Deputies supported the president in confidence

vertical of power

Yesterday, deputies of the Kostroma Regional Duma, at the suggestion of Vladimir Putin, by a majority vote approved the current head of the region, Viktor Shershunov, as governor. The governor was not hindered by the fact that the local branch of United Russia, which assigned this post to its leader, actively opposed his re-election.

Viktor Shershunov was first elected governor in December 1996, and in 2000 he was re-elected to a new five-year term. In the 90s, the region belonged to the so-called “red belt”, and Mr. Shershunov was supported by the communists in the elections, although he himself was never a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

The chances of Mr. Shershunov being re-elected for a new term in the region were assessed as low - the local branch of United Russia, led by Secretary Evgeny Trepov, actively opposed his candidacy. Nevertheless, the current governor chose the right moment to early address the president with a question of confidence. Mr. Shershunov did this almost immediately after the March 23 meeting of the State Council Presidium, held in Kostroma, which, according to the Kremlin press service, made a “good impression” on Vladimir Putin. It is noteworthy that the very fact of the governor’s address to the president was carefully hidden - the president’s proposal received by the regional Duma on April 17 was a surprise even to the governor’s press service.

Yesterday, Anton Fedorov, deputy presidential envoy in the Central Federal District, was supposed to introduce the gubernatorial candidate. He was expected in Kostroma only in the afternoon, so the deputies had to devote the morning part of the meeting to the problems of local self-government and gasification of the region. However, during breaks in the meeting, the deputies, forgetting about gasification, lively discussed the choice of president. Among the outsiders, in addition to State Duma deputy Trepov, presidential adviser and Kostroma Pedagogical University graduate Sergei Samoilov was also named on the sidelines. “That’s how they gave Trepov a ride. And Samoilov is probably not happy,” the parliamentarians sympathized with them.

Contrary to custom, all 23 deputies took part in the meeting. Even Sergei Komissarov, who moved to Krasnodar but has not yet resigned, arrived in Kostroma to support the current governor. After Deputy Plenipotentiary Fedorov announced the president’s presentation, the governor rose to the podium. He spoke about the benefits of investment, promised to begin construction of a pulp and paper mill in the Neysky district and to double the regional GDP by 2010, not even 2, but 2.1 times.

A heated discussion developed around the candidacy of Mr. Shershunov in the regional Duma. The chairman of the regional trade union committee, Mikhail Batin, asked the governor how he was going to increase wages, and the head of the FEST industrial group, Vladimir Mikhailov, demanded that the head of the region strengthen the fight against smuggled textile products. Opponents of the regional head proposed to “rejuvenate personnel,” and his supporters, on the contrary, called for saving personnel. The deputies spent at least an hour discussing the matter, demonstrating to the deputy plenipotentiary that they approached the matter with full responsibility, but the decision was not easy for them.

As a result, 20 deputies voted for the approval of Viktor Shershunov as head of the region. Three spoke out against: Mr. Batin, the head of the commission on agrarian policy, ecology and natural resources Valentina Yamshchikova and the former head of Kostromavtodor Nikolai Retz, who apparently never forgave the head of the region for his unfair removal from office.

The Kostroma governor, who did not hide his satisfaction, told reporters that on the occasion of his election he would “drink tea at home” and would take the oath of allegiance to the region on May 11.

LYUDMILA Kommersant-GUSEVA, Kostroma

Kostroma region received an old governor