Vladimir Putin met with most of the acting governors who will participate in the 2024 elections
Over the past three weeks, President Vladimir Putin has held meetings with most of the acting governors who will participate in the elections on September 6–8. Three have not yet been granted an audience: the new heads of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO), Gorny Altai, and Kuzbass. But the expert urges not to look for a hidden meaning in this, since the first is elected through parliament, and the other two have “no major problems” with their ratings.
Six of the nine acting governors reported to Vladimir Putin in August on the situation in their regions, Kommersant calculated. This series of meetings began on August 8 with a conversation with the acting head of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, and then the head of state met with Alexey Besprozvannykh (Kaliningrad region), Dmitry Milyayev (Tula region), Dmitry Demeshin (Khabarovsk region), Georgy Filimonov (Vologda region) and Vyacheslav Fedorishchev (Samara region).
During the pre-election period, Vladimir Putin traditionally holds two cycles of meetings with regional leaders. In the spring, he "blesses" the current governors who want to continue working for the election race, and gives advice to newly appointed leaders. In the summer, closer to the elections, the head of state inspects the results of their work.
Acting heads of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and the Altai Republic Ruslan Kukharuk and Andrey Turchak, as well as acting Kemerovo Governor Ilya Seredyuk, did not have any repeat meetings with the president. Messrs. Kukharuk and Turchak last met with Vladimir Putin at the time of their appointment - on May 30 and June 4, respectively. And Mr. Seredyuk only spoke with the head of state on June 28 during a meeting with graduates of the "school of governors." We will add that Mr. Kukharuk is the only acting governor who will have to be elected not in direct elections, but through parliament.
Of the 16 acting governors participating in the elections, four made it to the summer meeting with Vladimir Putin: the head of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, who met with the president twice, Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis, the head of Kabardino-Balkaria Kazbek Kokov, and the governor of the Astrakhan Region Igor Babushkin (see chart). Let us recall that direct elections of the head will be held this year in 21 regions, and in another 4, the head will be elected by the regional parliament from candidates nominated by the head of state.
The governors' entourage, who have not yet been granted a repeat meeting, do not see a problem with this, however. "A meeting between the head of state and the head of the region is always important and necessary, but in the context of support on the eve of elections, there is no such need," a source close to the head of the Zabaikalsky Krai, Aleksandr Osipov, told Kommersant. "We have a stable situation in this regard." The entourage of Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov, who last met with Vladimir Putin on May 22, told Kommersant that a repeat meeting was not discussed from the start. "Immediately before the elections, they meet with those who are on the brink of the abyss," a source close to the head of Kalmykia, Batu Khasikov, told Kommersant (the president met with him on May 21).
Political strategist Yevgeny Minchenko explains that a meeting of acting governors with the president on the eve of elections not only raises their rating in the eyes of voters, but also sends a signal to local elites, especially if they are not united in supporting the head. At the same time, the expert urges not to look for a hidden meaning in the fact that Andrei Turchak and Ilya Seredyuk did not receive such an audience: there are “no big problems” with their ratings, so both, most likely, simply “did not fit into the schedule.” And for each of the meetings with the current governors, there was a reason, Mr. Minchenko believes: “Beglov is a demonstration of special attention to St. Petersburg, Kokov is a purely technical story (on August 20, on his way from Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin visited three regions of the North Caucasus, including the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic; the candidacy of Kazbek Kokov is on the list that the head of state submitted on Tuesday for consideration by the republican deputies.— "Ъ"), Chibis is an element of empathy after being wounded (on April 4 he survived an assassination attempt.— "Ъ"). And Babushkin is a close governor from among the security forces.”
