Governors in Medvedev style

Specialists from the Presidential Administration have developed new criteria for selecting candidates for governor, Vedomosti writes. The day before, Medvedev complained about the lack of personnel and was indignant at the fact that people get into high government positions - who would have thought! - on the basis of personal loyalty, acquaintance, and even for money.

In addition, the president noted that many hold positions for a long time, and this harms the business and causes corruption. We need a management personnel reserve system. Meanwhile, a source in the Kremlin told Vedomosti that something has already been thought up regarding the selection of governors, and there is even a list (albeit with only 24 names) of those very reserves whose absence the president spoke about.

If we summarize the new criteria, it turns out that the governors of “Medvedev’s” Russia should be similar to the president himself. A candidate for a high position must be no older than 55 years old; it is highly desirable that he have experience in the civil service and business (but not in the law enforcement agencies). In addition, the candidate must have experience managing large teams and a budget of several billions.

The administration, according to an unnamed official, plans to remove 16 governors by the end of this year, and 10 more in 2009, including those who were recently considered unsinkable. In addition to those whose terms expire this or next year (previously this did not seem to particularly bother the Administration), titans Yuri Luzhkov, Murtaza Rakhimov and Mintimer Shaimiev may lose their posts.

It is also alleged that the Administration will fight clanism in the regions and, for this purpose, will continue to appoint “Varangians.”

United Russia has been offering its ideas about replenishing the personnel reserve since last year. The party wants to present the country’s leadership and the governors themselves with a “golden thousand” of professionals - a list of effective deputy governors, regional speakers and ministers, district heads and mayors.

True, all this euphoria is somewhat cooled by the consideration of another source close to the Kremlin, quoted by Vedomosti. In his opinion, since voices are constantly heard from the regions about the need for changes in the current system, including from governors, the Administration decided to seize the initiative - simply to cool the passions around this topic. The same Shaimiev, for example, has recently insisted on the election of governors.