Translated material
ChAO, Abramovich
The Chukotka public does not want another governor until 2020
In Chukotka, media reports about Roman Abramovich's intention to leave the post of governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (ChAO) in 2007 had the effect of a bomb exploding.An official statement by the Chukotka government released yesterday states that “rumors about a change of governor have led to the destabilization of not only government bodies, but also the entire economy of the region.” “We will look for the person who leaked the information; in any case, we must first think and then speak. For us, the situation is extraordinary,” stressed the governor’s press secretary Svetlana Golubeva.
Last Tuesday, an unnamed source said that the owner of Chukotka is ready to resign from his post in 2007. The corresponding letter will supposedly be sent to the office of Far Eastern Plenipotentiary Kamil Iskhakov in December, and then to the President of the Russian Federation. However, local officials are ready to fight for their leader to the end. “Currently, large-scale work is underway in the region to create a development strategy until 2020. This is a project that should calculate the prospects of the main economic sectors, determine the development of geological exploration and the mining industry, and provide for full use of the unique natural, climatic and geographical features of Chukotka. So far, the work has not been completed completed, the governor will not leave his post,” the head of the government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Andrei Gorodilov told a Vremya Novostey correspondent.
The Far Eastern plenipotentiary, Mr. Iskhakov, commented on the situation diplomatically: “We are not pushing anyone to leave. Of course, maybe the leaders themselves go around and plan something for themselves, but they don’t talk about it.”
Meanwhile, according to yesterday’s statement by the Chukotka government, the local public intends to ask the Chukotka god Roman Abramovich (according to the results of sociological surveys, a quarter of Chukotka residents call him and consider him a god) to remain as governor until 2020.
Let us recall that in 1999 Abramovich was elected to the State Duma in the 223rd Chukotka electoral district, receiving approximately 60% of the votes. A year later, Abramovich's popularity in the region became almost absolute, and in the gubernatorial elections in December 2000, about 90% of voters voted for him.
As governor, Roman Abramovich visited his jurisdiction from time to time. The territory has been led on a permanent basis for several years by the head of the district government, Andrei Gorodilov.
Over the past six years, structures controlled by Roman Abramovich have invested more than $1 billion in the development of the region. But many enterprises are only on the verge of profitability. For example, the only poultry farm, taking into account local energy tariffs, literally lays golden eggs. “Of course, it was a social project, people began to be taught to live normally again. After all, where did Abramovich start?” says political scientist Evgeniy Chadayev. “He began to transfer salaries to plastic cards.” ATMs from which the Chukchi could withdraw money were installed only in regional centers, i.e. an ordinary reindeer herder could withdraw money once every two to three months when he reached the regional center. The level of drunkenness automatically decreased and labor productivity increased.
After his election, Mr. Abramovich registered three subsidiaries of Sibneft in Chukotka (of which Abramovich remained the main owner until his sale to Gazprom in September 2005), which filled 80% of the budget of the autonomous region. The region's gross product has grown fivefold over the past five years; the revenue portion of the Chukotka budget in 2005 increased to 8.9 billion rubles. The governor launched housing construction and raised the average salary to 20 thousand rubles. and made various gifts to the residents of the territory - from free installation of double-glazed windows in residential buildings in Anadyr to summer tourist trips to the south. The Accounts Chamber checked the work of the Chukotka administration every six months, but did not find anything seditious, despite the specific attitude of the head of the joint venture Sergei Stepashin towards Abramovich. Back in early 2004, after Roman Abramovich bought the Chelsea football club, Sergei Stepashin had, as he himself said, “moral questions for Roman Abramovich.” In particular, the head of the Accounts Chamber suggested that the $300 million spent on the purchase of Chelsea is 10 billion rubles that Sibneft evaded taxes through the Chukotka offshore in 2001. But in August 2004 it was announced that the Accounts Chamber had no serious complaints against the leadership of Chukotka.
Although local authorities are nervous about reports of Mr. Abramovich's possible departure, they continue their work. For example, bakeries and shops are opening. The last complex was launched in a solemn ceremony yesterday in the village of Rytkuchi, Chaunsky district. For the opening, the last flight of local navigation brought a batch of food from Pevek to Rytkuchi. These are vegetables and fruits that were brought there from the USA.