Translated material
Dry Law
The Perm governor found a prime minister but did not find a head of administration
The plan of the Governor of the Perm Territory Oleg Chirkunov to renew power was only half successful: the regional legislative assembly approved a new chairman of the government, but the head of the governor’s administration unexpectedly resigned.The Vremya Novostei newspaper described in detail how the day after the Russian presidential elections, Mr. Chirkunov held a press conference and, in addition to the voting results, announced the resignation of the cabinet of ministers and his own administration. Then the governor asked not to link his decision with the results of the presidential campaign, and no one did this - everyone saw in the resignation the desire of the head of the region to get rid of a number of controversial characters from his team. In particular, from the Prime Minister Nikolai Bukhvalov.
In July last year, Mr. Bukhvalov became involved in a criminal case initiated for tax evasion, and in April of this year all materials will be submitted to the court. So the governor, whose position was very fragile, had little time to change the prime minister.
Oleg Chirkunov was able to find a replacement for Mr. Bukhvalov quite quickly. Valery Sukhikh, who previously headed the governor's administration, was appointed acting chairman of the government. His candidacy was submitted to the legislative assembly for approval by the prime minister. Before the meeting, there was still intrigue - out of 60 deputies, a third were ready to vote against Mr. Sukhikh, and he had to consult with parliamentary factions. The meeting itself was calm for the candidate: he was asked about the possibility of changing ministers, asked to make a choice between the governor and the decisions of United Russia, which do not always coincide. All questions were easy for Valery Sukhikh: he promised to always consult with Oleg Chirkunov. As a result, only nine deputies voted against.
The new cabinet does not seem to change much. The governor has already approved Alexander Kudryavtsev as the Minister of Urban Planning and Infrastructure Development, and Nikolai Karpushin as the Minister of Education, who previously held the same positions. At the suggestion of Mr. Chirkunov, the legislative assembly also agreed on the candidacy of the Minister of Finance, which remained Alexey Novikov.
The selection of personnel in the governor's administration is a completely different matter. Initially, everything was simple - the administration was to be headed by the first deputy head, Fyodor Aliev, who had made a fantastic career in Perm. The journalist, who once held the post of head of the Samara branch of VGTRK, was invited to Perm last summer, when Oleg Chirkunov had problems in relations with the federal authorities. Having the status of an adviser to the governor, Mr. Aliyev began to solve the problems of the new employer and prepare the region for elections to the State Duma, on the result of which the personal fate of the head of the region depended. The Duma elections on December 2, 2007 went well in the region; the presidential campaign on March 2, despite the relatively low turnout, was also considered successful.
Seeing the results of Fyodor Aliyev’s work, Oleg Chirkunov invited him to head the governor’s administration. At that moment, Mr. Aliyev was already the first deputy of Valery Sukhikh. Having just arrived in Perm, Fyodor Aliev admitted that he did not know what to do after March 2: return to Samara or work in the Urals. The newly-minted official’s family did not move to Perm, and he lived in two houses (partly even in the literal sense, because he was just finishing the construction of his “dream house” in Samara). Having received the offer from the Perm governor, Mr. Aliyev initially agreed and even became acting. head of the administration, but last week he wrote a statement asking to dismiss him at his own request due to “family circumstances.”
New acting Natalya Kataeva was appointed head of the administration, who, however, got rid of the prefix “acting.” will not succeed - the governor has already announced that she will become first deputy head. And the position of the head of the administration remains vacant.