Sweet place in Gorky

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the struggle for the governor's seat is intensifying

Recently, a criminal case was opened against the Minister of Social Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Nikita Guryev. The official is accused of negligence in fulfilling the terms of an insurance contract between a construction company and an insurance company. However, the political elite of the region is inclined to think that the criminal case most likely has the ultimate goal of discrediting the close circle of Governor Valery Shantsev before the end of the first governor’s term in August 2010.

Having become the Nizhny Novgorod governor in August 2005, Valery Shantsev immediately announced that he intended to occupy the position of head of the region for at least two terms, that is, ten years. For the first two years of his governorship, Valery Pavlinovich behaved in the region as a rightful owner, to whom no one would dare to openly object. Taking advantage of the situation, Mr. Shantsev, for example, legitimized the right of the regional administration to dispose of land plots throughout the region, including in the regional center, which were previously under the jurisdiction of municipalities. Regional budget revenues grew by leaps and bounds, which was facilitated by the generally favorable economic situation in the country and the strict gubernatorial style of managing the region.

However, with the onset of the economic crisis, it immediately became clear that the Nizhny Novgorod region, where the Gorky Automobile Plant and more than 100 other enterprises of the domestic automobile industry are based, which were particularly affected by the crisis, is not at all an “island of stability”, but rather a classic depressed region with all the ensuing consequences for the population . It turned out that part of the region’s power elite would not like to see Valery Shantsev as Nizhny Novgorod governor for another five years.

The governor's main opponents were the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, Vadim Bulavinov, as well as State Duma deputies from the Nizhny Novgorod region, Roman Antonov and Alexander Khinshtein. Confrontation and mutual squabbles began in all possible areas of work, including conflicts along party lines. The results of the March elections to local bodies of self-government demonstrated that the governor does not control the situation in the local branch of United Russia, trying to bring loyal candidates into power not through the front party door, but through the “back door.” As a result, the presidium of the political council of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of United Russia reported to the presidium of the party’s general council that the governor supported self-nominated candidates in the elections in the Nizhny Novgorod outback, although they opposed the official candidates from United Russia. Namely, he allowed the use of his image and statements in campaign materials, while the official candidates of United Russia did not receive such permission.

United Russia considered that the governor's actions were a direct violation of the party charter, which they promptly notified the highest party bodies about. The governor does not remain in debt. In February, a criminal case was opened against the vice-mayor of Nizhny Novgorod Vladimir Kolchin, suspected of illegal schemes to finance the Nizhny Novgorod football club. The case has now been closed due to lack of evidence of a crime. The official himself stated that the motives for his criminal prosecution were purely political, and the municipality will continue to provide assistance to city sports institutions.

It can be assumed that the current criminal prosecution of a high-ranking official of the regional government is from the same series of political criminal cases. In February 2009, the Ministry of Housing Policy and Housing Fund of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the administration of Nizhny Novgorod entered into a state contract with the construction company Nizhegorodkapstroy, under the terms of which the company was to put into operation two residential buildings in July 2009. The price of the government contract amounted to over 400 million rubles. He was insured by an insurance company, which undertook to pay over 130 million rubles to the regional and city budgets in case of failure to fulfill the contract. Control over the implementation of the terms of the state contract was entrusted to the Ministry of Social Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

In July 2009, the residential buildings specified in the contract were not put into operation. However, despite the occurrence of an insured event, the Minister of Social Policy Nikita Guryev did not organize the preparation of claims against the insurance company. As a result, the insured amount was not paid, which, according to investigators, caused damage to the regional and city budgets in the amount of over 130 million rubles.

“The criminal case against Nikita Guryev is a matter of politics, and not of real concern for the fate of people. Guryev is a modest and decent person, and he also has a higher legal education,” said Evgeny Muravyov, head of the press service of the governor and government of the Nizhny Novgorod region. “Initiation of a criminal case does not mean a verdict against a specific official - just as the case was opened, it can be closed, so there is no need to make some kind of drama out of it. From a political point of view, this looks like an intensification of the struggle for power in anticipation of the upcoming reappointment of the governor and municipal elections in Nizhny Novgorod,” Nizhny Novgorod political scientist Sergei Kocherov told Vremya Novostei.

Meanwhile, the leader of the LDPR, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, proposed to the president of the country the candidacy of Alexander Kurdyumov, one of his deputies, for the post of governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Although, according to the law, official candidates for governor can only be proposed by the party that controls the regional parliament, that is, United Russia. Nevertheless, the struggle for the post of governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region is clearly moving into an open stage.

Sergey ANISIMOV, Nizhny Novgorod