The new head of the executive committee of the All-Russian Popular Front (ONF) will be the vice-governor, head of the administration of the governor of the Moscow region, Mikhail Kuznetsov. Vedomosti was told about this by a person close to the presidential administration, a source in the administration and two interlocutors close to the government of the Moscow region. The post of head of the ONF executive committee became vacant in July, when Mikhail Razvozhaev, who had held it for seven months, was appointed acting governor of Sevastopol.

A person in the presidential administration called Kuznetsov a good organizer and political manager. “The appointment of Kuznetsov is a long-term option. He, as an excellent political manager and a very proactive person with extensive managerial experience, will have to reboot and shake up the ONF,” says another interlocutor in the administration. “This is a promotion for Kuznetsov; he was offered a position after Razvozhaev left,” adds a person close to the leadership of the Moscow region. Another interlocutor close to the regional authorities emphasizes that “Kuznetsov is the right hand of [Governor Andrei] Vorobyov, he has been working with him for about 15 years, so for him this is upward mobility.” One of the interlocutors suggests that the authorities may once again think about a new role for the ONF - for example, transforming the movement into a party with an environmental bias. The fact that the ONF could become a party has been discussed since its creation in 2011.

Kuznetsov did not answer calls and messages from Vedomosti.

Mikhail Kuznetsov Photo: Government of the Moscow Region

On Friday, a meeting of the ONF central headquarters will be held, at which the first deputy head of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, is expected, says an interlocutor in the ONF leadership: he will come to monitor the resolution of personnel issues. According to the ONF charter, the head of the movement's executive committee is appointed by the central headquarters for the term of office of the headquarters.

Kuznetsov is 40 years old, he is a member of United Russia, where he began his career as deputy head of the regional work department. There he worked with Vorobyov, who headed the central executive committee of the party. From 2011 to 2013, Kuznetsov was the head of the department for internal policy of the plenipotentiary's office in the Central Federal District (CFD): first under plenipotentiary Oleg Govorun, and then under Alexander Beglov, now the governor of St. Petersburg. Moreover, since 2012, Kuznetsov has worked together with the current head of the presidential department for internal policy, Andrei Yarin, who was then deputy plenipotentiary representative in the Central Federal District.

Since 2013, Kuznetsov has been working in the Moscow region, where he was first deputy chairman of the government, since 2015 – head of the governor’s administration, and since September 2018, he has combined the posts of vice-governor and head of administration. Under the leadership of Kuznetsov, municipal reform was carried out in the Moscow region, which included the liquidation of municipalities at various levels and the creation of enlarged urban districts, which caused protests. Kuznetsov then explained that “a strong one-level local government is better, where the head is the person responsible for making management decisions, who is also a “one-stop shop” for business.”

In the spring of 2018, the then head of the Serpukhov district of the Moscow region, Alexander Shestun, in an address to the president, announced his conflict with Governor Vorobyov and stated that he was persuaded to resign by Yarin, Kuznetsov and the head of the “K” department of the FSB, Ivan Tkachev. In the summer of 2018, Shestun was arrested on charges of illegal business activities, fraud, money laundering and bribery.

Whether Kuznetsov’s appointment is interpreted as a promotion or not largely depends on what tasks will be assigned to the ONF at the new stage, says ISEPI head Dmitry Badovsky: “If the ONF is in the mode of current functioning, without new tasks, then it is difficult to talk about promotion. If, for example, the front receives new political tasks related to the 2021 elections to the State Duma, if it becomes, say, a kind of election platform for a new party project or for new faces, self-nominated single-mandate candidates, then it will be possible to say that Kuznetsov I came to implement a new big federal project and this is a definite political boost.”

deputies elected to the State Duma in 2016 are represented by the ONF

Kuznetsov is one of the most powerful specialists at the regime’s disposal, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov believes: “If anyone is able to somehow revive the ONF, then it will probably be Kuznetsov.” Although the task before him is almost impossible, the expert believes: “The ONF brand is too hackneyed and tied to the authorities. The time when the front fought for fair procurement and criticized governors for excessive PR spending is long gone; voters no longer remember any of this. In his eyes, the ONF is now another faceless official “public” structure like numerous public chambers, and people are not interested in this.” The demand for opposition and alternatives is growing in the country, Gallyamov notes: “The ONF can hold another forum, ask a few comfortable questions to the president who came to it, act as a background for him, but you won’t earn any points from this. This is a political problem and cannot be solved with technological tools.”

For Kuznetsov, this will be a noticeable advancement in personnel, says political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov: “His strengths are knowledge of the political process and public opinion, the ability to put forward meaningful initiatives, work experience in United Russia, in the region, and in the embassy.” And one of the challenges facing Kuznetsov is overcoming the general skepticism that exists around the ONF, the expert adds.

The Kremlin has found a leader for the executive committee of the Popular Front