Regional journalists greeted the four regional chiefs appointed this spring with a mixture of hope for the new bosses and bitter jubilation for the old ones.
So far, the new head of the Omsk region, Vitaly Khotsenko, is simply warned about the “underground regional committee”, allegedly commanded by the former official, and now the “night governor” Alexander Burkov. And the local media even pity the subordinates of Vasily Anokhin, who ruled the Smolensk region – now, instead of the usual working day, they have to work until one in the morning.
“Smolensk administration shifts to chronic sleep deprivation”
Smolensk journalists look at Vasily Anokhin, appointed interim governor in mid-March, with a mixture of hope and satisfaction. Their hope is that under him the Smolensk region will grow from a “region of little federal interest†into something more important. It was with this approach that they covered the apparently pre-election visit to Smolensk by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The headlines told readers that the head of government “met all demands” of Anokhin, pledged billions in federal money for “social programs” and was generally very pleased with both the acting governor and what he thought of the region. Nearby, local telegramers recall that Anonikha is associated with the “Tatar construction clan” of the federal government, led by Mishustin’s deputy, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. Like, construction in Smolensk will unfold – you will swing. The interim itself is not yet promoted on such a scale. Maximum – announced an investment of more than 70 million rubles in a new city cleaning system. And he expelled his family and subordinates for a subbotnik. The news that Anokhin will “personally monitor the participation” of officials in cleaning up the city became the most read on one of Smolensk’s most popular news sites, Smoldaily, by a tenfold margin, according to Medialogy.
Vasily Anokhin. Photo: wikipedia Other initiatives of the interim clearly cause jubilation among journalists. For example, it turned out that Anokhin, who was a curator of regions in the apparatus of the government of the Russian Federation before being appointed to the region, will not change his work schedule. And he, as the head of the Smolensk region, involves meetings and other “leading” activities until one in the morning on weekdays. The popular local telegraph channel “Evil Smolyanin” even captured the windows of the regional administration burning at night. And he sneered, they say, “And another gray night and no one from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.” An additional spice to the situation is added by the fact that Anokhin has not yet dragged high officials from Moscow to Smolensk. Even the deputy for domestic policy – Ruslan Smashnev, who worked with Anokhin’s predecessor, Alexei Ostrovsky, has so far remained in his place, albeit in an interim capacity. What they are with the new schedule is still unclear. Officials did not complain about Anokhin.
“Night Governor Burkov”
The actor from Omsk, Vitaly Khotsenko, who has just arrived from Donbass, has more difficulty. Despite the fact that he was already officially named governor in the September elections by United Russia General Secretary Andrey Turchak, local journalists seem set to soon recognize him as an ordinary idiot.
The most telling story about this is a reaction to Khotsenko’s public support for a 15-kilometer cycle path in Omsk, for which his predecessor Alexander Burkov drowned. Khotsenko recently walked along the city embankment, praised the project and promised to implement it. Journalists noticed that Khotsenko was literally surrounded by members of Burkov’s team, the most notable of whom they say is Deputy Governor Oleg Zaremba, who, apparently, will oversee Khotsenko’s election. Rumors that Khotsenko was literally besieged by the Burkovskaya gang have reached the point where local telegram channels either joke or claim that there are two administrations in the region. Official, by day, headed by Khotsenko. And unofficial, nocturnal, which has real power – and it is still led by Burkov.
Alexander Burkov Gets Khotsenko and Federal Media. They don’t like the vagueness of the acting governor.
Like, except for stories about personnel appointments (among people who worked with Burkov and representatives of Omsk elites), reports about the arrival of a family with a dog from Donetsk and stories pretentious about how the Acting Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the region was broken, the head of the region does nothing. Reports about the large-scale construction of social facilities, primarily schools, for which Burkov was harshly criticized by the same Turchak, have not yet convinced anyone.
However, the Omsk media still found an advantage over Burkov. Unlike the ex-governor, Khotsenko, at least in public, tries to follow the rules of the road, and in the car on the highway even attaches himself to the back, as these same rules prescribe. At the same time, in the same situation, the predecessor did not hesitate to pose as “disorganized”.
It is still difficult to say how much Khotsenko really began to “stangle himself in the arms” of local elites and representatives of the previous team. But the fact that he needs to be recruited urgently to strengthen public relations seems to be beyond doubt, even in the presidential administration. According to a Bloknot source close to the presidential administration, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov was asked to help Khotsenko with public relations, who sent his political technologists to help.
“Omsk is a complex region, where you have to immediately position yourself in public and “put yourself forward†in front of the elites. Perhaps Khotsenko hasn’t quite figured this out yet. But he will soon be helped for that,†a political strategist, who cooperates with authorities in several Siberian regions, told Bloknot.
“Dear Mikhail Mikhailovich, please dismantle the mast!”
Thus begins the loudest appeal of local residents to Mikhail Kotyukov, the former deputy finance minister of the Russian Federation, who a week ago was appointed acting governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. We are talking about a mast on the Nikolaevskaya Sopka in Krasnoyarsk, about 100 meters high.
Kotyukov’s predecessor, Alexander Uss, was very proud of this object, the tallest in the country. According to the project, a flag weighing 80 kg and measuring 33 by 22 meters was hoisted on it. But Krasnoyarsk is not Baku, where the highest mast in the world is located. The climate being much windier and harsher, the flag regularly and very quickly turned into a rag and had to be changed.
“That way (by deleting it – Notepad) you won’t let the Uss legacy terrorize you in your first term. And avoid spending budget funds,†local political scientist Kyrylo Dyundik explained the need for this step in his video message. Kotyukov has not yet answered him.
Mikhail Kotyukov. Photo: Wikimedia However, to suspect Alexander Uss of somehow replacing Kotyukov is not yet possible. The cheerful-faced ex-governor is pictured near an SUV in the taiga. Saying that “and without flashing lights” it is fine. And Kotyukov himself, first of all, removed Prime Minister “Ussov” Yuri Lapshin from the government of the region, appointing Sergei Vereshchagin instead. He’s a handy character for Kotyukov and Uss. He worked in the team of the former governor, and with the current one he started together, in the “zero” they worked together in the administration of the governor of Krasnoyarsk, Alexander Khloponin. Who, like Kotyukov, was a political student at the region’s largest company, Norilsk Nickel. Kotyukov has yet to recall any other significant moments, but local media were already happy with Lapshin’s resignation as “riding the legacy of Uss.” The former governor did not seem very popular with local journalists.
But above all, the head of Chukotka, Vladislav Kuznetsov, was lucky with the media. They are few in number and all depend in one way or another on the district budget. Therefore, when talking about the acting governor, they almost verbatim reproduce messages from his press service and Kuznetsov’s own speeches in telegram channels. Chukotka’s last major independent telegraph channel has shown no signs of life since December last year.
Author: Nikolai Troinin
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