Friendly disagreements – Newspaper Kommersant No. 57 (7502) dated 04/04/2023

In Ulyanovsk, a rally of the movement “For the Preservation of the Historical Heritage of the Ulyanovsk Region” was held, co-chaired by State Duma deputy, first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party Alexei Kurinny. The participants of the event criticized the key members of the team of the communist governor Aleksey Russkikh and called for “raising the question of their official compliance.” The regional committee of the Communist Party does not consider the situation a split, but they promise to continue holding meetings. Mr. Russian has not yet responded to the demands of his fellow party member.

On the evening of March 31, a rally was held in Ulyanovsk against the development of commercial facilities on the former territory of the Suvorov Military School, which was organized by the public movement “For the Preservation of the Historical Heritage of the Ulyanovsk Region.” This newly created movement includes representatives of two dozen public and military-patriotic organizations, and its co-chairman is the Ulyanovsk communist deputy Alexei Kurinny.

The territory in the center of the city, which previously belonged to the Suvorov Military School, was transferred to the municipality in August last year after negotiations between Governor Alexei Russkikh (KPRF) and the Russian Ministry of Defense. In September, at the initiative of the regional government, a competition for development concept projects was announced, where the project of the Prostor company won, proposing to place commercial facilities in the building of the Cadet Corps (a cultural heritage site of federal significance built in 1877), and to build an elite residential area on the main, free part of the territory. complex. In February 2023, it became known that the regional government commission decided to give the project for the construction of a residential complex (SZ Premiera company) the status of “large-scale”, which makes it possible to obtain plots for the construction of facilities without competitive procedures.

Those who gathered at the rally in Ekran Hyde Park criticized the plans of the city and regional authorities to use the territory of the Suvorov Military School for commercial purposes, and also complained that such decisions were made behind the scenes.

“Closeness in making important decisions and cynical disregard for the opinion of the townspeople will not lead to good,” Alexei Kurinny himself told his associates. The resolution of the rally contains an appeal to Alexei Russkikh with a demand to express no confidence in his assistant Olga Melnikova, the head of the department for the protection of cultural heritage sites Denis Gerasimov and the first vice-governor Igor Edel, and also “raise the question of their official compliance.” We are talking about the key members of the team of Mr. Russians: the head of the region invited Mr. Edel and Melnikova to work from Moscow.

Aleksey Kurinny told Kommersant that the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation worked out its position three months ago on the development of the territory of the Suvorov Military School and it “was brought to the attention of the governor”: “There are many issues on which the party organization does not agree with the position of the head of the region. We are one of the structures that has direct contact with the population, captures and tries to convey this feedback to the governor.”

Mr. Kurinny does not consider the situation an “intra-party split,” since “the governor is often used for PR for United Russia,” but he promises to continue protests: “At some stage, the authorities will have to react.”

It was not possible to get a comment from Alexei Russian “Kommersant”. His deputy for domestic policy, Alexander Korobko, declined to comment on this topic, noting that “the governor cannot do some populist things.” At the same time, Mr. Korobko, who is a member of the regional political council of United Russia, also said that he does not consider the current situation to be a manifestation of an intra-party split in the Communist Party. “The governor listens to the opinion of the public, the situation will be studied again, a compromise must be found,” the official assured.

Ulyanovsk political scientist, member of the expert council of the regional fund for professional research RAPIR Nikolai Vasin believes that between the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the communist governor “certain disagreements” have long been traced. “But the governor does not always respond to the messages of his fellow party members. Trying to avoid confrontation between the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and other political forces, he chooses a neutral position, sometimes the regional authorities simply remain silent on sensitive issues. And the public of the region began to ask more and more questions about existing problems,” the expert notes. In his opinion, Alexei Russkikh should somehow react to the situation, because “lack of reaction will lead to a drop in the governor’s rating and an increasing rejection of the team of strangers.”

Sergey Titov, Ulyanovsk