Translated material
Tambov continent
One of the richest State Duma deputies is running for governor
In Russia, the smooth renewal of the gubernatorial corps continues: the presidium of the General Council of United Russia last weekend formed lists of party candidates for the posts of heads of the Tambov and Kaluga regions. Both lists were submitted to President Dmitry Medvedev for consideration. By tradition, the current governors Oleg Betin and Anatoly Artamonov are included in the lists, but this does not mean that they will remain in their posts. At least the Tambov governor has a strong and ambitious rival.More likely at the moment is the reappointment of Anatoly Artamonov, who has headed the Kaluga region since 2000 - a rather long period, but not critical, if we compare it with the twenty-year terms of the governors of the “Yeltsin draft”. In 2000 and 2004, Mr. Artamonov won popular elections and was reconfirmed in 2005 by then-President Vladimir Putin. In addition to the current head of the region, United Russia also proposed Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Yuri Volkov and Mayor of Kaluga Nikolai Lyubimov for the post of governor. The appointment of the mayor of a regional center to the post of governor was recently tested in the Southern Urals, where Peter Sumin was replaced as head of the Chelyabinsk region by the now former mayor of Chelyabinsk, Mikhail Yurevich. However, Mr. Sumin's chances of being reassigned were initially nil, prompting him to recuse himself early on. For Anatoly Artamonov, the situation is completely different: the federal center has no major claims against him; in terms of the volume of foreign investment attracted, the Kaluga region is considered the leader in the country, so the reappointment of the current governor seems quite realistic.
Oleg Betin has a much more precarious position. He has been working as deputy head of the regional administration in the Tambov region since 1991; he was first appointed to the governor’s post in March 1995 by decree of Boris Yeltsin. However, in December of the same year, the newly appointed head of the region lost the gubernatorial elections in the second round to the communist Alexander Ryabov. However, in 1999, Mr. Betin still defeated him in a similar vote, and in 2003 he was successfully re-elected to the same position. Re-appointed to the position by Vladimir Putin in 2005. Against Mr. Betin is a long period of work in the region (although not all the time as governor) and the lack of particularly outstanding achievements in the field of economics. Finally, unlike the situation in the Kaluga region, the head of the Tambov region has a strong competitor. In addition to Mr. Betin himself and his first deputy Alexander Sazonov, United Russia members included on the list their party colleague, State Duma deputy Vladimir Gruzdev (pictured) - a former co-owner of the Seventh Continent retail chain.
At the end of 2009, Vladimir Gruzdev turned out to be the number two person in Okhotny Ryad in terms of income - he earned 936 million rubles, second only to his colleague Leonid Simanovsky. According to Forbes magazine, the potential governor of the Tambov region ranks 65th in the "golden hundred" of the country's richest people - the magazine estimates his fortune at $950 million. Mr. Gruzdev's experience as a manager who led a large company speaks in favor of Mr. Gruzdev. At the same time, it has long been known about his political ambitions, for the sake of realizing which the ex-businessman sold his share in the Seventh Continent. In addition, the Tambov region, despite the absence of economic records, is not considered a problem region, which means that changing the governor there is relatively safe for the Kremlin.
The final choice remains with Dmitry Medvedev. The decision of two more governor's fates is not far off, since Mr. Betin's term expires on July 19, and Mr. Artamonov's on July 20.