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// Republics
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The Governor from the Railroad
// Irkutsk Region governor rides in on the rails
The Vertical of Power
Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to raise a new regional elite. That became clear when, for the third time, he appointed an unknown industrial manager without ties to politics or business groups successor to a current heavy-weight governor. On Saturday, Putin introduced the candidacy of Alexander Tishanin, 39-year-old head of the East Siberian Railway, as governor for approval by the Irkutsk Region parliament.
The first information that Alexander Tishanin was a main contender to take the place of current governor Boris Govorin was received in Irkutsk last week. (Putin was to introduce a candidate to the Legislative Assembly no later than August 3). Few people believed the reports at the time. According to one source close to the local United Russia leadership, the final choice for the next governor was between Tishanin and Valentina Mezhevicha, a Federation Council member and former deputy to Govorin. The source added the deciding factor in the choice was that both of Mezhevicha's daughters are married to American citizens.
Tishanin was appointed to his current post of head of the East Siberian Railways in April 2004, when he was deputy head of the Transbaikal Railway. Officially, Tishanin replaced Alexander Kasyanov at the railroad because of safety problems that had arisen (there were four serious accidents on East Siberian between July 2003 and April 2004) and in the words of then-president of the Russian Railways Gennady Fadeev for “serious financial violations.” When he introduced Tishanin in Irkutsk, Fadeev said that an audit of the construction of the Severomuiskaya Tunnel on the Baikal-Amur line revealed “overspending by 1.8 billion rubles and lack of traces of 400 million rubles.” The unofficial story is that the personnel change came about because of the poor relations between Fadeev and Kasyanov, who assumed his position when Nikolay Aksenenko was Transport Minister (Russian Railways was later separated from that ministry).
Within a year, the youngest head of a railroad in Russia was able to solve the safety problem. In his official biography, special attention is given to the 40-percent growth in tax payment by Russian Railways branches to Irkutsk Region and 1.2-percent growth in oil and lumber carriage in the first seven months of 2005, in comparison with the previous year.
Unaffiliated with Business Interests
Deputies in the Irkutsk parliament received Tishanin's candidacy coolly, to put it mildly. Deputy Alexy Kozmin told Kommersant that “you can't say anything bad about him, but you can't say anything good, either.” Deputy Yury Faleichik said that the head of the railroad was still unknown among the local elite. Local Fatherland Party leader Georgy Kuzmin said that was what determined Putin's choice. “Alexander Tishanin's main advantage is that he is not affiliated with any business interests and will try to be balanced with them.” All deputies contacted by Kommersant said that there should not be any problems with Tishanin's confirmation.
Representatives of large companies that have interests in the region voice the hope yesterday of having a constructive relationship with the new leadership. Vladimir Bobylev, press secretary for TNK-BP, which controls Rusia Petroleum, developer of the Kovyktinsky gas field, told Kommersant that “TNK-BP will not interfere in the process of appointing governors in any way and it is ready to work with any confirmed head of Irkutsk Region. We hope for mutually-beneficial collaboration.” Alexey Prokhorov, public relations director for SUAL Holding, owner of the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant, told Kommersant that “Our plant has great meaning for the region. Therefore, we think that relations with the regional authorities, independent of the political situation, will develop constructively.” Rusal, Gazprom, RAO UES of Russia, all of which have extensive interests in the region, and the Irkut Aircraft Construction Corp., refused to comment on the candidate yesterday.
Tishanin has been on a two-week vacation since August 8. The East Siberian Railways press service told Kommersant yesterday that Tishanin would not provide any comments until the legislative assembly session at which his candidacy will be considered.
A New Tendency
Tishanin is the third managerial candidate advanced by the president to a governorship, following director of the Balakovsky atomic energy plant Pavel Ipatov in Saratov region and chief engineer of the Instrument Design Bureau defense plant Vyacheslav Dudka in Tula Region. State Duma deputy Andrey Kokoshin, who was elected from the East Siberian United Russia party list (which covers Irkutsk) expressed the opinion that “that appointment reflects a new tendency to form the governors' corps not from political figures, but from technocrats and management experts… Moreover, besides Dudka and Ipatov, I would add Valery Shantsev [former deputy mayor of Moscow, confirmed on August 8 as governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region]. He too was never a politician.” Kokoshin said of Tishanin that he is “a young, modern manager with work experience in an important enterprise… The railroad is a formative factor is the economy of the region, and the region is a bridge between the Far East and East Siberia, on one side, and the rest of the country, on the other.”
President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin noted Tishanin's high business capabilities in an interview with Kommersant. “Head of the railway is a key position in Russian Railways. It is the basis of our personnel. Alexander Tishanin is a young and talented organizer who has successfully taken on the complex task of imposing order on the Eastern Siberian Railway. We are sure that our professionals will be in demand for high state offices.”
It should be noted that Putin has approached technocrats so far only when the current governor of a region does not suit the Kremlin and the disjointed local elite cannot advance a candidate of its own. That was the case in Saratov, where the Kremlin had long wanted to get rid of Yeltsin-era political heavyweight Dmitry Ayatskov, in Tula, where United Russia had been unable to find a figure to replace Communist Vasily Starodubtsev, and in Nizhny Novgorod, where local infighting led the president to introduce an outsider.
Boris Govorin, elected governor of Irkutsk in 1997, was also unable to find his place in the new Putin reality. He made his first serious mistake in 199, when he actively supported the opposition Homeland Party. Moscow came to look on him even more doubtfully when he experienced great difficulty with his reelection, winning the second round of elections with a 2.5-percent margin against Communist Sergey Levchenko. Then, in the presidential elections of 2004, Irkutsk took 88th place among the 89 federal subjects by voter turnout and 83rd by the number of votes cast for Putin. In the summer of 2004, the proposal arose to unite Irkutsk Region with the Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous District, which could have been for the Kremlin a trial run at the foundation of a Perm Territory. At first the Ust-Ordynsky authorities demanded 8 billion rubles from the federal budget to go through with the unification, then became dissatisfied with the new status they would receive. Although Govorin was not in any way formally guilty of the failure of the project, high-placed officials in the presidential administration swore that they would continue the project “but not with that leadership.”
In recent months, the governor seemed to be aware that his days in office were numbered and allowed himself to criticize the center harshly for “disregard for the interests of the regions.” He publicly called the monetization of social benefits a political excess. It is not surprising then, as Kommersant learned, when he wanted to be received by Putin to discuss his term (and Putin had received all governors before him), his request was denied.
by
Dmitry Elovsky, Konstantin Parfenenok, Irkutsk; Sergey Ryzhkin
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 15, 2005
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