Everything is in place

Old ones become new governors

Last weekend, the next round of gubernatorial elections was held in five regions at once - Kostroma, Kurgan, Bryansk and Vladimir regions, as well as in the Khabarovsk Territory. In most cases, regional power has not changed - in four subjects of the federation, the previous governors remained in their places. The only exception was the Kostroma region, where, following the results of the first round, none of the candidates managed to overcome the 50 percent barrier established by local legislation.

Perhaps the biggest intrigue was in Bryansk. Nine candidates took up arms against the current governor, Yuri Lodkin, known for his leftist views. The struggle was intense; a double was put up against the governor - an unknown pensioner from Elektrostal, Yuri Lodkin, who never appeared in the region. However, despite the use of dirty technologies, the governor still managed to win - he received 32% of the vote. His main opponent, director of Snezhka OJSC Nikolai Denin, candidate of Unity, scored 21%. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to call Mr. Lodkin’s victory convincing. Firstly, in his interests, in the summer the regional legislative assembly amended the electoral legislation, according to which elections began to be held in one round, and the winner was determined by a simple majority of votes. Secondly, the current governor used to be much more popular among the residents of the Bryansk region - in the 1996 elections, almost twice as many voters voted for him.

The most predictable was the success of the current governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Viktor Ishaev. His more than convincing victory - more than 88% of the vote - is largely due to the lack of rivals. Two candidates from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Kamyshinsky and Dmitry Oshkin, failed to collect signatures in their support and did not participate in the elections. Viktor Ishaev competed with the director of the recruitment agency Svetlana Zhukova. She was supported by only 6%, which is not surprising, since Ms. Zhukova participated in the elections, according to rumors, at the personal request of Mr. Ishaev that the elections be alternative.

The “red” governor of the Vladimir region, Nikolai Vinogradov, also managed to confirm his right to govern the region. He was supported by 66% of residents. Mr. Vinogradov won the victory for many of the same reasons as his Khabarovsk colleague. Vinogradov’s main rival, former governor Yuri Vlasov (he has 21.71%), was under investigation. Mr. Vinogradov's success may also be due to the fact that he was one of the first governors to welcome Putin's reforms to strengthen federal power. The governor of the Kurgan region, Oleg Bogomolov, is also celebrating his victory. In the first round, he lacked only seven percent to win. However, this time he gained over 50% percent and by a very small margin was ahead of his main rival, the director of Kurgandrozhi Nikolai Bagretsov, who was supported by 42% of voters.

Who will become governor of the Kostroma region will become known only on December 24. The current governor Viktor Shershunov and the mayor of Kostroma Boris Korobov advanced to the second round. However, so far the incumbent governor has a clear advantage, having managed to secure the support of 43% of the vote. Mr. Korobov scored 23%.

Maria NIKIFOROVA