personnel

Speaker of the State Assembly of the Altai Republic Igor Yaimov said yesterday that he was satisfied with the parliament’s decision last Saturday to confirm the positions of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Yuri Antaradonov and Gennady Sumin, whom the Altai parliament had previously refused to trust. Dissatisfaction with the new decision of the state assembly was expressed only by the Kurultai of the Altai people, which on the eve of the session suggested that the head of the republic, Alexander Berdnikov, find other candidates.

On the day of the session, the deputies were given an appeal from veterans, signed, among other things, by the chairman of the Republican Council of Elders, Valentin Chekonov. Veterans called on deputies to support the candidacies of Yuri Antaradonov and Gennady Sumin, nominated by the head of Altai Alexander Berdnikov for the posts of first deputy prime minister and minister of labor and social development. “Alexander Vasilyevich is our local, home-grown, well-known. So why does he get such a slap in the face? Then what kind of leader do we need?” - the appeal said. A counter-appeal was distributed on the eve of the session by the Kurultai of the Altai people. The organization of Altai residents appealed to the head of Altai with a request not to no longer nominate Messrs. Antaradonov and Sumin, but instead to consider the possibility of appointing Vladimir Sakpachakov, head of the department of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties for the republic, or Alexey Tyukhtenev, head of the territorial administration of the Federal Property Management Agency, as first deputy prime minister.

As Kommersant reported, on February 1, Alexander Berdnikov presented candidates for the posts of key ministers of the republican government for approval by the state assembly. Despite the fact that they were all approved by the committees and factions of the Altai parliament, Messrs. Antaradonov and Sumin did not receive the required number of votes (19 and 20 votes, respectively, with the required minimum of 21 votes). Mr. Berdnikov then expressed bewilderment at the voting results, and in a conversation with Kommersant, many politicians suggested that the demarche was organized by Russian State Duma deputy Sergei Pekpeev and Alexei Tyukhtenev, who allegedly decided in this way to demonstrate their influence to the head of the republic.

Mr. Pekpeev himself denied this version. “If some kind of demarche really took place, then the first to suffer would be the non-local candidates for members of the government, who are unknown to our politicians. And since they were voted for, but not for Antaradonov, then the reasons must be sought in the candidacy of Antaradonov himself. When four years ago he was elected senator from the state assembly, but the election took place only on the third attempt,” the deputy explained to Kommersant.

On February 1, an initiative group of deputies began collecting signatures for holding an extraordinary session to reconsider the issue of appointing two ministers. Alexander Berdnikov, speaking at the session, said that he regarded publications in the media about the clan struggle during the formation of the government as provocations. “For me, it makes no difference which minister is Ulagan, Ust-Kan, Ongudai (regions of the republic - Kommersant). The main thing is that he does the job,” he said. After this, Mr. Berdnikov again nominated Yuri Antaradonov and Gennady Sumin. This time they received the support of 33 out of 34 deputies present.

At yesterday's press conference, State Assembly Speaker Igor Yaimov expressed satisfaction with the voting results. He said that between sessions he talked with 30 deputies, finding out their positions, and the arguments of opponents of candidate Antaradonov seemed unfounded to the speaker, since most often it was about the fact that the candidate for the post of deputy prime minister did not personally talk with the deputy. At the same time, the kurultai of the Altai people remained categorically dissatisfied with the decision taken. A source close to Altai leader Vladimir Amurgushev told Kommersant that this decision is politically incorrect and will negatively affect the political situation in the region: “Now the majority of Altai residents see that Berdnikov is not ready to defend the interests of our people.”

DMITRY Kobzev, Gorno-Altaisk

The head of Altai brought his own people into the government