To Chukotka through Lugansk – Newspaper Kommersant No. 44 (7489) dated 03/16/2023

On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin appointed Vladislav Kuznetsov as the new head of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, who had worked for less than a year as the first deputy head of the government of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). Prior to that, he worked as vice-governor of the Kurgan region for domestic policy. The new Chukotka leader was part of the personnel reserve of the presidential administration, studied at the “school of governors” and was a finalist in the Kremlin personnel competition “Leaders of Russia”. The resignation of the previous head of Chukotka, Roman Kopin, was expected: according to rumors, he himself had long wanted to leave this position.

On the evening of March 15, President Vladimir Putin appointed Vladislav Kuznetsov, who previously held the post of first deputy chairman of the LPR government, as acting head of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Before signing decree The President spoke with Mr. Kuznetsov via video conference call.

During the conversation, Mr. Putin asked the deputy chairman of the Lugansk government how the process of integrating the new region into the socio-economic space of Russia was going. Vladislav Kuznetsov assured that although entry into the tax legislation and the legal sphere of the Russian Federation will take some time, “we have passed most of the problems.” The head of state also asked how the official relates to “possible administrative and personnel decisions” that can be taken in his regard.

“Vladimir Vladimirovich, I am ready to serve the Motherland where I am needed. When the opportunity arose to serve in the LPR, I volunteered, I had no doubts,” Mr. Kuznetsov reported. “If the honor is given to serve in the region you are talking about, I will be glad to be useful there.”

Vladislav Kuznetsov moved to the LPR in June 2022, and before that, from January 2019 to December 2021, he worked in the Kurgan region as vice-governor for domestic policy. Earlier, in 2010-2015, he managed the Bashkir plant Polief (SIBUR group), and then worked as an adviser to the general director of SIBUR LLC. According to a Kommersant source close to the presidential administration (AP), last year Mr. Kuznetsov’s candidacy was considered for the post of head of the Orenburg region.

The new appointment of Vladislav Kuznetsov fully fits into the main trends in the HR policy of the Presidential Administration. The newly-minted head of Chukotka is a finalist in the Kremlin personnel competition “Leaders of Russia” and was trained under the training program for the personnel reserve of the Higher School of Public Administration of the RANEPA. The latter is also called the “school of governors” in the expert community, since studying under this program in recent years has often been an informal condition for appointment to the post of head of the region. In addition, Kommersant sources close to the Presidential Administration have repeatedly said that work in new Russian regions is also considered a positive factor for further career growth.

The previous head of Chukotka, Roman Kopin, headed the region since 2008: he was appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev for the first term, and then was re-elected twice in direct elections. His third term of office expired this fall. Rumors about the resignation of Mr. Kopin have been circulating for a long time: according to informed sources of Kommersant, the governor himself wanted this. In the January rating of political stability of the heads of regions “State Council 2.0”, prepared by Minchenko Consulting, Roman Kopin entered the “red zone”, which means a high probability of resignation. In addition to him, the experts also included the Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Uss and the head of Khakassia, the communist Valentin Konovalov, into the “risk group”. Recall that in 2023, gubernatorial elections are still scheduled in 25 regions.

Andrey Vinokurov