What is known about the new governor of the Vologda region

The president replaced the governor of the Vologda region. Instead of Oleg Kuvshinnikov, who resigned, Vladimir Putin, by his decree, appointed Georgy Filimonov as acting head of the region. This is the first resignation of the governor since the regional elections held in September. Moreover, Putin, which does not often happen during personnel rotation, held a meeting in Novo-Ogarevo “for three”: together with Kuvshinnikov and Filimonov. The President thanked the outgoing head of the region for the work he has done over 12 years. He noted that he knows about Kuvshinnikov’s desire “to remain in the sphere of interests of the Vologda region and work for its benefit in the future.”

A native of the largest city and industrial center of the region – Cherepovets, United Russia member Kuvshinnikov remained one of the few old-time governors: he led the region since 2011. He began his political career in 2002 as a deputy of the Cherepovets City Duma. In 2006, he took the post of first vice-mayor, and a year later he won the election for the head of the city with a result of 65.3%. In December 2011, after the resignation of Governor Vyacheslav Pozgalev (he had held this post since 1996), Kuvshinnikov was appointed by President Dmitry Medvedev as acting head of the region, and then confirmed in this position. He was re-elected twice in direct elections.

Before his appointment as acting, Filimonov held the post of deputy chairman of the government of the Moscow Region (since November 2021). The new head of the region was born in 1980 in Tomsk. A year later, he and his family moved to Cherepovets, where he lived until 1997. He is a political scientist by training: in 2003 he graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the RUDN University with a degree in international relations. In 2007, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “US Foreign Cultural Policy as a Component of Soft Power,” and in 2013 he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 2005 to 2009, Filimonov worked in the presidential administration as an adviser to the foreign policy department. From 2009 to 2014 – Deputy General Director of Soglasie CJSC for foreign economic cooperation. From 2014 to 2017, he was director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University. From 2017 to 2021, he was an assistant at the Presidential Administration for Domestic Policy.

In addition, Filimonov is an Honored Master of Sports of Russia and a multiple world champion in kickboxing. A student of the Cherepovets Martial Arts Center. Moreover, his father is an honored coach of Russia, senior coach of the Russian national kickboxing team, executive director of the Russian Union of Martial Arts in the Vologda region. He is also involved in social activities, working with organizations such as the Combat Brotherhood, the Union of Russian Paratroopers, etc.

Georgy Filimonov, if he wins the election, will become the first governor of the Vologda region who did not hold the post of mayor of Cherepovets. Filimonov thanked Putin for his trust, as well as the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, for his work in the “advanced management team.” Filimonov noted that the Vologda region is native to him: “This is the region in which I grew up. I know him well, I love him and I feel him.” He noted Kuvshinnikov’s merits and promised that he would “build on them in our work.”

In general, Kuvshinnikov did not have any obvious problems in the region, but he has held his post for quite some time, says the head of the Civil Society Development Foundation, Konstantin Kostin: “Filimonov was in charge of agriculture in the Moscow region. The important point is that he has experience working in a large region. Accordingly, this experience will be useful in the Vologda region.” The campaign for the presidential election is not a deterrent to gubernatorial resignations, Kostin emphasizes.

“It seems that this is an element of launching the replacement of those governors whose powers are ending next year and we need to decide whether to leave everything as it is or replace it now,” says Mikhail Vinogradov, head of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation. Of the 16 regions where there should be direct elections, increased attention from the center to a number of regions is possible, including the Astrakhan, Lipetsk, Orenburg regions, the Altai Republic, and Kalmykia, the expert believes. Kuvshinnikov’s resignation will most likely be a one-off, and traditional serial rotation will not follow, believes regional policy expert Vitaly Ivanov. He noted that in the public field “nothing foreshadowed rotation.” “It feels like it’s an individual personnel decision,” he says. “Kuvshinnikov served three terms, this raises the question of his replacement.”

Kuvshinnikov has held office for quite a long time – 12 years, said political scientist Alexander Kynev, adding that this is the first time that the president meets simultaneously with a retiree and a new acting president. “So far, all the replacements that have taken place have been spot-on and have concerned the governors of the old wave, that is, those appointed before [первого замглавы администрации президента Сергея] Kiriyenko. We can predict: governors appointed before 2017 will be washed out,” he noted. Kiriyenko took office in October 2016, meaning the first governors appointed acting under his supervision won the elections a year later.