Motor city deputies spoke out against regional officials

Deputies of the Neftekamsk council openly opposed the election of Oleg Krysin as city manager, lobbied by the administration of the head of the republic. They were outraged by Republican officials' attempt to dictate who exactly to vote for. Kommersant's interlocutors admit that the selection of the head of the motor city has always had specifics, since the city has a strong lobby for local business, including those associated with the security forces.

There is some intrigue in the competition to select a new city manager for Neftekamsk. The majority of deputies of the city council wrote a petition to the President of the Republic Rustem Khamitov, in which they refused to support the candidate he recommended, Oleg Krysin. Mr. Krysin is one of six candidates for city managers of Neftekamsk; the competition is scheduled to end on February 12. The deputies were outraged that high-ranking republican officials who arrived in Neftekamsk from Ufa at the end of January began instructing them which candidate to vote for. Most of the deputies of Neftekamsk, by the way, are United Russia members.

One of the signatories, Ildus Shamsiyarov (heads Neftekamsk Poultry Farm LLC), said that Kurultai Speaker Konstantin Tolkachev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Local Self-Government Viktor Pchelintsev and Deputy Head of the Regional Head of Administration for Domestic Policy Albert Miftakhov at this meeting openly suggested that deputies support Oleg Krysin. “They said in no uncertain terms that there is a candidate, Krysin, and we should vote for him because the president supports him. People began to ask why him. It turned out that we seemed to have no choice,” the deputy was indignant.

In a petition published yesterday by a number of online resources, deputies write that they support the policies of the president of the republic, but doubt the advisability of Oleg Krysin’s appointment. They called on Rustem Khamitov “not to make hasty decisions” so that six months later he would not have to apologize for the official who “did not live up to expectations.”

A native of Belebey, Oleg Krysin, has headed the administration of the neighboring single-industry town of Agidel for the last three years. The administration of the republic might have considered that Neftekamsk would recognize him as “one of their own,” since in 1992–2005 he worked at the Karmanovskaya State District Power Plant, and for the next five years he headed the BashRTS-Neftekamsk branch, then part of Bashkirenergo OJSC.

As Ildus Shamsiyarov says, “those deputies who personally know Mr. Krysin are not satisfied with his activities in Agidel.” Ildus Shamsiyarov himself is running for city manager with the support of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. There are four more applicants for the position: Deputy Director of the local Gratsia LLC Rushan Gimadeev, Deputy Director of the Karmanovskaya State District Power Plant (BGK, part of Inter RAO) Vadim Ostrovsky, Director of the ZhKO-7 enterprise Salavat Gabdrakhimov and Head of the legal department of the private security organization Cossack Jaguar security" Vladislav Semenov.

The previous head of the city administration, Ilyus Garifullin, left his post at the end of January - his two-year contract expired. The official did not apply for its extension. His predecessor Vladimir Gromov lasted a little over a year and left after a public scandal in the State Duma elections (see Kommersant on November 25, 2011).

Informed interlocutors of Kommersant associate the frequent rotation of heads of Neftekamsk with the specifics of the city, where the position of local businesses, including those from law enforcement agencies, is strong. One of the former employees of the presidential administration of the republic said that the authorities have traditionally tried to minimize business pressure on the Neftekamsk administration, but in the last three years these attempts have been difficult. Another former government official noted that “Neftekamsk has always been a greyhound city, they divide people into friends and foes, and proposing the candidacy of Oleg Krysin in this sense was a mistake.” One of the most influential businessmen in Neftekamsk is Rafil Mavliev, who is involved in the auto business, real estate and construction.

The presidential administration is confident that the deputies were artificially turned against her. Albert Miftakhov is surprised by the publication of the letter, since the meeting with the deputies, in his words, went like a “good, sincere conversation,” and the original letter has not yet arrived at the administration. He does not agree with the interpretation that representatives of the republican authorities “came to break, to put pressure” and believes that “the deputies were provoked to sign this appeal by people who think that they are the shadow masters of the city.” At the same time, the official partially acknowledged the desire of official Ufa to break the link between government and business in the motor city: “In all likelihood, they realized that Krysin is not their man and will not wave permission to allocate land plots at preferential rates, preferential rental of premises and other such things "

Oleg Krysin was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The editor of the Neftekamsk newspaper “Civil Dignity” Ilnur Salakhov says that “the letter was a complete surprise for the public,” since “the city council has always been quiet and voted for all the administration’s proposals without discussion.” He is surprised by the surge in activity of deputies, including the fact that the appeal was signed by deputies from NefAZ.

The outcome of the vote in Neftekamsk remains open. Alfat Nazmiev, a deputy of the City Council and the main owner of the development company Integral, is ready to support Oleg Krysin, but admits that his colleagues may have doubts about the candidate’s suitability for the position. “Neftekamsk is not a depressive city like Agidel, it’s more difficult here, and you need to work ten times harder. The question is whether he will cope with this responsibility, says the businessman. At the same time, he concluded, “the opinion of the president of the republic must be respected.”

Arthur Asafiev, Natalya Pavlova

It was not the Neftekamsk people who were attacked