| Akhmat Kadyrov continues to form a new political team In 2004, Chechnya acquired two new representatives in the Federation Council. The executive branch of the republican government in the Senate, instead of Akhmar Zavgaev, who has left for the State Duma, will be represented by the famous Moscow businessman Umar Dzhabrailov, and the legislative branch will be represented by his less eminent countryman and colleague Musa Umarov, chairman of the board of directors of the capital's enterprise "Red Clothmaker". He will replace Adnan Muzykayev in the Senate seat, who managed to serve as a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament for less than six months. Actually, there is no one to represent Mr. Umarov yet: the parliament in Chechnya has not yet been elected, its functions are performed by the so-called State Council, at least until spring.
Before the New Year, rumors appeared in Moscow and Grozny that the “executive” senator from Chechnya would be the current president of the Russian Olympic Committee and Vladimir Putin’s personal ski coach, Leonid Tyagachev. Mr. Tyagachev himself commented so readily on the upcoming appointment that some media outlets even considered it to have taken place. According to the Vremya Novostei newspaper, his candidacy was indeed considered, but was rejected by Akhmat Kadyrov. His choice ultimately fell on Umar Dzhabrailov, a forty-five-year-old businessman, president of the Plaza group of companies, co-owner of the Radison Slavyanskaya hotel and the Okhotny Ryad shopping complex. The Chechen oligarch became famous for his participation in the 2000 federal presidential elections - against the backdrop of the war that began in the Caucasus, he was not afraid to challenge Vladimir Putin himself, and after his defeat he decorated Moscow with stylish posters thanking the few voters who supported him. However, the whole story of his nomination was more like an episode of the capital’s social life, of which Mr. Dzhabrailov is a constant participant now.
But his brother Khusein Dzhabrailov, who also has extensive interests in the Moscow hotel business, quite seriously put forward his candidacy for the presidential elections in Chechnya last October. But then he withdrew his candidacy. And it is possible that the current appointment is the result of successful political bargaining that the Dzhabrailov clan carried out last fall.
The current entrepreneurial tandem in the Senate is expected to do more than just lobbying work. “Kadyrov appointed Dzhabrailov in the hope that investments would finally be attracted to the republic,” former senator and now State Duma deputy from Chechnya Akhmar Zavgaev told the Vremya Novostey newspaper. In his opinion, the chamber, whose first meeting this year is scheduled for January 28, will easily approve both candidates: “If the region nominated them, the Federation Council has no reason to be against.” For Mr. Zavgaev himself, who belongs to the generation of politicians who worked in Checheno-Ingushetia, the transition from the Senate to the Duma looks like a career demotion. Ivan SUKHOV |
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