Khabarovsk Governor Viktor Ishayev has been appointed a presidential envoy
Dmitry Medvedev has rearranged the Far Eastern administration and appointed the Governor of the Khabarovsk Territory as his Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, replacing Oleg Safonov, who has been transferred "to another job." Mr Medvedev's candidate for Governor is Viacheslav Shport, a former State Duma deputy and regional industry minister.
Discussions related to rearranging personnel in the Far East had been going on throughout last week. A source in the regional government told Kommersant that early last week, Mr Ishayev made a flight to Moscow According to the source "he traveled to meet with Mr Putin but ended up meeting with Mr Medvedev". Viacheslav Shport was also in Moscow. "After the visit, contrary to custom, no meetings were held, so everybody waited with bated breath", said Kommersant's source. Natalia Timakova, the President's press secretary, confirmed that Mr Medvedev held meetings with Messrs Ishayev, Shport and Safonov. Our sources at the Kremlin have assured us that the rearrangement was not undertaken on a whim.
Mr Ishayev's appointment broke practically all the unwritten rules of appointing presidential envoys to federal districts. Presidential envoys were formerly recruited from the ranks of the military, security organisations, or the Federal Government. The only exception was Kamil Iskhakov, who was the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District between 2005 and 2007. His previous job as Mayor of Kazan had nothing to do with the Far East.
This process of selection was meant to ensure that presidential envoys were independent of the local elites. In Mr Ishayev's case, his close association with the Far East turned out to be an asset. The President's press secretary Natalia Timakova empasized that "Viktor Ishayev is someone who has worked in the Far East all his life and knows the region's problems. His experience of economic management should be sufficient for him to meet the challenges that face the region."
His recent conflict with the United Russia party too did not prevent him from becoming the President's envoy. It is true that he was only indirectly involved in it. In early February the speaker of the Khabarovsk territorial parliament, Yuri Onoprienko, became territorial first deputy prime minister, a position with oversight of construction and the energy sector. On the same day, the head of United Russia's Central Executive Committee, Andrei Vorobyov, posted a statement on the party website suggesting that the resignation had not been voluntary. Mr Vorobyov accused Yuri Onoprienko of allowing "the executive bodies to make rash and unsubstantiated statements." According to Kommersant, the Khabarovsk parliament speaker was dismissed because the parliament backed a petition to Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and Chairman of the United Russia party, to set electricity and central heating tariffs in 2009 at no more than 5% higher than in 2008. By March, however, Mr Ishayev and United Russia federal leaders emphasized that the conflict had been resolved. Sergei Ivanchenko, secretary of United Russia territorial Political Council, told Kommersant that Viktor Ishayev's appointment as the Presidential Envoy "is further proof that the Khabarovsk Territory is growing, and is another plus for our government. I think the office of the Presidential envoy will start working at last."
For this to happen Mr Ishayev will have to reverse the trend of steady decline of the role of Presidential envoys to the federal districts. The latest blow to Presidential envoys' power was dealt by the new procedure of nominating governors, which stipulates that from now on the party which won the regional elections and not the Presidential envoys will propose candidates.
"The appointment of Viktor Ishayev as envoy may help to resolve the crisis in the Far East where there are strong sentiments of protest, and the local administration does not function," said political scientist Alexander Kynev. "The place needs a person who not only fulfils orders from above, but also has the trust of the population."
Our source believes that the new envoy will be given two main tasks: to host a successful Russia-EU summit in Khabarovsk in May 2009, and to complete the preparation for the APEC summit to be held in Vladivostok in 2012.
This suggests that Mr Ishayev will be the Presidential envoy for at least a year and a half or two years, Kommersant's source believes.
Mr Ishayev's predecessor, Oleg Safonov, had worked as the Presidential envoy for exactly eighteen months. When he was appointed, Vladimir Putin personally gave him the task of "decriminalising the region." According to the Far Eastern District's Interior Affairs Department, 2008 saw a 10.4% decline in homicides, a 1.3% decline in crimes involving serious injury, a 21.4% decline in burglaries, a 20.4% decline in assault, and a 13.3% decline in cases of extortion.
At the same time, as the heads of security-related agencies noted at conferences, "the organised crime situation remains difficult." Thus, in 2008 there was a 57.5% increase in crimes committed by criminal groups in the forestry and logging complex, a fivefold increase in the illegal use of water bioresources, amounting to about 690 million roubles proven in court, or 102 million roubles more than in 2007.
Kommersant's sources at the Kremlin note, however, that little can be held against the previous Presidential envoy. "It just that his knowledge, skills and competence can be useful in a different position" because "Oleg Safonov has a background working with the security agencies."
Neither Mr Safonov nor members of his staff have commented on his resignation. But when asked by Kommersant what his next appointment would be, the members of his staff said, "his biography makes him fit to tackle any tasks."
As for the candidate for Governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, most commentators note that he is a member of Mr Ishayev's team. State Duma deputy Boris Reznik noted that "the new boss is not an outsider here to loot and pillage, but a person who knows the region well." Senator Viktor Ozerov believes that Viacheslav Shport "has a good knowledge of the territory and the region as a whole," which will enable him to ensure the continuity of government.
Irina Gorodetskaya; Marina Granik; Dmitry Ilyushchenko; Marina Kravchenko
