From Varangians to Buryats

The governor's corps has been replenished with another unexpected "legionnaire"

Vladimir Putin on Wednesday submitted to the people's khural (parliament) of Buryatia the candidacy of the first vice-governor of the Tomsk region, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, to vest him with the powers of the president of the republic. Recently, this is the second appointment of a Varangian governor, which came as a complete and shocking surprise to the local elites - after the deputy from Tatarstan Nikolai Kolesov, whom the president decided to make the Amur governor.

Over the past two weeks, Vladimir Putin has resolved personnel issues in several regions at once. At his proposal, the powers of the heads of the Belgorod region and the Krasnoyarsk region were extended, and the governors of the Kamchatka region and the Amur region were appointed. A week ago, the president submitted to the Amur parliament the candidacy of Nikolai Kolesov, deputy of the State Council of Tatarstan. Then his name did not appear on the potential lists of applicants. Approximately the same situation arose with Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn.

After it became known that the former head of the region Leonid Potapov would not be included in Anatoly Kvashnin’s list of presidential plenipotentiary representative in the Siberian Federal District, experts began to discuss possible candidates. Among the most likely successors to Mr. Potapov in the republic were named several governors who were left out of work after the unification referendums. According to various sources, the list of the plenipotentiary included several former heads of autonomous regions, in particular the head of the Aginsky Buryat district Bair Zhamsuev, as well as the governors of the regions that were part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (Evenkia and Taimyr) Boris Zolotarev and Oleg Budargin. Vladimir Bavlov, deputy head of the federal agency for subsoil use, was also named. The candidacies of Boris Zolotarev and Vladimir Bavlov, according to some reports, were discussed with local parliamentarians, which cannot be said about the candidacy of Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, which the president settled on.

Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn was born in 1956 in the city of Glazov, Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1978 he graduated from Tomsk Polytechnic Institute (TPI) with a degree in mechanical engineer. In 1992, he received another higher education, graduating from the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation with a degree in manager of the highest category. After graduating from TPI, Nagovitsyn worked at the Tomsk Instrument Plant, first as an engineer, then as secretary of the Komsomol committee, deputy chief and shop manager. In 1986, he was appointed chief engineer of the Tomsk Measuring Equipment Plant, and then general director of the plant.

From March 1998 to December 1999, he worked as Deputy Governor of the Tomsk Region for Industry and Entrepreneurship Support. In December 1999, he headed the government of the Tomsk region, simultaneously holding the post of first deputy governor. Since 2002 - Chairman of the Coordination Council for Forestry and the Timber Industry Complex of the Siberian Agreement interregional association. Heads the regional tripartite commission for regulating social and labor relations, the regional branch of the commission for training management personnel, the coordinating council for the development of human resources potential of the region. On June 5, the head of state received Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn in Moscow, and yesterday the first vice-governor of the Tomsk region flew to Ulan-Ude to get acquainted with the region.

Let us recall that the current President of Buryatia, Leonid Potapov, simply was not included in the list of candidates for the post of head of the republic, which the plenipotentiary sent to the presidential administration. The powers of Mr. Potapov, who headed Buryatia for 15 years, expire on July 9; he has long reached retirement age (Potapov will turn 72 on July 4). This is one of the last governors of the “Yeltsin era”, moreover, with a communist past.

All this, as well as the growth of nationalist sentiment in the region noted by analysts, suggested that Mr. Potapov would not remain for the next term. In addition, several criminal cases were opened against officials from his circle. Deputy Minister of Culture and Mass Communications of Buryatia Sergei Semushev has already been sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of office and theft. The court is considering similar criminal cases against Finance Minister Alexander Naletov and Economic Development Minister Tatyana Dumnova. And the head of the presidential administration of Buryatia, Innokenty Dagbaev, resigned “for health reasons” after the court accused him of illegally distributing subsidies for the purchase and construction of social housing in 2003-2005.

Daria GUSEVA