In connection with the death of Natalia Silchanova, another diver recalled.

Unfortunately, in the broad dive circles Yura Lipsky became famous only after his death, although, in my opinion, Yura could be called a true hero of our time. He was the only person who challenged the Russian oligarchs. He entered into a fight with them and won it.

This happened during the financial crisis of 1998. At the end of July this year, Boris Yeltsin solemnly promised to lie on the rails if a default occurs in the country, and a few days after this promise, the default was announced. I think that Yeltsin still lay quietly on the rails somewhere in a secluded place, for example, in his garden in Barchive. Just no one has seen that. The heads of Russian banks did not want to lie on the rails or on any other road cover. Because of their poverty, poverty and orphanage, they simply refused to pay the workers. And one morning, Jura, like many of our fellow citizens, received an official notification from several banks in which his dollars were held.
They were all about the same content and looked like this: “Dear Mr. Lipsky! Unfortunately, our bank will not be able to return your money soon. But it undertakes to return them in full within five years in rubles at the current MMVB rate. All the best. With respect. Governor of the Bank.”

Most people, having received such letters at this point, breathed hard and said goodbye to the money. But not Jura.
Without long thinking, he printed back letters mirroring bank deposits, with the only difference that they were addressed to the bank manager, and the signature of Mr. Lipsky was at the bottom.
They said, “Dear Mr. Governor! Unfortunately, I will not be able to return your money soon. But I undertake to return them in full within five years in rubles at the current MMVB rate. All the best. With respect. Yuri Lipsky »
What an absurdity, every bank manager thought, we owe it to him, not he to us. Probably something abnormal. We are writing a lot of things.

But Jura knew what he was doing. On this day he flew to Hannover, and from there to San Marino (only after that he went to Egypt, Costa Rica, Cyprus and Spain). Sitting on the aircraft of the Lufthansa company (for trips this time Yura chose only Western companies), he asked the stewardess to bring him several pairs of Citizen diving watches presented in the Duty-free catalog. When asked about the form of payment, he extended the credit card of a respected Russian bank with a wide smile. The total cost of the purchase was approximately $2000. The card in the plane was not checked because it requires a telephone call. Yura had money on the account, and he did not violate the law, and the fact that the bank refused to give him cash is another matter.

Having flown tens of thousands of kilometers in a few days and purchased diving watches approximately the amount of bank debt, Yura decided to exceed it slightly, so, the smallest, to compensate for the moral damage. He estimated the moral damage to a few thousand dollars. It could have been estimated higher, but Jura did not want to irritate the goats. And who knows the habits of these bank workers? They will invent another shit.

From the point of view of the law, the question was crystal clear and at the first indignant call from the bank about the return of money, Yura gently and cunningly explained that the money he would definitely return, all up to a penny, in five years, in rubles at the current rate of MMVB.
Did you not receive my letter, it was sent with notification of delivery and certified by a notary? Look in your papers. Don’t worry, I have copies. If there is a mistake, I am happy to meet you in court.

The situation for the bank was completely pathetic. What is the court? They wrote that they would not return the money, and also signed. What can they demand from Yuri? Apart from scandal and another shame, nothing can be achieved. Unless the reimbursement of Yura's over-spent two thousand, which they will be able to receive only in the form of alimony, it is unclear what size, since according to the documents of Yura, most likely, was unemployed. And the managers of several banks were forced to trust Yuri’s promise. Namely, in five years, in rubles at the MMVB rate, etc. and etc.

Jura carried out this operation mainly out of love for art. He wasn’t in trouble and that money wasn’t big for him. The watch bought by bank card he sold on the Internet, and several copies gave to friends.
His Citizen watches, presented to me, still lie on my desk, in memory of how a smart person can win a session of simultaneous play with several big fools at once, and play with a smile on his face.