The governor is in debt to the people
Stavropol Governor Alexander Chernogorov ignored the decree of the Russian government to increase salaries for teachers, doctors and cultural workers from April 1, 1999. By his own resolution, Chernogorov introduced an increase in the salaries of these specialists not from April 1, but from September 1, 1999. This decision caused a natural protest from state employees. Trade union leaders filed a complaint against the unlawful actions of the region's first person to the regional court.

This June, the regional court, chaired by Lydia Guzhvinskaya, found the governor’s decree to be contrary to federal law and the decree of the Russian government. Doctors, teachers and cultural specialists have been waiting for this decision for a very long time. At first, the regional court did not want to accept the complaint for consideration at all, and the hearing began only after the plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court and its corresponding instructions.
The process lasted several months. Chernogorov himself was not present at the court hearings, and his representative Lyubov Bunina motivated the appearance of the ill-fated resolution by the fact that the federal authorities had sharply reduced funding and money could not be found in the regional budget to increase salaries in April. The plaintiffs rightly objected that Russian decrees and resolutions are mandatory for everyone, and funds for the indexation of wages from April 1 were allocated in the regional budget. Therefore, the question naturally arose: where did this money go?
Meanwhile, it is no secret that the election campaign of Alexander Chernogorov (he intends to run for governor for the second time, elections will take place in December this year) was promoted long before the official campaigning of gubernatorial candidates began. For example, at the end of the school year in May 2000, Chernogorov presented colorful voluminous booklets, abundantly decorated with photographs of Chernogorov himself and provided with detailed descriptions of his achievements in the governor’s field, as a gift to graduates of secondary schools, technical schools and universities. The governor did not skimp on personal congratulations to each graduate.
Chernogorov challenged the decision of the regional court in the Supreme Court. But on September 1, the highest court decided to dismiss his complaint. This means that the governor will have to pay teachers, doctors and cultural workers 300 million rubles. By raising their salaries several months later than expected, he infringed on the interests of state employees by exactly this amount.

ELENA Kommersant-PANKOVA, Stavropol

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 164 dated 09/05/2000, page 9