Two departures per week
Thursday, April 6, Vladimir Putin replaced the head of Mari El: to become the acting head of the Republic, the President invited the chair near Moscow arbitration court Alexander Evstifeeva. Evstifeev will be acting head of the Mari El Republic until elections which are scheduled for September 2017.
Evstifeev will replace on a post of the head of Mari El Leonid Markelov, who was the head of the region since 2001. Markelov had resigned themselves, should be published on the website of the Kremlin decree was issued to release him from his post.
“I’m going with the cross on his way”: 10 facts about the former head of the Mari El Republic
The resignation Markelov was the second week in the Volga Federal district (PFO): April 4 Vladimir Putin in connection with loss of trust was removed from his post the head of Udmurtia Alexander Solovyov, who led the region in 2014. Solovyov was charged under a criminal case on bribery (part 6, item 290 of the criminal code; up to 15 years in prison) for a total amount of 141.7 per mln. of this money Solovyov, according to investigators, received a agreement with a Builder of bridges over the rivers Kama and Bui: the official promised the contractors to immediately pay for their work from Federal and regional budgets, as well as licenses for geological study, exploration and production of subsoil of sand and sand-gravel mixture. On the same day, Solovyov was arrested and placed in jail.
The vacant post of the head of Udmurtia Vladimir Putin offered to take the Secretary of Public chamber Alexander Brechalov, who in addition to his work in the OP still the co-chair of the Central staff of the Russian popular front (onf). Until September he will be acting then Brechalov intends to participate in the election of the President.
The Governor’s last wave of resignations occurred in February of this year. Your posts have left the head of the Perm region Viktor Basargin, whose place was taken by the head of Department of economic policy and development of Moscow Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of Buryatia Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, but was instead assigned to the native of Ministry of transport Alexey Tsydenov; Governor of Novgorod region Sergei Mitin, who had replaced the head of the Agency for strategic initiatives Andrey Nikitin; head of Karelia Alexander Khudilainen has replaced the head of the Federal bailiff service Artur Parfenchikov. All appointees temporarily perform the duties of regional leaders before the election.
Different context
The resignation Markelov was predictable, said political analyst Alexei Makarkin. In the elections of the head of the Mari El Republic in September 2015, the rating Markelov was so low that he barely won is not the most popular opposition candidate from the Communist party Sergey Mamayev, Makarkin reminds. The election Markelov scored 50,78% of the vote, ahead of Mamayev, who voted for 32.3% of voters. “The situation, which got Markelov can be called the political wear and tear,” stated the analyst.
Leonid Markelov
Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev / TASS
The Embassy and the Kremlin was unhappy with Markelov because of his low ratings in the last election, and because of the scandals, which provoked the head of the Republic, Makarkin reminds. One of the most notorious happened in the middle of election campaign of the head of the Mari El Republic in September 2015. Then, the Network appeared the video, shot in obstetric paragraph Zvenigovsky area of Republic, where he arrived Markelov. The head of the Republic for the bad, from his point of view, receiving the inhabitants began to threaten to dig up the only paved road to the point. The video caused a great public resonance, it drew the attention of the Federal press.
Markelov is threatening to dig up the road
Changer Markelov Alexander Evstifeev familiar first Deputy head of the presidential administration, the curator of internal policy Sergey Kiriyenko. To work in the Arbitration court of the Moscow region Evstifeev was a member of the Federation Council, where he held the position of Chairman of the Committee on legal and judicial issues, and before that worked in the Volga Federal district from June 2000 to January 2002 he was the Deputy Ambassador, who was then Kiriyenko.
The resignation Solovyov, who unlike Markelov headed the Republic for a relatively short time — three years — was much tougher than officially voluntary dismissal of the head of the Mari El Republic. People from the team Solovyov were criminal cases, which “led directly to the head of the Republic,” recalls the political scientist Yevgeny Minchenko. “The last eighteen months conducted secret work on pozyskiwaniu his successor. There is a combination of factors: the absence of a solid roof in the “Politburo 2.0″, ad hoc appointment Solovyov. They say that the investigators were surprised at how sloppy he was,” said Minchenko.
In the three years around Solovyov has developed a family who was involved in including road construction, said the political scientist Nikolay Mironov. This area had an attitude and namesake of the Governor, the Republican Deputy Minister of construction Alexander Soloviev, according to experts, a close friend of the daughter of the head of the Udmurt Republic.
Alexander Soloviev
Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov
“The mega-project they had a bridge across the Kama river. Him Soloviev personally asked Putin money. Called the amount of RUB 30 billion (Federal and regional budgets together). Putin had [in 2016] to come open the bridge. But the bridge was not ready. No irregularities were found. There was a scandal. Soon, the Deputy Minister of nightingales (the namesake and family friend) was arrested. Arrests began in the traffic office and adjacent offices. Putin personally ordered him to work,” — said Mironov.
The factor of elections
The resignation in the PFD are directly connected with the role of an envoy Mikhail Babich, a political analyst Konstantin Kalachev. Babich — an example of the envoy who cares about the results of presidential campaigns in the assigned regions, says Kalachev. Neither dismissed the head of the Udmurt Republic, nor dismissed the head of the Mari El Republic cannot be considered a driver of future elections, I am sure Kalachev, but the concern and threat to believe was possible.
“In Mari El Republic twice already it was possible to observe the protest vote is an example of the Kalachev. — For the first time in the elections of the head when Markelov not without difficulty escaped the second round. The second time — in the Duma elections, when, despite the opposition of Markelov, they won the candidate from the Communist party,” — said Kalachev. With Udmurtia, according to the analyst, “it was all too, not just” for Solovyov elections to the state Council (the regional Parliament) would be a serious challenge.
The task of strengthening the corps of heads of regions in the Volga Federal district, which aims Babich, meets the interests of the curator of internal policy Sergey Kiriyenko, said Kalachev. That is why the resignation of the heads of the republics should be regarded as a hardware success not only Kiriyenko (promotion to the post of head of Mari El in his man), but Babych. Kiriyenko, says the expert, working under the scheme: to change all heads of regions who cannot provide electoral results themselves are or may be the reason for the protest vote.
That the reason for the resignation of the heads of the Udmurt Republic and Mari El Republic was their unpopularity, agrees political analyst Andrei Kolyadin. “This is a natural process. Kiriyenko came in the political block of the Kremlin and thus wants to influence the internal politics,” said koliadyn.
