Retiree

Passed the republic

The resignation of a person who led the region for 20 years should seem to be a bright event, but in the case of the head of Udmurtia, Alexander Volkov, this did not happen. Residents, by and large, don’t care. The reason is that Volkov was neither a charismatic nor a bloodsucker, presenting the image of a “correct” nomenclature official. A 62-year-old native of Bryansk, who came to Udmurtia through a construction project, was appointed chairman of the regional council of ministers in 1993. After that, he carefully removed figures who were gaining popularity from power, promptly changed “Fatherland - All Russia” to “United Russia”, set up a “vertical” and promptly reported to the president on the construction of schools and kindergartens. However, in recent years, clouds have gathered over Volkov. In 2011, “Varangian” Alexander Pervukhin was appointed to the post of head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Udmurtia, who began to investigate the “misuse of budget funds” in the interests of the regional authorities. Curiosities also happened: bloggers discovered that on one of the posters depicting Volkov, a Breguet watch worth 123 thousand dollars was covered with a cheaper model. The president also let himself down with careless statements: he blamed a certain “fifth column” for last year’s doctors’ strike. 63-year-old Alexander Solovyov, senator, member of United Russia, was appointed acting head of Udmurtia. Political scientists believe that it will not be so easy for him to prove his professional suitability in the upcoming elections.

Sergey Melnikov

Magazine "Ogonyok" No. 7 dated 02.24.2014, p. 6

Authors:

Sergey Melnikov

Themes:

"Heroes of the week" Selecting "Ogonyok"

Alexander Volkov, ex-president of Udmurtia