30 May 2005 10:10 Efficacy of Putin`s plenipotentiary representatives Putin's plenipotentiary representatives in federal districts are generally powerless, with the exception of media-shy Georgiy Poltavchenko, representative in the Central District, according to a newspaper article. The following is the text of an article by Mikhail Rostovskiy, headlined "Ambassadors from the poorhouse" by Russian newspaper Moskovskiy Komsomolets.
Does Russia need the plenipotentiary representatives? Exactly five years ago, the average citizen in Russia was surprised by the sudden appearance of no fewer than seven new administrators. Putin divided the country into federal districts and appointed his own representative in each of them. This decision by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is still regarded as one of the chief accomplishments of his first presidential term. In fact, however, the president's plenipotentiary representatives quickly began to resemble the huge naval ships that were built in the twilight of the Soviet era: already obsolete by the time they were launched. Kremlin officials admit that the office of the plenipotentiary representative was established in the expectation of a lengthy confrontation with the governors. In the first months after Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin took office, members of his team expected the regional leaders to be up in arms after their expulsion from the Federation Council and the creation of the vertical chain of command. To the amazement of Putin's associates, however, the governors surrendered almost immediately, and the plenipotentiary representatives essentially became superfluous.
Poltavchenko in Central Federal District only influential presidential representative in districts
There is now only one genuinely influential man among the president's representatives in the districts. By a curious coincidence, his name is unfamiliar to the overwhelming majority of Russians. Georgiy Poltavchenko, the president's plenipotentiary representative in the Central District, makes an absolutely colossal effort to stay out of the media spotlight. His influence in the regions of Central Russia is impossible to overestimate, however. Suffice it to say that most of the heads of the regional internal affairs administrations and FSB directorates are his proteges. Besides this, in contrast to many of his colleagues, Poltavchenko is still a personal friend of the president. It is not surprising that some experts on the workings of the Kremlin regard the "central" plenipotentiary representative as one of the main members of Putin's personnel reserve. According to them, we might be hearing much more about him before 2008!
Most plenipotentiary representatives powerless
Poltavchenko is more likely to be the exception than the rule, however. The overwhelming majority of Putin's plenipotentiary representatives are politicians plagued by feelings of unrealized potential and personal powerlessness. Voloshin had good reason to refer to the plenipotentiary representatives' offices as poorhouses when he was the chief of the Kremlin staff. There is no question that the plenipotentiary representatives are given a hearty welcome by the governors when they visit the regions under their jurisdiction. Putin's envoys are treated like valued guests and high-level bosses. There is a problem, however. Many governors would rather converse directly with the Kremlin, and the plenipotentiary representatives are superfluous in these conversations. The list of governors paying unconditional attention to the plenipotentiary representatives is extremely short. [Petr] Latyshev, Putin's envoy in the Urals, is in charge of six regional leaders, for example, but the plenipotentiary representative has only been able to persuade Governor [Oleg] Bogomolov of Kurgan Region, one of the poorest regions in Russia, to "toe the line". This is the sixth year that Putin's plenipotentiary representative in the Volga District, [Sergey] Kiriyenko, has been trying to take charge of his own native Nizhniy Novgorod Region. He has had no real chance of doing this until recently, however.
Three categories: 1. The exiles
In general, Putin's emissaries in the federal districts can be divided into three categories of politician without much influence. The exiles: One ministerial post in the British government has a lofty title and an absolute absence of direct official duties - the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Sometimes this post is awarded to superfluous individuals who cannot easily be written out of the government. The office of the plenipotentiary representative has a similar function in our system of government. Putin's commissar in the Urals District, Petr Latyshev, had only one thing in mind when he took office as the president's plenipotentiary representative: He would wait quietly in this office for two years or so, and then he would become the minister of internal affairs with Voloshin's help. Things did not work out that way for Latyshev, however, and he remained in exile in the Urals. Viktor Cherkesov, the plenipotentiary representative in the Northwest, went through something similar. Most of his immediate subordinates never saw the plenipotentiary representative. In fact, many of the federal inspectors (the representatives of the federal centre in the regions) went for years without talking to Cherkesov. The president's envoy spent all of his time conferring with a group of his closest associates instead, wondering how he could move up to a high-level position in Moscow as quickly as possible. He ultimately succeeded in doing this. The list of "exiled" plenipotentiary representatives could go on and on. When he was dismissed as chief of the General Staff after a dispute with Defence Minister [Sergey] Ivanov, Anatoliy Kvashnin was granted the office of Siberian plenipotentiary representative, so that he would not, God forbid, join the opposition and stir up trouble in the army. Ilya Klebanov was appointed to serve as the president's emissary in the Northwest District because he was a colleague from St Petersburg, and it would not be right to leave someone like that without a job.
2. The lobbyists
The lobbyists: "They cannot help, but they can hurt!" That is how officials describe the influence the plenipotentiary representatives have on personnel appointments in the regions. Everyone knows that someone wishing to become a governor, for example, has to send the appropriate letter full of compliments to the plenipotentiary representative, but the details have to be negotiated with people in the Kremlin. Some of the plenipotentiary representatives did manage to win some impressive victories in the lobbying field, however. Hero of Russia Viktor Kazantsev, the former plenipotentiary representative in the Southern District, was particularly successful. Personnel matters, however, were something the gallant general left to his spouse. She was an exceptionally kind and exceptionally sincere woman, but she was also lamentably disorganized. As a result, the plenipotentiary representative often recommended several candidates to Moscow for the same position. Eventually, officials in Moscow grew tired of this, and the general and his wife were dismissed. In addition, Kazantsev had an unfortunate experience recently. The luxurious mansion he had financed on the modest income of a general and civil servant was brazenly burgled.
3. The zealots
The zealots: This is probably the smallest and most admirable group of plenipotentiary representatives. They sincerely want to change things in their districts. Unfortunately, they usually fail. When the federal centre replaced the governor of the freezing Koryak Autonomous Area in March, an interesting fact came to light. The administration chiefs of three particularly distressed communities in the autonomous area had not been to work since autumn. One had been holidaying in Sochi the whole time and had sent a telegram each month to ask for his salary to be wired to him. Another was taking it easy in Karlovy Vary. The third was on vacation in Thailand. It would be wrong to say that Konstantin Pulikovskiy, the president's plenipotentiary representative in the Far East, did not know this was happening or did not try to do something about it. The valiant general was reporting these outrages to Moscow for months. The high-living Koryak administrators were generous with their friends in the capital, however, so the plenipotentiary representative was simply ignored. Moscow probably would have continued ignoring him if the Koryak bosses had not been so blatant: They did absolutely nothing for the autonomous area. If they had been a little smarter, Pulikovskiy would still be a voice crying in the wilderness. After all, the replacement of the Koryak administrators is Pulikovskiy's only victory so far. His defeats, on the other hand, are countless. Despite all of his efforts, for example, he could not prevent prominent businessman [Vladimir] Nikolayev from becoming the mayor of Vladivostok and he could not curb the outrageous practices of the local fishing mafia. Dmitriy Kozak, the present plenipotentiary representative in the Southern District, certainly falls into the category of the unsuccessful zealots. Taking quick action, Kozak managed to stifle the crisis in Karachay-Cherkessia, but his influence in the district is quite limited. Finances in the North Caucasus are still controlled by other people. The absence of a comprehensive system in the plenipotentiary representative's office gives him no chance of becoming another Poltavchenko.
All seven representatives featured
Supporting the seven plenipotentiary representatives' "courts" with their large retinues, limousines, and palaces cost the state treasury a pretty penny in the last five years. On the other hand, they did not do much damage either. This could even be seen as an accomplishment of sorts by today's standards. After all, so many of the Kremlin's other innovations produced much more distressing results. In his short time in office, Dmitriy Kozak [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Southern Federal District, has already proved to be a skilled "conflict manager". He was the one that restored order in Karachay-Cherkessia, where the president was almost swept away by a wave of public indignation over his homicidal son-in-law. The case of the murders of seven residents of the republic went to court, and a high-ranking relative of the republican president was the defendant. Now Kozak is extinguishing the conflict in the border regions of North Ossetia and Ingushetia. Petr Latyshev [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Urals Federal District, first became famous because of his legal battle with the authorities in Yekaterinburg over a building for the plenipotentiary representative's offices on the city's main street. After that, he was preoccupied with "arms development" for a long time, designing a coat of arms for the federal district - bedecked with bears. The Heraldry Commission did not accept the design, deciding that the federal district was not entitled to a coat of arms. His more concrete actions include his "wrestling match" with [governor Eduard] Rossel for power in the region. The head of Sverdlovsk Region has to be credited with the win in that case, however: He stayed in office, and Latyshev did not get his way. Sergey Kiriyenko [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District, is famous for his "creativity". He was the first to start hiring personnel on the Web. He was the first to test "campaign methods" for the re-election of the right governors and the replacement of the wrong ones. His plans did not always succeed, of course. Kiriyenko was able to remove [Vyacheslav] Kislitsyn, the odious leader of Mari El, from office, for example, but the new leader was not the one he had wanted. The manoeuvre involving the filing of criminal charges against Saratov Region leader Ayatskov and the subsequent withdrawal of the complaint also produced results. Dmitriy Fedorovich is now handling Russian-Belarusian relations instead of Saratov Region. Besides this, Sergey Vladilenovich has proved to be a "master of extraordinary gifts", which he presents to local governors at their inauguration ceremonies. Mordovia leader [Nikolay] Merkushkin, for example, received a bottle of home-brew labelled "For Mordvinia", an instrument measuring the processing level of petroleum products, and a painting of "Barges on the Volga", with the faces of Merkushkin and other governors on the bodies of the barge haulers. The recently reappointed [governor of Samara Region] Konstantin Titov received a bell, a boat and a guitar. As Kiriyenko explained, the bell symbolizes the public official's need to always listen to the voice of the people. Anatoliy Kvashnin [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Siberian Federal District, can take credit for one indisputable accomplishment: The process of regional amalgamation was promoted successfully by the example of Krasnoyarsk Territory, Evenkia and the Taymyr Autonomous Area. As far as his other accomplishments are concerned, everyone would immediately recall what the plenipotentiary representative had to say about purchasing the technology for the production of warm insoles for army boots from Siberian scientists. Konstantin Pulikovskiy [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Far Eastern Federal District, is renowned in public service for his handling of the energy crisis in Maritime Territory. After the most urgent problems had been solved, Pulikovskiy moved on to "geostrategy." In 2001, for example, he rode through Russia with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in an armoured train. After that trip, he concluded that the leader of the North Koreans was the "Asian Peter the Great" and started building a better relationship with Seoul. After more than a year in office, Ilya Klebanov [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Northwest Federal District, has distinguished himself by ... [ellipsis as published] doing nothing distinguished whatsoever. He succeeded in hiding behind St Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko, allowing her to take the blame for all unpopular steps, such as the monetization of benefits and the rate hikes in the housing and municipal services sector. In spite of this, he managed to initiate an audit of the financial records of the St Petersburg administration. People say he can also take credit for the replacement of regional prosecutor's office personnel. Georgiy Poltavchenko [name emboldened in original], the plenipotentiary representative in the Central Federal District, is famous for his reception offices for citizens, which are almost never open. He is also famous for his constant attacks on Moscow mayor [Yuriy] Luzhkov. These have not produced the desired results, however.
Source: Moskovskiy Komsomolets, Moscow BBC Monitoring
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