| Dmitry Kozak appointed to fight poverty, terrorism and corruption Last Friday, the head of the presidential administration, Dmitry Medvedev, officially introduced the new plenipotentiary representative in the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak, in Rostov-on-Don. The press was not allowed to attend the meeting with the heads of district departments. Nevertheless, Mr. Kozak later spoke to reporters and named his two main tasks in his new position. They turned out to be the same as those of their predecessors - Vladimir Yakovlev and Viktor Kazantsev.
“The first is the socio-economic development of the region, so that the economy works, so that as many people as possible can be involved in it, involved in peaceful creative work,” said Mr. Kozak. “The second is ensuring security, the fight against crime in all its manifestations, from terrorism to corruption in government bodies and local governments."
The new plenipotentiary also intends to take up his usual task since the time of the administrative reform - delimitation of powers. True, Dmitry Kozak now intends to determine the area of responsibility of each agency involved in the fight against terrorism, and accordingly, coordinate their efforts as effectively as possible. Actually, Viktor Kazantsev and Vladimir Yakovlev did the same thing in their time, but Dmitry Kozak seems to have to do it better, since, as the head of the presidential administration Dmitry Medvedev said, Mr. Kozak is given additional powers. Dmitry Kozak confirmed on Friday that his “work will differ in many ways from other presidential representatives” and he will “deal with issues that fall within the competence of the government and pay more attention to control.” Mr. Kozak intends to pursue a tough policy in relations with “public authorities,” primarily with elected southern Russian governors and mayors. However, the regional leaders themselves have already rushed to express satisfaction from the upcoming work with the tough plenipotentiary.
Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Rostov Region, Alexander Popov, for example, said that he has known Mr. Kozak for many years from working together in the presidential commission to prepare local government reform and believes that “this is a person who knows how to organize and achieve the final goal, especially that he will work with the new powers given to him by the head of state.” Mr. Popov also hopes: “This appointment will serve to ensure that positive changes begin in the South of Russia, those that we are all waiting for.”
Meanwhile, the former plenipotentiary representative in the Southern Federal District, Vladimir Yakovlev, managed to transfer affairs to Dmitry Kozak in just a few hours, and the staff of the plenipotentiary mission managed to change the sign on the office of the presidential representative. Mr. Yakovlev himself, a few days before Mr. Kozak’s arrival in Rostov, told Vremya Novostei that part of the plenipotentiary team was leaving with him to work in the Ministry of Regional Development that was now being created. In particular, Yakovlev’s deputy for economics Valery Goncharov, press secretary Irina Terkina and some other employees of the plenipotentiary’s office will move there. In addition, Yakovlev promised to share with Dmitry Kozak his vision of the situation in the regions of Southern Russia, as well as to convey to him plans for the development of territories, prepared jointly with the governors. The new plenipotentiary is expected to take up his duties in Rostov on Monday. Igor BURAKOV, Rostov-on-Don |
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