For three

A year before the start of the elections, candidates for the post of governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory were determined

The three largest Russian corporations operating in the Krasnoyarsk Territory seem to have decided on their political preferences. RAO Norilsk Nickel is represented in the political elite of the region by the head of Taimyr, Alexander Khloponin. RAO UES of Russia has been actively friends with the current governor of the region, Alexander Lebed, for the last year. The Russian Aluminum holding, whose relationship with Mr. Lebed has completely deteriorated, seems to have decided to bet on Alexander Uss. This became clear after yesterday the new legislative assembly of the region (elections took place on December 23 last year) elected Alexander Uss as its chairman. 29 out of 39 deputies present at the first session voted for him. Alexander Uss's opponents - chairman of the regional union of commodity producers Valery Sergienko and former chairman of the board of directors of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant Anatoly Bykov, now at Lefortovo - are hopelessly behind. The latter did not receive a single vote. However, Bykov's nomination for the post of chairman is rather someone's bad joke. Three of his representatives in the legislative assembly claim that Anatoly Bykov instructed them to vote for Alexander Uss. However, due to procedural subtleties, the Bykovites were unable to remove the candidacy of their patron. Anatoly Bykov himself (for obvious reasons) could not attend the first meeting of the new legislative assembly.

Governor Alexander Lebed, commenting on what happened, immediately stated that the election results were a victory for Russian Aluminum. Now the chairman of the representative body of power, Alexander Uss, indirectly confirmed this version, saying that both Norilsk Nickel and Rusal had some negotiations with deputies, including him. Neither Uss nor Lebed began to develop this topic further. But even without this, there are more than enough examples of the genuine interest of these financial and industrial groups in the victory of a number of candidates for deputies of the legislative assembly. In particular, the Krasnoyarsk television company TVK, a controlling stake in which is owned by KrAZ, which in turn is part of Rusal, openly supported the Nashi electoral bloc during the elections. Largely thanks to the support of a popular TV channel in the region, they were able to receive a total of nine parliamentary mandates. In addition, aluminum workers were able to get their people into the regional legislative assembly and on the lists of other electoral associations. Thus, this financial and industrial group was able to secure significant representation in the local legislative assembly and appoint a very loyal person to the post of chairman.

The successes of Norilsk Nickel are much more modest. The Northern Party, which is sometimes called the political workshop of Norilsk Nickel, has “only” four parliamentary mandates. This is clearly not enough to seriously influence the decisions of the legislative assembly. However, most likely for the northerners the latest elections were just a trial balloon. They expect to recoup in a year. Norilsk Nickel, as sources close to Alexander Khloponin unanimously say, will certainly take part in the elections for governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, which are just over a year away. Alexander Khloponin himself will become a contender from Norilsk Nickel. However, according to our sources, Rusal also intends to compete for political control over the region. According to a source close to Mr. Uss, the aluminum holding will support Alexander Uss in the gubernatorial elections. RAO UES of Russia did not show itself in any way at the current elections, but, according to data from the regional administration, Mr. Lebed and the management of the energy company are negotiating on the subject of cooperation during future gubernatorial elections.

Alexander MAKAROV, Krasnoyarsk