The prime minister to pay another visit to the region's capital.
The Primorye Territory is preparing to play host to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who will inspect the facilities being built for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2012 and launch the Sollers car assembly plant. Some experts in Primorye do not rule out the possibility that the Putin visit may cut the ground from beneath the feet of Primorye governor Sergey Darkin, who is seeking another term in office.
This December, there will be several high-ranking officials visiting construction sites in Primorye. In early December, it will be the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Viktor Ishayev, followed some time afterwards by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has promised to visit the area by the end of the year, the press secretary of the Far Eastern Directorate of the Regional Development Ministry, Alexander Ognevsky told NG. Putin is expected to cut the ribbon for the first car plant in the region that automobile company Sollers is close to completing. The assembly line, which is being installed at the bankrupt repair dockyard Dalzavod, is scheduled to have the first car come off on December 29. The Prime Minister will then survey the construction sites on Russky Island and on the mainland to see how his earlier instructions have been carried out.
The sub-programme The Development of Vladivostok as a Centre for International Cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region has seen some important adjustments. Its budget has been increased from 282 billion roubles to 566 billion through the addition of a plan to expand gas supplies across the region.
The federal budget's contribution remains the same, at 202 billion roubles, whereas the contribution of the Primorye Administration has grown. While previously it was committed to spend 17 billion roubles on the construction of APEC summit facilities, the sum has almost doubled. Eighteen new facilities have been added to the initial 36. Along with hotels, a conference centre and other facilities, planned to be handed over to the Far Eastern Federal University once the forum is over, the project also proposes the construction of two bridges - to Russky Island and across the Zolotoy Rog Harbour, purification plants, an aqueduct, road interchanges and highways, a new air terminal, etc. The already impressive list has been further expanded by the addition of projects to construct a helicopter pad on Russky Island, to establish a customs office at the entrance to the bridge to Russky Island, to provide water supply to the island, etc. In early November, the Ministry of Regional Development introduced appropriate amendments to the sub-programme and submitted them for government approval.
The biggest challenge is that some of the APEC summit facilities have to be finished in 2010. These include power supply facilities, the third aqueduct and offshore pipeline, absolutely essential for the construction on Russky Island to proceed. The Directorate has repeatedly urged the local administration, the mayor of Vladivostok, and the Crocus International constructions workers, responsible for building the Far Eastern University facilities, to mobilise their workforce and other resources for this end. But, in the opinion of Yevgeny Rogoza, general director of the Far Eastern Directorate of the Ministry of Regional Development, it is the ambitions of the local leaders that prevented an early start to all this work. The Primorye construction project is still facing a host of problems, one of the most severe being relocation of the people whose dwellings on the island and on the mainland are to be demolished.
Experts say preparation for the APEC forum in Vladivostok will be the theme of the Prime Minister's visit, and to a large degree a matter of prestige. In October, Putin only took a cursory look at the facilities under construction, before flying on to Beijing for talks. This time, the Primorye Territory is preparing for the appointment of the new governor and the Prime Minister's visit may alter the political landscape there. The term of the incumbent governor, Sergey Darkin, expires in early February. On November 16, President Dmitry Medvedev endorsed the list of candidates for governor of the territory, proposed by the General Council of United Russia party. It has four names: the incumbent governor, the rector of Far Eastern State University, Vladimir Kurilov, State Secretary-Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Yury Sentyurin, and Prime Minister of the Perm Territory, Valery Sukhikh.
Following the Prime Minister's visit, Governor Darkin may end up dropping out of the race, some political analysts suggest. "I recently congratulated Primorye on the appointment of Darkin and I was sure that he was a credible candidate, but I wouldn't do it today," sociologist Igor Sanachev told NG. "The Kremlin seems to have reverted to the practice of the 1970s when the heads of territories and regions were rotated," Sanachev said. "The routine was to install an official in a region, have this official build up a network of connections, after which the Centre would come in again cutting off the roots and dispatching the official to take charge of another region. It would be interesting to see whether this method will be applied in our region." Sanachev believes it may be that the reins will be handed over to Valery Sukhikh, the Prime Minister of the Perm Territory. He is thought to have the support of the presidential envoy to the Far East, Viktor Ishayev, who has, however, officially declared that all the candidates have a credible claim to become governors. "The governor's post is contested more fiercely than anyone had expected," Sanachev believes. "Putin's visit will give answers to many questions, but there is one thing I can say for sure: if the incumbent governor does not resign of his own accord after the visit, he will almost certainly keep his job." Political scientist Pyotr Khanas believes the incumbent governor has the best chances: judging from official data, the social and economic situation in the territory is improving, unemployment has dropped to 3%. Darkin is actively working with the government and receiving new assignments. He accompanied the president at the APEC summit in Singapore."
However, Khanas does not rule out "an unexpected turn of events."
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Some facilities for the APEC summit must be completed in 2010.
Tatyana Dvoinova