhuravlev, has not only managed to preserve the network of military glory museums in educational institutions, but also to create new ones. Dozens of military-patriotic clubs in the city are conducting targeted educational work among teenagers to prepare them for the army. And such associations as MGiV ("Courage, Heroism and Will") and "Desant"The clubs, led by A.M. Nekrasov and O.B. Makiev, are known throughout Russia. These clubs' search expeditions have recovered and reburied thousands of the remains of soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War.

The city's Youth Affairs Committee is reviving the military-sports game "Zarnitsa," and specialized sports camps are becoming increasingly popular again, focusing on preparing pre-conscription youth for the army. The movement that was previously known as the Timur movement is also gaining momentum. Boys and girls participate in the "Duty" and "Mercy" campaigns, during which they clean up military cemeteries and monuments, help veterans collect firewood (in the private sector), work in their own gardens, and serve as nurses in hospitals and medical centers.

In the countryside, this work is revived in the Iskitim district, where the head of the administration is a unique and tireless person, Tatyana Mikhailovna Parfentsova. She truly cares about the army and its problems! In many rural schools, the subject of basic military training has been restored, and the sports and technical flying club is so popular that there is no shortage of boys from neighboring districts who want to join. Last year, the All-Russian competitions in glider sports were held at a very high level. As they say, the local girls and boys did not let them down and won prizes.

In general, I know what it means to rotate in an orbit connected with training for the army at a young age. At one time, I had to create military sports camps in my area. It was a difficult time, but it was also a great time. We tried to "pull" the children out of the semi-poor yard life, we worked with those who were then called difficult teenagers. And how nice it was to meet a slender, well-groomed major on the street many years later (I don't remember his last name, of course), who said, "Thank you, Viktor Vasilyevich. If it hadn't been for the military sports camp you brought me to, I don't know what I would have become..."

The Novosibirsk Region has also adopted many programs related to military-patriotic education. For example, the "State Youth Policy in the Novosibirsk Region (1998-2000)", the "Concept for the Unification of Municipal Teenage Clubs, Public Associations, and Other Organizations of Military-Patriotic Orientation in Novosibirsk", and similar documents have been developed in the satellite city of Berdsk and the Iskitim District. However, as I mentioned earlier, there is no overall coordinating mechanism for this work. I would like to hope that the law "On Youth," which is currently being adopted by the Novosibirsk Regional Council, will play a role in this regard.

- Let's move on from issues related to the army to issues that are obviously more relevant to you. The Economic Council, which you are a member of, was established to create a concept for the country's socio-economic development. Please provide more details about this.

- The idea of creating a concept for the country's socio-economic development has been raised in the Federation Council for a long time. After all, there is still no clear understanding of what kind of state we are creating. We need to explain to the people where we are going. The current doctrine, which is more like a slogan about creating a legal and democratic state, is too general and vague. We need to have clarity on this fundamental issue. If we don't have an ideology, we need to have a clear and specific socio-economic program.

As a result of these proposals and some debates, the then Prime Minister S. V. Stepashin decided to form an Economic Council, whose task will be to develop and create a socio-economic concept. What it will be like, I think, is too early to say. But the debate around it is expected to be heated, as the initial working group included representatives from various economic sectors. Let's hope that collective intelligence prevails.

It is a little disconcerting, however, that from the vast territory stretching from the Urals to the Far East, only three representatives were included in the Economic Council: the head of the Omsk company "Bacon", the chairman of the Novosibirsk Regional Council of Deputies and the head of the Khabarovsk Territory administration. We believe that this is not entirely true. Siberia and the Far East have a unique intellectual potential, and many local economic programs work ahead of schedule and could become an integral part of the state's long-term economic strategy.

Taking this into account, we have come to the conclusion that collective proposals could be the most fruitful for the Economic Council that is being established. In particular, in the Novosibirsk region, I have involved scientists from three academies, the Council of University Rectors, the Association of Industrial Enterprises, and so on in the creation of these proposals. In other words, we would like to significantly expand the composition of the working group in the Economic Council. In addition, we have accumulated positive experience in the form of the permanent interregional association "Siberian Agreement" in our territory, where the development of collective solutions has become a working tool for its activities.

If everything goes well, the Concept of Economic and Social Development of our country will be presented to the public in early 2000. In my opinion, this is quite logical. Until people understand what the government wants at the state level, there will be no economic miracle.

As we are coming to the end of our conversation, I would like to return to the military topic. Unfortunately, our regional Council of Deputies does not even have a subcommittee dedicated to the country's defense capabilities, and there are no military-affiliated deputies. This is a cause for concern, as they could have been more proactive in advocating for the military's interests. Occasionally, we encounter situations like: In order to put pressure on the authorities, they will turn off the electricity in the house where the military personnel live, the local authorities will issue an illegal decree, and people in uniform will lose their benefits for travel on various modes of transport, and military ticket offices will be abolished at railway stations. Who else but the deputies should be responsible for resolving these issues?

The regional council pays a lot of attention to defense issues. We won't let the military be insulted in our region.

In conclusion, I would like to wish all military personnel, including those of the Siberian Military District, all the best - first of all, good health, success in their service, courage, and happiness in their personal lives. I have the honor.