Anna Purtova: “Pechersk Is a District of Active People and the Intellectual Elite”

Interview with People's Deputy Anna Purtova of the Servant of the People party.

Anna Purtova is a People's Deputy from the presidential party, elected in constituency 221 (Pechersk and Solomianskyi districts of the capital). Anna Purtova can be called a representative of the “new faces”: before entering parliament she was not involved in politics, but built a solid career in business. 

About her first year in parliament, the coronavirus pandemic, the fight against debt collectors, local elections and much more, in an interview specially for TK Media. 

About the first year of work in parliament

“Indeed, parliamentary work was a completely new experience for me. I had to quickly grasp the nuances of lawmaking. My habit of constant learning and my two higher degrees, in law and economics, helped me.

My previous experience was in business, where I went through almost all stages of development. In the Verkhovna Rada you immediately understand that the responsibility is much greater. I was constantly troubled by the thought of how not to let people down, how not to disappoint those who supported me in the elections. Adapting internally to working in a new team was also necessary. Communicating with voters helped a great deal. They supported me both with kind words and with faith in my abilities.

I work on the Budget Committee and chair the subcommittee on state investment. Right now this is one of the most difficult areas. Many people talk about attracting foreign investment, but we must not forget our domestic investor. He also needs his own investment nannies, support and help. Because of the coronavirus, small and medium-sized businesses are now critically struggling. During the quarantine I communicated with many of their representatives and with business associations. They need support. We have developed a number of projects that we will now implement.

It is sad to see that there is not enough dialogue between real business and the legislative and executive branches. Very good laws often do not work on the ground. Now I see one of my tasks as establishing a dialogue between the legislative branch and business. By the end of October we will formulate a schedule of meetings with various business sectors and propose a roadmap for solving problems. Whoever wants to join, write to me in private messages on Facebook. If business gets going, this will make it possible to raise pensions, salaries in the budget sector and other social payments.

I was faced with the task of joining the work quickly and effectively. I consider the main priority not only to respond adequately to the socio-economic and political situation, but also to try to work ahead of events.

Personally, I strive for greater openness. Over the past year we have built a feedback system with voters that really works. They met us halfway, because today these are active, engaged people who do not want to stay silent about their problems. Together with them we will build systematic work in the constituency, gather problems from every part of the district and solve them step by step. Anyone can join: if you want to help, come to the reception office or write to me.”

On the fight against debt collectors and special schools for children with special needs

“I was very lucky with the district. Pechersk is a district of active people and the intellectual elite. Ideas for bills often come up at my meetings with residents. I am very grateful to them for their initiative.

We are now working on a bill to raise pensions. By the way, it was proposed by a resident from Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard.

There is also a law on regulating the work of debt collectors, which is almost at the final stage. This is a very important issue: I am sure everyone has acquaintances who were humiliatingly threatened and demanded money, with no regard for the legality of the methods. The last straw was the threats against a teacher from our district. She was intimidated with the claim that her nude photos would be published and sent out if she did not pay the interest on a loan. She had never even taken out this loan: fraudsters used her documents for this and doctored photos for blackmail. How should her family and children react to such a situation? How many tears has this cost her? Such actions require strict responsibility.

Separately, I am working in a group on a bill about special schools for children with special needs.

In addition, we are now starting to consider the 2021 Budget. I have submitted several amendments to it. One of them concerns increasing the education subvention, that is, teachers' salaries. Raising teachers' pay is one of the important promises of President Volodymyr Zelensky, and we are also working to implement it. I am sure the new budget will provide room for increasing teachers' pay.”

On work in the constituency and local elections

“Voters see a deputy first and foremost as a defender of their interests. This is very right, especially when the demands are justified and lawful. A deputy should feel, so to speak, the “pulse of the district”, know all the problem spots and respond to them promptly.

What is disappointing is the lack of systematic work in the district. The local authorities are engaged in “patching holes” or addressing the issues of those who got through, insisted and “pushed”. But not everyone has such an opportunity. What about those who physically cannot do this?

Recently the district was forming its budget for next year, and I categorically did not like the approach to this process. Why were some addresses included in the plan and others not? Why are windows being repaired for the second time in a row in some places? Here they wrote a letter, here they asked, here a local deputy lives. This is not serious, and nothing decent can be done this way. We need to approach the district's problems systematically, form a phased plan, and understand what we are doing, when and why. Even if there is not enough funding to do everything in one year, residents should understand what is happening and what the prospects are. Right now there is no such approach.

A separate important issue is that there are no local deputies ready to work as a team. Those who exist are more concerned with PR before elections than with real work. When representatives of different political forces work in different branches of power, they make the greatest efforts to fight among themselves. Therefore we get ribbon-cutting and haphazardly scattered benches instead of improving people's lives. That is exactly why it is very important to me that voters support a candidate from our political force. My personal opinion: we should not give another chance to those who systematically fail to work in the constituency. People have not seen them, do not know them, and they have not helped. Furthermore, we should not elect “defectors” from a neighboring district who talk about their achievements. If those achievements were real, the deputy would not run away from grateful Kyivans.

It is important that a People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and a local deputy work in one team.

Right now, perhaps 80% of appeals are complaints about housing and utility problems. A People's Deputy does not have the financial resources or powers to solve them. A local deputy will be able to defend the budget for their constituency.

When we work with a local deputy in one team and represent one political force, it is easier for us to direct funding to the needs of the district and organize systematic work. Right now, local deputies have left people to their own devices. They do not know whom to turn to for help or how to solve utility problems. Deputies do not even help Kyivans with Civic Budget projects, but they love to take credit for them. By the way, I gladly support interesting initiatives, but my priority has always been people, not my personal ambitions.

Sometimes there are also problems such as the fight against garbage and rats in the district.

The latter, of course, may raise questions. I posted two photos on Facebook, “before” and “after”: the first showed mountains of garbage, and the second showed order restored after the request. In the comments, a resident was outraged: should a Verkhovna Rada deputy even be doing this? 

But I have a counter-question: how could one not do this? I love my district, respect its residents, and believe that their lives should be made better, cleaner and calmer. If that requires starting with the garbage dumps, so be it. The residents are not to blame for the fact that the current local deputies do not work.

But I am convinced that the problem cannot be solved piecemeal. That is physically and technically impossible. We must develop strategic solutions, because all of us want to live in a comfortable, clean and welcoming city.

Wishes for Kyivans

Even positive changes bring stress and anxiety. And there is much more negativity in our lives now than we would like. It is enough to look at the record coronavirus infection rates to lose your peace of mind. That is why, first of all, I want to wish everyone good health. Take care of each other, be kinder to people.

In the spring I was driving past the monument to the founders of Kyiv in Navodnytskyi Park. Newlyweds love to take photos by it, even though the fountain has long been out of order and the monument is gradually falling into disrepair. I managed to secure funding from the state budget for repairing the fountain: in November it will run in test mode for several days, and in the spring it will open fully. Sooner or later the virus will go away, people will still fall in love and marry, children will be born, our Ukrainians. And the founders of Kyiv will watch over this and protect us.