Pavel Borodin was included in the list of candidates for the post of President of Yakutia

By the end of the week, the Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD), Kamil Iskhakov, must submit to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation a list of candidates for the post of President of the Republic of Yakutia. As Kommersant learned, the list of candidates proposed for discussion consists of ten names. Among the contenders for the post of head of Yakutia are the current head of the region Vyacheslav Shtyrov, as well as the vice-president of AK ALROSA Semyon Nazarov, the speaker of the Il-Tumen Nyurgun Timofeev, the State Secretary of the Union of Belarus and Russia Pavel Borodin, the leader of local United Russia, the mayor of Yakutsk Ilya Mikhalchuk.

With the support of Il-Tumen deputies, the President of Yakutia Vyacheslav Shtyrov has a chance to lead the region again
PHOTO BY VYACHESLAV REUTOV

On October 29, Kamil Iskhakov must send a list of candidates for the post of President of Yakutia to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. The term of office of the current head of the region, Vyacheslav Shtyrov, expires in January 2007. According to the decree on the procedure for nominating candidates for governor, no later than 90 days before the expiration of the term of office of the head of the region, the presidential envoy must send proposals for candidates to the head of the Kremlin administration. The President of the Russian Federation no later than 35 days before the expiration of this period must submit one of the candidates proposed to him for approval by the legislative assembly. As a source in the office of the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District told Kommersant, Mr. Iskhakov is currently holding consultations in absentia with representatives of Yakut public organizations regarding a candidacy for the post of head of the republic. Preliminary consultations were held in the summer of 2006, then the plenipotentiary, while on a visit to Yakutia, met with representatives of business and public circles in the region and talked with them about the socio-economic situation of the region.
According to Kommersant, a list of ten candidates proposed for discussion has now been formed. It included: President of Yakutia Vyacheslav Shtyrov, Mayor of Mirny Anatoly Popov, Mayor of Yakutsk Ilya Mikhalchuk, State Secretary of the Union of Belarus and Russia Pavel Borodin, Vice-President of AK ALROSA Semyon Nazarov, Speaker of the Il-Tumen Nyurgun Timofeev. The candidates discussed also included Vice-President of Yakutia Alexander Akimov, head of Yakutskenergo Konstantin Ilkovsky, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexander Fedotov and First Vice-President of AK ALROSA Ernest Berezkin.
Vyacheslav Shtyrov has the greatest chance of leading the leadership of Yakutia. His candidacy is actively supported by local parliamentarians. The head of the State Building Committee, Il-Tumen, Alexander Kim-Kimen, in a conversation with Kommersant, noted that the deputy corps will support the current president, since “this man has worked all these years for the sake of the republic, and therefore the public cannot have another candidate.”
And yet, such a large list of candidates for the post of President of Yakutia indicates that there is no unanimous support for Mr. Shtyrov, which was back in 2005, in Yakutia. Let us recall that in November last year in Yakutia, 385 thousand signatures were collected (68% of the number of Yakut voters - Kommersant) in support of the current head of the region. The initiators of the campaign even sent a message to Plenipotentiary Representative Kamil Iskhakov, in which they informed him about the results of the action, and asked him to convey the opinion of the residents of Yakutia to Vladimir Putin.
Experts attribute the cooling of representatives of the local elite towards the candidacy of Vyacheslav Shtyrov to the fact that he, in particular, failed to positively resolve the issue of federalization of ALROSA in favor of Yakutia. In addition, some of them do not exclude the possibility that Vyacheslav Shtyrov will be offered a post in the Russian government.
Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science at Yakut State University Nikolai Sleptsov believes that a difficult socio-economic situation has developed in Yakutia: “We have a weak budget, we do not earn money, but receive money from the federal budget, while we live in a region rich in resources.” Therefore, in his opinion, Yakutia needs a person who could consolidate everyone and at the same time “have money.” The political scientist believes that the Secretary of State of the Union of Belarus and Russia Pavel Borodin (until the early 90s served as the head of Yakutsk - Kommersant) could unite all the residents of Yakutia: “Pal Palych could consolidate, but he does not have much money. There are not enough Abramovichs for everyone. Therefore, I think that we will have a person close to Gazprom circles, and specifically from Miller’s circle.”
Nikolai Sleptsov suggested that the mayor of Yakutsk, Ilya Mikhalchuk, also has a chance to take the post of president of Yakutia. He can receive the support of the majority of Yakuts due to the fact that he is surrounded mainly by representatives of the so-called titular nationality. But Mr. Mikhalchuk’s rise to power is complicated by a major corruption scandal in which he finds himself at the center. Let us recall that at the beginning of 2006, two vice-mayors of Yakutsk were arrested - the head of the financial and treasury department, Elizaveta Nikolaeva, and Sergei Petrov, who oversaw construction issues. They are respectively charged with theft of government funds on a large scale and receiving a bribe. Mr. Sleptsov believes that this scandal was provoked by the executive branch: “Everyone knows that Shtyrov and Mikhalchuk do not like each other, which is why these criminal cases were initiated. We also need to check our White House, where big money is circulating.” In turn, local media tycoon Leonid Levin, known for his opposition to local authorities, believes that only people of “another formation” can apply for the post of head of the region, to which he included the vice-president of AK ALROSA Semyon Nazarov and the speaker of the Tumen by Nyurgun Timofeev. “These are managers who could manage the region,” noted Mr. Levin. He expressed doubt that Pavel Borodin would agree to lead Yakutia: “Although he has a lot in common with our region, he is a politician of a different level, and a single subject is unlikely to be of interest to him.”
He also noted that the mayor of Mirny, Anatoly Popov, who initiated the installation of the monument to Stalin, “is unlikely to be considered among the contenders for the post of head of Yakutia.” Leonid Levin did not rule out the possibility that the President of the Russian Federation may submit the candidacy of Vyacheslav Shtyrov to Il-Tumen.
Marina Ilyushchenko

Kommersant (Khabarovsk) No. 200 dated 10/25/2006

“Pal Palych would consolidate”