Governor with a capital G

Omsk "districts" were given strict instructions on how to cover the activities of the regional head

Viktor Nazarov, appointed head of the region three years ago, is turning before the eyes of the residents of the Omsk region into a worthy successor to Leonid Polezhaev, who has been in charge of it for more than 20 years.

Although at first the new regional head showed great promise. At that time, Novaya Gazeta published his amazing words: “the gap between the authorities and the population must be bridged”, “only with the help of independent media, the authorities can build a constructive dialogue with society”, “The media should tell the truth, even bitter. Distortions, political orders are unacceptable”, etc.

Two years ago, the concept of information policy appeared in Omsk Vestnik, its main principles were as follows: “equality of interests of all users of information, regardless of their position in society”, “ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens to express their opinions on what is happening in the field of socio-economic , socio-political processes and actions of the executive branch, etc.

Then another time came in the Omsk region. It began about nine months ago, when the first vice-governor, Nazarov's closest associate, Yuri Gamburg, was taken into custody. According to experts, his main "blunder" as the main ideologist of the region was that relatively fair elections were held in a number of rural areas, which is why EdRo failed miserably.

Hamburg was replaced by people from a serious department: the former FSB officer Vladimir Kompaneyshchikov became the head of ideology, the post of deputy governor was taken by the head of the Russian Federal Security Service for the Omsk region, General Igor Bondarev.

Since then, Viktor Nazarov stopped smiling. On TV, in newspapers and online publications, the smile was replaced by severity and impenetrability. A new PR team has arrived from Novokuznetsk, the region ruled by Aman Tuleyev.

Recently, a document appeared on the Internet, from which it follows that Viktor Nazarov, who at first seemed like an unprecedented reformer, successfully fit into the "state standard". A scan of a letter from the head of the main department of information policy of the regional administration Tatyana Trenina to the editors of regional newspapers was posted on the social network by blogger Pavel Akimov. The letter says that "the main task of the "districts" is to bring information to the population about the activities of the Governor and the formation of a positive image of the region." For its implementation, the editors-in-chief should send plans for the issues to be printed to the GUIP every week before 12 noon on Friday. “First of all, we are talking about materials that relate to the Governor, the work of the regional government.” Materials "that cover the activities of the Governor, should be announced on the first page and placed no further than the second or third."