Kremlin rejects reports of banning state officials to mention oppositionist Navalny’s name

The Kremlin has not set any rules or issued any oral recommendations prohibiting state officials or the heads of state companies to mention the name of oppositionist Alexei Navalny, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"No, absolutely not. It is quite absurd to say that there are some instructions to mention or not to mention someone’s name," Peskov said.
When asked whether the Kremlin was prohibiting state officials and the heads of state companies to mention Navalny’s name, the Kremlin spokesman said: "No, this is not so."

He was also asked whether there were oral recommendations to this effect, and the presidential spokesman said: "Absolutely not. Everyone has his own attitude to him. Actually based on this attitude, someone can and someone cannot mention this name," Peskov said.

When asked about whether the participation of Rusnano hi-tech state corporation CEO Anatoly Chubais "in the debates on Navalny" was a breach of some "Kremlin rules" or accords with the Russian president, Peskov said he had no idea what accords were meant.

"No, this is not because there are no such rules," the Kremlin spokesman said. "I don’t understand this question and consider it to be incorrect," Peskov said.

Some media reported recently that the Kremlin had allegedly prohibited officials and the heads of state companies to mention Navalny’s name in public speeches. The media further claimed that Chubais’ participation in televised debates on politics on the Dozhd TV Channel was a breach of these rules.