For the sake of which the governor of the Novgorod region was fired. Investment per capita Mitin resignation

After 9.5 years of work in the Novgorod region, Governor Sergei Mitin resigned involuntarily. Today, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the early resignation of Sergei Mitin and appointed Acting Governor of the Novgorod Region, 37-year-old Muscovite Andrey Nikitin, ex-CEO of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives

After 9.5 years of work in the Novgorod region, Governor Sergei Mitin resigned involuntarily. Today Vladimir Putin signed a decree on early resignation Sergei Mitin and appointed Acting Governor of the Novgorod Region, a 37-year-old Muscovite Andrey Nikitin, former CEO of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

The resignation of Sergei Mitin was predictable, although his term of office ended in October 2017. The resignation was mainly spoken about by the federal media all the previous week, having published a list of outsider governors, compiled thanks to leaks from “reliable” sources in the Presidential Administration. But even in the presidential administration they did not make secrets from the course taken for the renewal, rejuvenation of the governor's corps. So, Mitin's resignation fits into the postulate repeatedly and publicly declared by Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia.

It wasn't obvious to everyone, though. Literally a week ago, on February 6, a political adviser, general director of the Markelov Group communications agency, on one of the Novgorod Internet resources, confidently told Novgorodians: “Rumors about the resignation of Sergei Mitin are based on fortune-telling on coffee grounds. The story of the “five governors” has no reasonable relation to the governor Sergei Mitin and the state of affairs in the Novgorod region” (end of quote).



The resignation was not obvious for Sergei Mitin himself. Quite recently, in a lengthy interview with a certain expert publication "Club of Regions" (today this resource has been removed to the root), Sergey Gerasimovich, in response to a journalist's question about the third governor's term, answered in detail that nothing prevents him from leading the region where he has already worked 9.5 years and the subject at the same time demonstrates a dynamic growth potential. In support of his words, Sergei Mitin, as always, in any interview, any publication, cited a lot of figures showing that the little Novgorod region is ahead of all the subjects of the Northwestern Federal District, and even the whole of Russia! And, as a marker of the successful management of the region, investment per capita has always been called.

The fact that Sergei Gerasimovich was not going to leave the governor's chair is also evidenced by such a fact, which became public thanks to the media. The structure of the regional election headquarters, which was headed by Sergei Gerasimovich himself and many of his subordinates, fell into the hands of the popular Novgorod Internet resource. From December 2016 to September 2017, the document outlined the stages and calendar plan of the gubernatorial election campaign like clockwork. For example, he planned to form a public headquarters for the development of the Novgorod region, involving 1,000 activists in this work. The work of the headquarters was supposed to be supported by an expert community of 300 experts and 23 moderators. The result of the labors of this powerful would be folk strategy for the development of the Novgorod region.


Among other things, the election headquarters faced an incredibly difficult task: to change the paradigm of perception of the image of the governor from routine to reference(?). The image was supposed to look like this : the protege of the president, the sovereign's man, the sovereign's eye.

Yes, what can I say! A week ago, at the last press conference, the “eye of the sovereign” shared with journalists, bloggers talked about “huge plans”. And at previous similar meetings, monologues, Sergei Mitin confidently answered questions about his future political future that he would turn to the president and if Vladimir Vladimirovich “blessed” him, he would go to the polls.

This is the alignment "voluntary» The resignation of the governor of the Novgorod region, Sergei Mitin. About 55 seconds was enough for Sergei Gerasimovich to inform the journalists of the regional media about it, as the attentive journalist Antony Kish noted. In the style of Sergei Mitin, the NOT made the program "Novgorod Region in Figures", which convinced the residents of the region of the undoubted success of a small subject of the Russian Federation. Like all other optimistic interviews of the governor, in which the most characteristic problems of the region were practically not raised: the standard of living of Novgorodians, which is significantly lagging behind the average Russian standard, a powerful outflow of young people to the two capitals in search of decent work and earnings, etc. The impressive digital growth of the investment portfolio could not change anything in their lives.

And how sad it is that today political scientists, naming the reasons for Mitin's resignation, say about the lack of obvious success(!), a strong federal patron and a tough conflict between Sergei Gerasimovich and the mayor of the regional capital, Yuri Bobryshev. The conflict spilled out into the public domain long ago and became a permanent reason for caustic comments in social networks and on the websites of regional Internet resources. The causes and depth of the conflict that has dragged on since 2013 is a separate issue. On the surface, there has always been such a method of communication between the governor and the mayor as a public flogging. Well, as Ivan Andreevich wrote: “The strong are always to blame for the weak.”

Alas, such a style of communication has since become the norm for Sergei Mitin with journalists. And over time, Sergei Gerasimovich and his subordinates divided the journalists into "us and not ours", some oppositionists. What can you do, even such an experienced manager who had many years of public service behind him did not tolerate the slightest criticism, reacted very painfully to it and could not hesitate to scold him for a text he did not like. An example of one such loud denunciation had a federal resonance, became a subject for discussion in the Union of Journalists of Russia.

An arrogant attitude (with all possible synonyms for this word) was often cultivated in communication with Novgorodians. Is it any wonder that residents of Veliky Novgorod and the Novgorod region gave the governor's performance in a sociological survey commissioned by the capital at the end of 2015. More than 57% of respondents did not approve of Mitin's activities, 62.2% would never vote for him. So in the November 2016 rating of political survival, Sergei Gerasimovich lost three positions. Why don't investments reach the souls of Novgorodians?..

But the point, of course, is not only in the personal traits of the governor, under which the whole team was forced to adapt and play along, but also in high-profile corruption scandals, the defendants of which were vice-governors, senators, deputies of the legislature of the Novgorod region. The most resonant - called the "road case", initiated in April 2013 against the first deputy of the then regional administration (now raised to the level of government with 620 thousand inhabitants of the region), Arnold Shalmuev. The result of the road case was a real term - 8 years and 10 months in prison, appointed by the court.

Vice-Governor Viktor Nechaev, who had worked in the regional government for less than a year, was in charge of investments. But I tried myself as a solver. He is accused of fraud and is serving a 3-year term appointed by the court. The fate of the Novgorod Regional Duma deputy Yuri Ivlev, who is accused of fraud on an especially large scale and detained in Moscow, will soon be in the hands of justice. Yuri Ivlev, who tried to put down Novgorodian roots as a deputy. director of the Novgorod Potato System LLC), received the mandate of a deputy thanks to Sergei Gerasimovich, who acted in the elections of the regional parliament as a “locomotive” and then transferred the mandate to the right person - Yuri Ivlev, the son of the deputy chairman of the CEC of the Russian Federation.

Ex-senator Dmitry Krivitsky, a Muscovite who represented the interests of the region's executive power in the Upper House of Parliament from 2011 to 2016, has been put on the wanted list.

Even the people responsible for personnel administration in the government of the Novgorod region found it difficult to say how many vice-governors were replaced by Sergei Mitin during his work. From the memory of the Novgorodians, such names as Myatiev, Zyablitsky, Telinin, etc., have probably already been erased. All of them were Varangians and did not leave any noticeable traces in the life of the region. In total, according to some estimates, more than 20 vice-governors were replaced in Mitin's team during these 9.5 years.

With what team Sergei Gerasimovich was going to go to the third governor's term, we will never know now.

Olga Kolotnecha. Especially for IA "Regions Online"

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Governor of the Novgorod region Sergei Mitin left his post.

The term of office of Sergei Mitin ended this fall. In an interview with the "Club of Regions" magazine, which was published in January this year, he announced that he plans to take part in the elections.

This year my term expires. I decided not to participate in the elections and notified the President of this in advance and asked for new instructions. This is a deliberate and balanced decision, - Sergey Mitin explained.

Last week, the federal media reported on the possible departure of Sergei Mitin from the post of governor. His place, according to federal media reports, may be taken by the head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, Andrei Nikitin. He's 37 years old.

Sergei Mitin was appointed governor of the Novgorod region in 2007 and succeeded Mikhail Prusak, who had ruled the region for 16 years. Sergei Mitin was entrusted with the task of decriminalizing the region. With his arrival, the era of Telman Mkhitaryan and Nikolai Kravchenko, the informal leaders of the region, ended.

On the positive side, under Sergei Mitin, the Ice Palace and the Central Sports Arena were built in Veliky Novgorod, the third bridge across the Volkhov River, although its construction was accompanied by a scandal and the requirement of the Prosecutor General's Office in 2012 to demolish everything that had already been built. The stadium "Central" also received a second life. Active work was carried out on gasification of the regions of the region, the resettlement of Novgorodians from dilapidated and dilapidated housing, although there are complaints about some houses.

As for economic indicators, the average salary in the region has increased by 16 thousand rubles since 2007 and amounted to 27,316 rubles in 2016. In fact, 2.4 times.

According to a number of indicators in agriculture, the region has been showing good rates since 2008. For example, the number of livestock and poultry for slaughter increased from 27.2 thousand tons to 158.6 thousand tons, potatoes from 184.3 thousand tons to 373.7 thousand tons, the volume of growing own vegetables almost doubled - in 2008 the indicator was equal to 73.7 thousand tons.

The reign of Sergei Mitin was accompanied by high-profile corruption scandals. The first deputy head of the region Arnold Shalmuev was sentenced to 8 years and 10 months for embezzling money from the road fund, another deputy Viktor Nechaev, who decided to enrich himself in the criminal case of the ex-head of the Shimsky district Mikhail Nekipelov, also ended up behind bars. In addition, a number of heads of districts lost their posts for similar crimes. In the past three years, there has been a conflict between the governor Sergei Mitin and the mayor of Veliky Novgorod, Yuri Bobryshev. Initially, both sides denied it, then the mayor confirmed the difficult relationship with the head of the province. At the same time, Mitin himself denied the existence of a conflict to the last, and at the last press conference, held on January 31, he again denied this information. Calling public criticism of the city authorities a work process.

MURMANSK, February 13 - RIA Novosti. The head of the Novgorod region, Sergei Mitin, said on Monday that he was resigning as governor, and asked the president to give him a "new assignment." According to the decision of Vladimir Putin, the head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Alexei Nikitin will temporarily act as head of the region.

Mitin has become the third governor in a week to resign. Earlier, the media reported on the possible resignation of several governors, including Perm's Viktor Basargin, who resigned last Monday, as well as the head of Buryatia, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, who announced his resignation a little less than a week ago.

At the end of last week, unconfirmed information was published in the media that Mitin would announce his resignation on Monday, February 13, and Nikitin, ASI CEO, would become the new governor of the Novgorod region. However, last Friday this message was called rumors in the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

A thoughtful and balanced move

On Monday, Mitin made an official public address. The head of the region announced the resignation of his powers. According to Mitin, he has decided not to run for governor in September. In addition, he asked the President "to give him a new assignment."

"I informed the President of the Russian Federation about this in advance. I turned to the head of state with a request to give me a new assignment. This is my deliberate and balanced step," Mitin said.

The ex-governor thanked everyone who worked with him, as well as all the residents of the region. “I sincerely fell in love with the Novgorod land, I consider it my own. And no matter where I work, I undertake to devote all my strength and knowledge to the development and prosperity of the Novgorod land,” Mitin said.

The resigned head of the region is 65 years old, in different years he was the deputy minister of economy, industry, and agriculture. In 2007, the Novgorod Regional Duma approved Mitin as governor, and in the fall of 2012, in the elections for the head of the region, Mitin won 75.95% of the vote.

The need for staff renewal

Experts interviewed by RIA Novosti believe that the resignation of Mitin, who has a "good reputation" with the federal authorities, may be due to the need to update managerial personnel in the region. Such an opinion, in particular, was expressed by Mikhail Vinogradov, President of the Petersburg Politics Foundation.

“Currently, (management) decisions are being made on a large group of governors whose term of office expires in 2017, and Mitin is one of them. Perhaps his resignation is connected with the desire to make the Novgorod region another platform for personnel renewal, for generational change in management elite," Vinogradov said.

According to the political scientist, Mitin was "in good standing" with the federal authorities. "At the federal level, the attitude towards him was quite benevolent," the expert noted, suggesting that in the future, the former head of the Novgorod region could expect an "honorary appointment," including to federal government bodies.

Speaking about the attitude towards Mitin in the region, the political scientist called him "different". However, in his opinion, disagreements with local politicians and officials, including the mayor of Veliky Novgorod, Yuri Bobryshev, could hardly seriously affect the decision to change the leadership of the region. "I don't think this is the reason for the resignation," Vinogradov added.

Remove barriers to business and attract investors

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing Andrey Nikitin, CEO of ASI, as acting governor of the Novgorod region. The President held a working meeting with Nikitin, offered him a new position, noting that before his appointment he consulted with the resigned head of the region.

At the meeting, Putin asked Nikitin what areas he considers the most important and promising. “We have many iconic places in the country, but the Novgorod region occupies a special place, meaning that this is one of the places where the Russian land came from, as we say. If you look at the development prospects, how do you see this prospect? " Putin asked.

"Of course, Novgorod merchants, Russia has been known on world markets for several hundred years thanks to Novgorod merchants. And in addition to attracting investors, I think it is very important to remove all restrictions to the maximum extent, all barriers for those entrepreneurs who are already working in the Novgorod region, to give they have the opportunity to build a small, medium, and maybe even a large business," Nikitin said, noting that, in his opinion, these are the first steps that need to be taken from the point of view of the economy.

He stated that he intends to rely on the opinion of the inhabitants of the region, to deal with improvement and problems related to improving the quality of life. According to Nikitin, the Novgorod region is also very interesting from a logistical point of view.

“In fact, this is such a corridor between the two capitals. Probably, the priorities that could be (in the development of the region) are, firstly, the tourism industry; secondly, the industry associated with processing, which works for our main cluster population, which is located between Moscow and St. Petersburg. These may be Russian, foreign investors," he summed up.

Nikitin is 37 years old, in different years he worked in the Ruscomposite group of companies, including as a manager. In 2011, he was appointed General Director of the ANO "Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects".

Hopes for the development of the economy

Representatives of parliamentary factions in the Novgorod Regional Duma, with the appointment of Acting Governor Nikitin, hope to develop the region's economy and attract investment.

According to Sergei Busurin, head of the United Russia faction in the regional Duma, the Novgorod region, like many other regions, needs economic acceleration. "Let's hope that the acting governor will justify the expectations of the population in terms of raising, improving, accelerating the pace of economic growth, creating new jobs. The appointment itself and his activities indicate that he is connected with the economy, with innovative development. And how since the Novgorod region, like no other, located between St. Petersburg and Moscow, has every opportunity for this," Busurin told RIA Novosti.

The head of the LDPR faction in the regional Duma, Alexei Chursinov, hopes that the new appointment will help improve the investment climate in the region. "It's hard to say so far, we, unfortunately, have not seen him in action. But it is a generally accepted practice that young people have more energy, more enthusiasm ... We, of course, hope, since he worked at the ASI, his appointment will serve as an influx of "new blood" for existing business in the Novgorod region," Chursinov told RIA Novosti. The representative of the Liberal Democratic Party noted that his faction has repeatedly stated that in recent years a "not very good" investment climate has developed in the Novgorod region. "Let's hope this situation will change with the arrival of a new person," the regional parliamentarian said.

Alexander Kashitsyn, a member of the Just Russia faction in the Novgorod Regional Duma, hopes that Nikitin will attract new investments. “I want to believe in it… We need to make sure that the region develops dynamically,” Kashitsyn told RIA Novosti, noting that Nikitin “knows the problems of Russia in general and the Novgorod region in particular from the inside.” In his opinion, the replacement of the head of the region was necessary for the further development of the region.

Valery Gaidym, head of the Communist Party faction in the regional Duma, is cautious about the new appointment. “My opinion can only be formed based on the results of the activities of the new head of the region. I can’t give an assessment now ... I haven’t heard his (Nikitin’s) speeches, his program, I don’t know his goals, at least what priority plans he sets for himself, how will establish interaction with political forces. Only time will tell," he said.

Constant rotation process

Some experts interviewed by RIA Novosti after the resignation of Viktor Basargin suggested that it should not be viewed as a single, separate action, but "as a new system that will now work."

HSE professor Oleg Matveychev, a political scientist, told the agency that in autumn, on the instructions of the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, a system for evaluating the performance of governors was developed, which was applied to all heads of regions, especially those whose terms of office are expiring.

"The task of this system is to have objective indicators, so that there is no taste: someone likes someone, does not like someone, someone is busy for someone ... So that all this does not exist, so that the rating system works, so that there is nothing personal," the expert told RIA Novosti.

A similar point of view was expressed by the Chairman of the Board of the Civil Society Development Fund (FORGO) Konstantin Kostin, who believes that over the next few years it will be possible to observe the arrival of a new generation of managers to various leadership positions, including the positions of heads of subjects of the federation.

“This is an unconditional trend that was clearly marked last year, and, of course, it will continue. This process of generational change in this sense is extremely important for the entire system of state power,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.

Matveychev suggested that in the foreseeable future it would be possible to see a change of a dozen more regional leaders. “We have 15 governors ending their terms of office, plus, probably, there are several more people who, as they say, did not fit the criteria for some reason. So, in principle, within six months or a year, maybe ten governors will be replaced: now five in the near future, then a few more after a while," he said.

Who is next?

On Monday it became known that the head of Karelia Alexander Khudilainen may resign this week. As a source in parliament told RIA Novosti, Artur Parfenchikov, director of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia, may be appointed instead of him. However, the Kremlin did not comment on this information.

"We never announce information of this kind, if any decisions are made, we will inform you," said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the head of state.

He commented on the question of whether the "practice of the Varangians" justifies itself in the regions and why there are no worthy candidates in place.

"The "practice of the Varangians" is not always and far from everywhere used, as you call it, the president actually invites people to work who come from regions who began their careers as very expert in these regions, so I don’t think I should put the question like this right," Peskov said.

MURMANSK, February 13 - RIA Novosti. The head of the Novgorod region, Sergei Mitin, said on Monday that he was resigning as governor, and asked the president to give him a "new assignment." According to the decision of Vladimir Putin, the head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Alexei Nikitin will temporarily act as head of the region.

Mitin has become the third governor in a week to resign. Earlier, the media reported on the possible resignation of several governors, including Perm's Viktor Basargin, who resigned last Monday, as well as the head of Buryatia, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, who announced his resignation a little less than a week ago.

At the end of last week, unconfirmed information was published in the media that Mitin would announce his resignation on Monday, February 13, and Nikitin, ASI CEO, would become the new governor of the Novgorod region. However, last Friday this message was called rumors in the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

A thoughtful and balanced move

On Monday, Mitin made an official public address. The head of the region announced the resignation of his powers. According to Mitin, he has decided not to run for governor in September. In addition, he asked the President "to give him a new assignment."

"I informed the President of the Russian Federation about this in advance. I turned to the head of state with a request to give me a new assignment. This is my deliberate and balanced step," Mitin said.

The ex-governor thanked everyone who worked with him, as well as all the residents of the region. “I sincerely fell in love with the Novgorod land, I consider it my own. And no matter where I work, I undertake to devote all my strength and knowledge to the development and prosperity of the Novgorod land,” Mitin said.

The resigned head of the region is 65 years old, in different years he was the deputy minister of economy, industry, and agriculture. In 2007, the Novgorod Regional Duma approved Mitin as governor, and in the fall of 2012, in the elections for the head of the region, Mitin won 75.95% of the vote.

The need for staff renewal

Experts interviewed by RIA Novosti believe that the resignation of Mitin, who has a "good reputation" with the federal authorities, may be due to the need to update managerial personnel in the region. Such an opinion, in particular, was expressed by Mikhail Vinogradov, President of the Petersburg Politics Foundation.

“Currently, (management) decisions are being made on a large group of governors whose term of office expires in 2017, and Mitin is one of them. Perhaps his resignation is connected with the desire to make the Novgorod region another platform for personnel renewal, for generational change in management elite," Vinogradov said.

According to the political scientist, Mitin was "in good standing" with the federal authorities. "At the federal level, the attitude towards him was quite benevolent," the expert noted, suggesting that in the future, the former head of the Novgorod region could expect an "honorary appointment," including to federal government bodies.

Speaking about the attitude towards Mitin in the region, the political scientist called him "different". However, in his opinion, disagreements with local politicians and officials, including the mayor of Veliky Novgorod, Yuri Bobryshev, could hardly seriously affect the decision to change the leadership of the region. "I don't think this is the reason for the resignation," Vinogradov added.

Remove barriers to business and attract investors

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing Andrey Nikitin, CEO of ASI, as acting governor of the Novgorod region. The President held a working meeting with Nikitin, offered him a new position, noting that before his appointment he consulted with the resigned head of the region.

At the meeting, Putin asked Nikitin what areas he considers the most important and promising. “We have many iconic places in the country, but the Novgorod region occupies a special place, meaning that this is one of the places where the Russian land came from, as we say. If you look at the development prospects, how do you see this prospect? " Putin asked.

"Of course, Novgorod merchants, Russia has been known on world markets for several hundred years thanks to Novgorod merchants. And in addition to attracting investors, I think it is very important to remove all restrictions to the maximum extent, all barriers for those entrepreneurs who are already working in the Novgorod region, to give they have the opportunity to build a small, medium, and maybe even a large business," Nikitin said, noting that, in his opinion, these are the first steps that need to be taken from the point of view of the economy.

He stated that he intends to rely on the opinion of the inhabitants of the region, to deal with improvement and problems related to improving the quality of life. According to Nikitin, the Novgorod region is also very interesting from a logistical point of view.

“In fact, this is such a corridor between the two capitals. Probably, the priorities that could be (in the development of the region) are, firstly, the tourism industry; secondly, the industry associated with processing, which works for our main cluster population, which is located between Moscow and St. Petersburg. These may be Russian, foreign investors," he summed up.

Nikitin is 37 years old, in different years he worked in the Ruscomposite group of companies, including as a manager. In 2011, he was appointed General Director of the ANO "Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects".

Hopes for the development of the economy

Representatives of parliamentary factions in the Novgorod Regional Duma, with the appointment of Acting Governor Nikitin, hope to develop the region's economy and attract investment.

According to Sergei Busurin, head of the United Russia faction in the regional Duma, the Novgorod region, like many other regions, needs economic acceleration. "Let's hope that the acting governor will justify the expectations of the population in terms of raising, improving, accelerating the pace of economic growth, creating new jobs. The appointment itself and his activities indicate that he is connected with the economy, with innovative development. And how since the Novgorod region, like no other, located between St. Petersburg and Moscow, has every opportunity for this," Busurin told RIA Novosti.

The head of the LDPR faction in the regional Duma, Alexei Chursinov, hopes that the new appointment will help improve the investment climate in the region. "It's hard to say so far, we, unfortunately, have not seen him in action. But it is a generally accepted practice that young people have more energy, more enthusiasm ... We, of course, hope, since he worked at the ASI, his appointment will serve as an influx of "new blood" for existing business in the Novgorod region," Chursinov told RIA Novosti. The representative of the Liberal Democratic Party noted that his faction has repeatedly stated that in recent years a "not very good" investment climate has developed in the Novgorod region. "Let's hope this situation will change with the arrival of a new person," the regional parliamentarian said.

Alexander Kashitsyn, a member of the Just Russia faction in the Novgorod Regional Duma, hopes that Nikitin will attract new investments. “I want to believe in it… We need to make sure that the region develops dynamically,” Kashitsyn told RIA Novosti, noting that Nikitin “knows the problems of Russia in general and the Novgorod region in particular from the inside.” In his opinion, the replacement of the head of the region was necessary for the further development of the region.

Valery Gaidym, head of the Communist Party faction in the regional Duma, is cautious about the new appointment. “My opinion can only be formed based on the results of the activities of the new head of the region. I can’t give an assessment now ... I haven’t heard his (Nikitin’s) speeches, his program, I don’t know his goals, at least what priority plans he sets for himself, how will establish interaction with political forces. Only time will tell," he said.

Constant rotation process

Some experts interviewed by RIA Novosti after the resignation of Viktor Basargin suggested that it should not be viewed as a single, separate action, but "as a new system that will now work."

HSE professor Oleg Matveychev, a political scientist, told the agency that in autumn, on the instructions of the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, a system for evaluating the performance of governors was developed, which was applied to all heads of regions, especially those whose terms of office are expiring.

"The task of this system is to have objective indicators, so that there is no taste: someone likes someone, does not like someone, someone is busy for someone ... So that all this does not exist, so that the rating system works, so that there is nothing personal," the expert told RIA Novosti.

A similar point of view was expressed by the Chairman of the Board of the Civil Society Development Fund (FORGO) Konstantin Kostin, who believes that over the next few years it will be possible to observe the arrival of a new generation of managers to various leadership positions, including the positions of heads of subjects of the federation.

“This is an unconditional trend that was clearly marked last year, and, of course, it will continue. This process of generational change in this sense is extremely important for the entire system of state power,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.

Matveychev suggested that in the foreseeable future it would be possible to see a change of a dozen more regional leaders. “We have 15 governors ending their terms of office, plus, probably, there are several more people who, as they say, did not fit the criteria for some reason. So, in principle, within six months or a year, maybe ten governors will be replaced: now five in the near future, then a few more after a while," he said.

Who is next?

On Monday it became known that the head of Karelia Alexander Khudilainen may resign this week. As a source in parliament told RIA Novosti, Artur Parfenchikov, director of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia, may be appointed instead of him. However, the Kremlin did not comment on this information.

"We never announce information of this kind, if any decisions are made, we will inform you," said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the head of state.

He commented on the question of whether the "practice of the Varangians" justifies itself in the regions and why there are no worthy candidates in place.

"The "practice of the Varangians" is not always and far from everywhere used, as you call it, the president actually invites people to work who come from regions who began their careers as very expert in these regions, so I don’t think I should put the question like this right," Peskov said.

Sergey Mitin has headed the Novgorod region since August 2007. His arrival was received positively. Firstly, he replaced Mikhail Prusak at this post, who at that time had been in charge of the region for 16 years and whose level of popularity left much to be desired.

Former press secretary of Prusak, Igor Svintsov, once said that the governor forbade repairs to the building of the regional administration, "while the budget is in deficit ... to make life feel better." But for 16 years the budget remained in deficit, and in 2007 the new governor had to enter a building with balding carpets and peeling wall panels from the 70s.

Secondly, at the time of his appointment as governor, Mitin had 10 years of work in the federal government as a deputy minister (first in the ministry of economy, then industry, and finally agriculture). This experience and the support of the federal authorities allowed us to hope that the region's economy would begin to develop more dynamically. In addition, hopes were pinned on the new governor in the fight against Telman Mkhitaryan, a well-known organized criminal group in the region.

With the help of the security forces, the new governor coped with the last task quickly and successfully - Mkhitaryan was convicted, and his right hand, Nikolai Kravchenko, fled to Ukraine, where he was arrested and committed suicide on the eve of deportation to Russia.

As for the economy, here the results of Mitin's activities can be interpreted in different ways.

The governor positioned himself not as a politician, but as a "strong business executive", repeatedly noting that the region is not an influential subject: too small population (about 620 thousand people), complex demographics (almost a third are pensioners, hence the low birth rate and high mortality) , lack of large enterprises (with the exception of the Akron chemical holding) and raw material reserves. However, at the same time, in almost all statistical calculations, the region was in the strong middle peasants, which gave the regional leadership a reason to be proud. At the end of 2016, the head of the region said that "the region demonstrates good economic development indicators, the decrees of the President of Russia are being implemented, all the instructions of the President of Russia have been 100% fulfilled."

Positive effect

It is economic activities that the governor has earned himself a lot of pluses. So, under Mitin, a bridge was built across the Volkhov River, the governor attracted several large investors in the region in the field of pig breeding, poultry farming, and potato production. There is an annual growth in investments, GRP, industrial production index.

Large industrial facilities have not appeared in the region (with the exception of the IKEA factory), but the Akron chemical enterprise, the Deka brewery, and the electronics industry are developing.

A number of large facilities have been built or reconstructed - the Ice Palace, a stadium in Veliky Novgorod, sports and recreation centers, a polyclinic, a hospital in the regions. The proposal to revive the estate of the composer Rachmaninov and the improvement of the city's embankments had a positive effect on his image.

Sergei Mitin was remembered for his proposal to transfer passengers of electric trains to motor vehicles. “It’s more profitable for us to buy a Zhiguli car for every family that uses electric trains than to give money to railway workers, increasing investments every year,” the governor said.

Among other things, the governor was remembered for defending the interests of the residents of the region against the backdrop of a large-scale conflict between the regions and Russian Railways on the issue of paying for the travel of beneficiaries on electric trains. Mitin then gained fame by offering to transfer passengers to vehicles. "It's more profitable for us to buy a Zhiguli car for every family that uses electric trains than to give (money) to railway workers, increasing investments every year," Mitin said.

Political scientist Sergei Markelov, who advised the Novgorod head for several years, believes that Mitin, in his 10 years in office, “managed not to let the region peddle either politically or economically, while not having special connections in Moscow. And, despite scandals with deputies, he did not worsen the corruption component: in the Novgorod region, the "forceful stage of cleansing", which began with his arrival in 2007, passed on time and smoothly. Today, the first round of Mitin's entourage is "Novgorod people, this is the best possible."

According to Markelov, the governorship of Mitin can be characterized as a position between Scylla and Charybdis. "In recent years, Mitin has not been engaged in the consolidation of elites, this is a thankless task for a Varangian. Therefore, he strengthened ties with the Kremlin. Mitin is considered a good lobbyist for the territory, he managed to get large amounts of federal money for several large projects in Veliky Novgorod and the region," the political scientist concluded.

Not without errors

Nevertheless, there were obvious mistakes in the work of the governor, primarily personnel. As a result - "scandals with deputies", which Markelov mentioned.

So, his first deputy Arnold Shalmuev was arrested and sentenced to almost nine years for embezzlement of budgetary funds. Vice-Governor Viktor Nechaev, specially invited by Mitin to the post from Moscow, was sentenced to three and a half years for fraud.

The views of the population were also affected by miscalculations in the work of some departments of the regional government. For example, in October 2016, transport communication was paralyzed in Veliky Novgorod: the lessor took away 80% of the city's bus fleet for non-payment.

The political confrontation with the mayor of Veliky Novgorod, Yuri Bobryshev, which lasted more than three years, did not add to the governor's popularity. Controlled by the majority of the governor, the city Duma twice failed to get the mayor fired.

Political scientists: the region needs modern approaches to management

At the end of 2016, the Petersburg Politics Foundation and the Minchenko Consulting communications holding gave Mitin a three with a minus on a five-point scale in the rating of political survival, while in 2015 the rating was a three with a plus. The foundation's political analysts described the Novgorod governor as capable of "effectively promoting the results of his work when dealing with federal officials." At the same time, the experts noted that "the approaching expiration date updates the negative agenda, including the unresolved issue of power in the regional center and criminal cases against the governor's entourage."

As governor, Mitin is a strong middle peasant, but everything has an expiration date. Age is not the only reason for his resignation, the problems of political control in the region, of course, also affected. There were mistakes, but there were also achievements. Now the region needs a new development driver. Modern approaches and updating the management system

Konstantin Kalachev

Head of the "Political Expert Group"

Novgorod sociologist and political scientist Alexander Zhukovsky commented on Mitin's departure as follows: "Objectively, the resignation is long overdue. Another thing is that both Mitin's immediate circle and the local elites, with a "cool" attitude, did not openly oppose the governor, because there was no prospect of a replacement for Mitin."

Until a certain point, the governor enjoyed great support from the population. In the 2012 elections, he received 75.95% of the vote. However, then, according to political scientists, he began to lose popularity. According to the head of the "Political Expert Group" Konstantin Kalachev, the drop in Mitin's rating began a year after the election, but the governor ignored this fact.

“As governor, Mitin is a strong middle peasant, but everything has an expiration date. Age is not the only reason for his resignation, the problems of political control in the region have also certainly affected. Much has been done, some of the new projects have to be completed by the new governor. There were mistakes, but there were and achievements. Now the region needs a new development driver. Modern approaches and updating the management system," Kalachev said.

A new generation of managers is coming

As noted in an interview with the correspondent. TASS professor at the Higher School of Economics Oleg Matveychev, the resignation of Sergei Mitin and the appointment of an interim governor represented by the general director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Andrei Nikitin should be considered as part of a course towards changing generations of managers. "In the resignations and appointments, in the renewal of the composition of governors, acting governors, we see that they take on young personnel who already have work experience, who have new ideas related to new economic and management technologies," the political scientist said.

Nikitin represents the younger generation of managers, 25-45 years old, when experience has already been gained, but there is no such indifference ... Nikitin has extensive federal experience, which is considered successful: he managed to improve the investment experience in many regions, simplify the procedure for registering enterprises, connecting enterprises to networks

Mikhail Vinogradov

President of the Petersburg Politics Foundation

A series of resignations of heads of regions began last week. On February 6, the governor of the Perm Territory, Viktor Basargin, announced his resignation, and the next day, the head of Buryatia, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, resigned. Maxim Reshetnikov, head of the Department of Economic Policy and Development of Moscow, became acting head of the Perm Territory, Alexei Tsydenov, deputy head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, became acting head of the Republic of Buryatia.

“Nikitin represents a younger generation of managers, 25-45 years old, when experience has already been gained, but there is no such indifference,” says political scientist, president of the Petersburg Politics Foundation Mikhail Vinogradov. “Nikitin has extensive federal experience, which is considered successful: he managed to achieve improvement investment experience in many regions, to simplify the procedure for registering enterprises, connecting enterprises to networks. He has experience in communicating with entrepreneurial elites in the regions."

"Nikitin fits right in with the lineup of young technocrats who are now being promoted to governorships," Yevgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute for Political Expertise, said for his part.

Julia Generozova, Viktor Dyatlikovich