| The project of unification of the Tyumen region and districts is completely closed The agreement on the division of powers between the Tyumen region and its constituent Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs was signed by all parties and comes into force on January 1, 2005. At the end of last week, the Tyumen Regional Duma unanimously ratified it, thus putting an end to the long-term dispute between the leaders of the three regions about how to live and develop the Tyumen “matryoshka doll”.
Despite the good contacts of Tyumen Region Governor Sergei Sobyanin in the Russian Presidential Administration, no one will unite the regions into one. Moreover, the districts and the region agreed not to raise the issue of revising their powers and statuses for another six years.
As in many Russian complex regions, in the Tyumen “matryoshka” the issue of the status of autonomous okrugs has always been relevant. After the State Duma adopted the law “On the General Principles of Organization of State Authorities,” the Tyumen administration decided that this law was a direct guide to action for Governor Sergei Sobyanin to become a unifier of lands and finally gather three regions into one. A year ago, representatives of the head of the region stated that the issue of creating a new entity had already been resolved, and hinted that the lobbyist for this idea was one of the authors of the federal law, then a member of the presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak, with whom Mr. Sobyanin had friendly relations.
Such statements were completely refuted by district administrations, whose leaders argued that there would never be a single region. And they promised that the oil- and gas-rich autonomies would make every effort so as not to go under the rule of poor Tyumen, which lives on royalties from Yamal and Ugra.
There were many options for solving the problem: from an attempt to pass through the State Duma a law granting the two districts the status of independent federal subjects to merging with each other or neighboring autonomies. Moreover, the implementation of each option was canceled after the next trip of one of the governors to the presidential administration. Considering this, as well as the fact that representatives of the Tyumen authorities openly ignored the meetings of the working group to develop a draft agreement between the three regions, which was highly hoped for in Yamal and Ugra, analysts concluded that Sergei Sobyanin has strong Moscow rear and he is uniting the region at the direction of over.
However, in June of this year the situation changed dramatically. On the eve of Russian Independence Day (June 12), the three governors were invited to a meeting with the head of the presidential administration, Dmitry Medvedev. After this meeting, Yamal Governor Yuri Neelov and his colleague from Ugra Alexander Filipenko announced to their subordinates an unconditional political victory over Tyumen Governor Sobyanin. According to representatives of the administrations of both districts, on Old Square they demanded that Tyumen sign an agreement and maintain the status quo in the region.
However, the joy of the districts was short-lived - a few days later Tyumen presented the districts with its version of the agreement, according to which the autonomies would retain such “important state functions” as control over notaries and assistance in burying the dead. The president's plenipotentiary envoy to the Ural Federal District, Pyotr Latyshev, brought the autonomy leaders out of their shock. On his initiative, new meetings of governors took place, after which on July 9, the heads of the regions included in the “matryoshka” signed a new agreement on the division of powers. On July 13, the agreement was ratified by the Duma of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and three days later by the State Duma of Yamal.
At the end of this week, the agreement was finally ratified by deputies of the Tyumen Regional Duma, giving it legal force. It took the people's representatives only ten minutes to approve the document, the battle around which lasted for so long. According to Sergei Sobyanin, in general, the relations between the three regions do not change: the districts’ revenues are retained in their budgets, and the main government functions are also performed by the autonomous administrations. The region's budget will receive income from the income tax of enterprises registered in Yamal and Ugra (29.5% for targeted financing of regional programs), as well as a mineral extraction tax. For this, the regional government takes upon itself the coordination of regional programs for the social protection of migrants from the North, the construction of regional roads and other infrastructure powers. For these purposes, 10 billion rubles will be allocated in the 2005 regional budget using district tax contributions.
Among the priority tasks, Mr. Sobyanin names solving the problem with queues of cardiac and cancer patients in the north, who will now be treated free of charge in regional hospitals. In accordance with the agreement, coordination of regional programs will be carried out by the Council of Governors, which has been operating for several years.
Commenting on the agreement itself, Sergei Sobyanin called it a new stage in cooperation between the constituent entities of the federation and integration. Colleagues of the Tyumen governor from the autonomous okrugs did not comment on the ratification of the treaties. The press services of Vremya Novostey stated that the heads of districts expressed their opinion on the document back in July, when the document was signed in Tyumen. Then Yuri Neelov and Alexander Filipenko also announced the preservation of stability and a new stage in the development of the region. At the same time, their representatives spoke unofficially about victory, explaining the correctness of their bosses by their reluctance to offend the loser Sergei Sobyanin, who, instead of power in the new territory and distribution of the consolidated budget, received only powers over social programs and compensation for the loss of his budget revenues next year.
The absence of comments from the autonomy governors was compensated by the Chairman of the Tyumen Regional Duma Sergei Korepanov, who represents the interests of Yamal in parliament. In his opinion, the ratified agreement is optimal and reflects the interests of all three federal subjects that make up the region. With the words “we may appreciate the importance of signing a new agreement over time,” Sergei Korepanov signed an agreement between three regions and sent his colleagues in the Duma on vacation.
Meanwhile, the Tyumen administration began accepting projects for regional programs, which Sergei Sobyanin and his subordinates will now have to implement. After all, the agreement ends only on December 31, 2010, and even then the parties can extend it for another five years.
What did Tyumen receive?
According to the agreement on the division of powers between government bodies of the Tyumen region, Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous districts, the regional administration carries out the construction, reconstruction, repair and operation of roads of regional importance; organizes and supports investment projects of regional significance; supports the development of railway, road, air, and water transport; implements measures to develop vocational education; resolves issues of preventing regional emergencies and eliminating their consequences; provides social support and services to certain categories of citizens within the framework of the regional program; implements projects in the field of environmental protection; ensures the protection of state natural reserves and natural monuments; carries out measures to support agricultural production, in terms of the development of intraregional cooperation, a single market for goods and services; implements projects in the field of physical education and sports; organizes the provision of specialized medical care in regional institutions. Mikhail VIUGIN |
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