Translated material
Perm extreme
The first united Russian region now has a legitimate boss
Yesterday, a new subject of the federation - the Perm Territory - got its first governor. Perm became the first enlarged region of Russia to reach the stage of officially selecting a new leader.Oleg Chirkunov became the head of the Perm region. He has served as acting governor of the Perm region since March 2004, after former governor Yuri Trutnev became minister of natural resources in the federal government.
Last year, more than 83% of residents of these regions voted for the unification of the Perm region and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug into one federal subject - the Perm Territory. This summer, Vladimir Putin signed a constitutional law on the formation of a new subject of the federation. The main reason for the unification was said to be the acceleration of socio-economic development. The Perm region is a donor, the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug is a subsidized region. And during the transition period, financial assistance to the autonomy from the federal budget remains. That is, all the subsidies that the district has now, the region will receive for another five to six years.
In this quiet project of merging two regions, several controversial issues were tested: how changing the boundaries of the subjects of the federation relates to the Constitution, how to persuade the donor region to drag its financially weak neighbor along with it, and who should be appointed head of the already united territory. In Perm, these issues have been practically resolved. According to sociological surveys, 55.8% of residents of the Perm region are satisfied with the work of acting governor Oleg Chirkunov. Only 11.3% of respondents assess the results of Mr. Chirkunov’s work negatively.
The popular elections for the first governor of the Perm Territory were to take place in early December of this year. But due to a change in the procedure for appointing governors, on October 4, Vladimir Putin introduced Mr. Chirkunov’s candidacy for discussion in the legislative assemblies of the Perm region and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug. After this, no one doubted that the president’s creation would be approved by the parliamentarians of the merging regions in due time. The decision of regional legislators to vest the powers of the first governor of the Perm Territory is considered adopted if more than half of the established number of deputies of each of the specified government bodies votes for it. The governor of the region is elected for 5 years.
The candidacy of Oleg Chirkunov was presented to deputies yesterday by Sergei Kiriyenko, the presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District. The plenipotentiary first noted that the election of the head of a new region created as a result of the unification of two subjects of the federation was taking place for the first time, and reminded parliamentarians that “attention is now paid to them not only in Russia, but also beyond its borders.” The parliamentarians, as expected, did not disappoint. 34 deputies of the legislative assembly of the Perm region voted for vesting Oleg Chirkunov with the powers of the regional governor, three were against. The Komi-Permyak parliamentarians, unlike the Permyaks who had not yet had time to work with their future head, were more unanimous. All 15 deputies voted for Mr. Chirkunov.
Mr. Kiriyenko did not hide his joy yesterday that the election of the head of the new federal subject went so smoothly. He said that "legislative members made the right choice by supporting the president's carefully considered proposal." According to the plenipotentiary, it was the fruitful cooperation between the regional administration and parliamentarians that led to the fact that “the Perm region, which about five to seven years ago seriously lagged behind the leading regions in the district, has been actively catching up with them in recent years and is competing, entering the top three in many respects.” leaders." The plenipotentiary especially liked that the Perm parliamentarians spoke with the future governor “toughly, but frankly.”
The future governor of the Perm Territory shared the enthusiasm of the plenipotentiary representative, saying that he was “pleased by the list of shortcomings that the deputies see in his activities.” However, he did not say anything about how he was going to eliminate these very shortcomings. The first governor of the Perm region will take office on December 1, 2005.
Oleg Chirkunov was born in 1958 in Kirovsk, Murmansk region. In 1981 he graduated from the Perm Polytechnic Institute with a degree in economics and organization of mechanical engineering production. In 1988 he graduated in absentia from the Faculty of Law of Perm State University. From 1983 to 1985 he was the second secretary of the Leninsky district committee of the Komsomol of Perm. Worked at the trade mission of the Russian Federation in Switzerland. In 1994-1996 he was Deputy General Director of the company "EX Limited". Since December 1996 - head of the EKS group of enterprises. In 1997, he was elected as a deputy of the regional legislative assembly. From January 2001 to March 2004 - representative of the administration of the Perm region in the Federation Council. He served as deputy chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was a member of the Commission on Natural Monopolies.
In March 2004, he was appointed acting governor of the Perm region.