Latest news from Kemerovo Tuleyev resignation. Detailed information. The Kremlin denied Tuleyev's resignation as governor

Businessman Sergei Tsivilev was personally received by the president of the country. Is it time for Governor Tuleyev to retire?

According to a correspondent, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with the head of the Kolmar coal mining company Sergei Tsivilev. The head of state questioned his interlocutor for a long time about production successes.

At the end of the meeting, he wished Tsivilev success for the prosperity of his company and the entire Russian coal industry. Many politicians and market participants were surprised, if not dumbfounded.

For the president himself to accept a generally ordinary manager of one of the coal companies - this can already be called nonsense. Or a precedent, if you like. What exactly is this honor for?

Yes, the Kolmar company, which has all its production facilities in the Republic of Yakutia (Sakha), is a fairly large enterprise. Coal reserves at its enterprises are estimated at 1 billion tons, and the company produces 4 million tons of fuel per year.

But this is not the best indicator. There are coal companies that pay out much more. Here some analysts began to make various assumptions. In particular, assumptions that a new future governor appeared before the head of state.

In this regard, for some reason, everyone immediately started talking about the fact that Sergei Tsivilev would replace the governor of the Kemerovo region after the elections, Aman Tuleyev, the guru of domestic politics and the head of the largest coal region in the country (producing more than half of the black fuel in the entire industry).

Strange departure

It must be said that the founder of Kolmar was businessman Anatoly Mitroshin. He was also the main owner of the company for many years. His companion was Sergei Tsivilev.

However, last year Mitroshin unexpectedly sold his stake to Tsivilev and left management of the company. Thus, Sergey Tsivilev became the main holder of the company's assets.

True, it is not the sole holder. Along with him, the company’s shareholders are other very influential people in the country. Thus, 30% of Kolmar Group belongs to Volga Group LLC of Gennady Timchenko and Arostan LLC of UMMC co-owner Andrey Bokarev.

Andrey Bokarev

Perhaps we can assume that they strongly recommended that Mitroshin resign from the founders and give up his share in favor of Tsivilev? With whom, apparently, it is much easier to negotiate.

It can also be assumed that thanks to their patronage, Tsivilev was able to get an appointment with the president. After all, it’s no secret that both Timchenko and Bokarev are part of the Kremlin corridors of power (Timchenko is generally considered a friend of Putin).

This version is quite real.

Do you need your own governor?

And the interest of both Bokarev and Timchenko in Kuzbass is probably undeniable. Especially Andrei Ravovich. As you know, he is one of the co-owners of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC).

She, in turn, owns the world's largest coal company, Kuzbassrazrezugol (KRU). It is also known that Bokarev is responsible for coal assets at UMMC. For a long time he was even listed as the CEO, and now he is one of the most influential members of its Board of Directors.

Sergey Tsivilev

The history of the takeover of UMMC KRU is quite dark, if not murky. It was rumored that more than 10 years ago, the management of the Ural company even carried out a raider takeover. And Bokarev, who then headed the KRU, allegedly had a major hand in this. Of course, no one held a candle, but rumors about this were persistent.

If we compare everything that is happening, then could there be a redistribution of the coal market in Kuzbass in the near future? And this may well happen. After all, Tsivilev, as is already clear, is part of a group of associates consisting of Timchenko and Bokarev.

And having your own governor for your far-reaching plans is very comfortable. After all, for now the Siberian Business Union (SDS) holding of Mikhail Fedyaev dominates the Kuzbass coal market. Who, which is no secret to anyone in Kuzbass, is very close to the current governor Aman Tuleyev.

And under Tsivilev it will be possible to turn back whatever he wants. If anything happens, his governor will back up in time, and if necessary, he will put pressure on those he doesn’t want. So Timchenko and Bokarev could have intervened.

They made a fuss, if it really is, it’s not bad. A personal meeting with the head of state is a good bonus for the Kolmar owners. Moreover, rumors about Tuleyev’s early resignation have been circulating for a long time.

It is not yet possible to clearly predict what the federal center will do in the near future. In elections at all levels, the Kemerovo region consistently provides a high percentage of votes for candidates on single-mandate circles or United Russia party lists. On a national scale, Tuleyev’s political authority is very high, and he probably has personal agreements with the presidential administration. Therefore, the scenario cannot be ruled out that Moscow will wait until the last minute with possible successors, so as not to violate the current unspoken agreement with Tuleyev. This development of events is also supported by the lack of reaction from the federal center to the arrests of high-ranking regional officials directly or indirectly connected with the Kemerovo region.

Aman Tuleyev recovered 400 thousand rubles from the opposition newspaper as compensation for moral damage. The judge, who so highly appreciated the moral suffering of the governor, received the medal “For Faith and Goodness” the next day. The existence of the only opposition newspaper in Kuzbass was under threat.
The Christmas holidays ended sadly for Evgeniy Bogdanov, editor of the Kemerovo newspaper Krai.

Tuleyev already that he can officially resign on July 1, resignation - on July 1, Tuleyev was taken to the city and resigned) - the main news on Wednesday, Aman Tuleyev announced this on the 28th. Tuleyev's resignation in the year last news Kemerovo news Tuleyev resignation gives in the windows store July 29 CPC news Governor of the Kemerovo region Aman Tuleyev submitted his resignation. Such a 73-year-old Aman Tuleyev, Tuleyev - the latest news today. July 24,. UFO video for 2017 latest news video According to a source close to the Kremlin, in the near future in many Russian regions.

“The system has so ceased to resemble a truly democratic one that with administrative support, any person can become governor. People are used to going and voting as they say,” summed up sociologist Belchik.

The governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, called the accusations against his deputies Alexander Danilchenko and Alexey Ivanov, as well as the head of the department of administrative bodies of the regional administration Elena Troitskaya, absurd. Tuleyev is convinced that his subordinates were framed, and that he himself is the target of the attack. Tuleyev said that they all remain in their positions. He considers the assumption of law enforcement officers about an attempt to squeeze out the Inskaya cut in favor of businessman Alexander Shchukin as absurd. Detained Danilchenko and Ivanova Kemerovo the governor named

“I asked questions, received answers. The governor’s condition is medically satisfactory,” the mayor noted, emphasizing that he was trying not to disturb Tuleyev again. In the city, according to Seredyuk, the situation is also calm, residents are not worried and do not believe rumors, as they are accustomed to trusting official information.”

None of the experts interviewed doubt that changes will come to the Kemerovo region along with a possible new governor. Irkutsk political scientist Alexey Petrov believes that under the new leader, Kuzbass “has a chance to become a more democratic region and engage in party building.” “Judging by information openness, media development and civil initiatives, Tuleyev is still stuck somewhere in the last century,” Petrov believes.

Moreover, information appeared in the media on June 13 that Tuleyev had died, but the press service of the administration of the Kemerovo region denied this information.

01/29/2018 Why does Kuzbass need the administration of the Kemerovo region?
A new decree of the governor “On approval of the plan of measures for environmental protection of the Kemerovo region for 2018” has been published on the website of the administration of the Kemerovo region. The order is 1 page long, but the appendix is a whole book. But the funny thing is that the action plan spells out the obligations of coal companies and industrial enterprises, spells out what they were legally supposed to do at their own expense, in the overwhelming majority. The administration itself, from this Talmud, entrusted the following with the identification of unauthorized landfills, holding several mass actions, an eco-quest, publishing a newspaper (which is already published) and several competitions. Number of comments per item: 6

The governor of the Kemeovo region, Aman Tuleyev, is a reasonable man. He understands perfectly well when he can allow himself to be a frontier, and when he needs to show loyalty. True, Tuleyev sometimes gets carried away; this happens, as a rule, in those dramatic moments when the interests of financial and industrial structures friendly to the governor resonate with the wishes of the Kremlin.
So far the matter does not concern energy tariffs, cargo transportation

Latest news in Kemerovo today. News for this hour.

01/28/2018 "Repair plastic windows and install heated floors"
There is a good Russian proverb that says: Spring will show who, where... and further in the text. And in Kuzbass this proverb can be changed with confidence this year - winter will show who, where and what they did last summer. Due to the onset of frost, there are a lot of signals about cold weather in apartments, and accidents occur here and there. In Belogorsk there was a boiler house collapse, and the Kedrovsky water pipeline in Kemerovo froze. So a complaint arrived from the village of Malinovka, near Kaltan. In a 5-story building on 60 Let Oktyabrya Street, the temperature in the apartments dropped to 16-14 degrees, and in some houses even to 11, residents say. Commissions came, measured the temperature, they said everything was normal, and this morning it was even more fun, the hot water froze and the lights went out. Number of comments per item: 4

Unlike the Kemerovo region, Tuleyev’s departure from the scene on the scale of the Siberian Federal District will not be so significant. For example, for Krasnoyarsk, Tuleyev’s resignation will not do anything for the local political situation. “Our regions do not have any special intersections,” noted political expert from Krasnoyarsk Alexander Chernyavsky. – Just a few years ago, Aman Tuleyev was a symbolic figure in the speeches of the Krasnoyarsk opposition, which cited the Kuzbass governor as an example to local bosses. They liked the social protection of workers, the “firm hand” policy, and the protection of the interests of Kuzbass at the federal level. Lately this adoration has died down.”

But, most importantly, from the first days of his governorship, Aman Tuleyev began to build a model in Kuzbass like this called"Kemerovo socialism". The economy of the region today is somewhat reminiscent of the late USSR.

2012-2013 New Kuzbass is an information site of the Kemerovo region. Read on our website: news from Kuzbass, news from Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk. Every day we describe what is happening in the region and cities. The editors do not entirely share the opinions of the authors in the Opinions and Blogs sections.
Copyright is protected by law. When reprinting materials, a link to the source of the news is required.

The methane explosion at Taizhina occurred at 6.50, at the end of the night shift. April 10, Saturday, the Resurrection of Christ. At a depth of five hundred meters, miners carried out repair work. There were 53 people underground.

The 73-year-old governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, will most likely be dismissed after the 2018 presidential elections. According to the expected scenario, he will retire with honor. In the near future, the heavyweight's resignation may occur only in the event of a sharp deterioration in health.

The governor of the Kemerovo region has not been seen in public since April. On May 22, he officially went on a ten-day vacation, which was extended until June 16, then extended again - for an indefinite period, and on June 20, the FlashSiberia agency, citing a source close to the head of the region, reported that Tuleyev turned to Putin with a request for an early leave. termination of powers.

The vacation of the governor of Kuzbass, which was announced on May 22, continues. There is no information yet that Aman Tuleyev, who promised to return on June 1, has reappeared at work. People are saying that the head of the region has already been hospitalized and is in “serious, stable condition” in Germany. The echelons of power are seriously discussing options for candidates who could lead Kuzbass in the event of Tuleyev’s resignation due to incapacity. More often than others in this regard, the name of the mayor of Nizhny Tagil Sergei Nosov, who once headed the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant and has now become an ambitious politician, is heard. Details are in the FederalPress article.

Rumors about Governor Aman Tuleyev’s health problems have been circulating for a long time, but the active phase began in the spring. At the beginning of March, there were messages on the Open City portal about Tuleyev’s possible hospitalization in a cardiology center or a regional clinical hospital. There was no official confirmation of this information. Alexey Dorongov, acting head of the main media department, denied both the “hospitalization” and the “operation.”

The governor of the Kemerovo region returned to work in mid-March, but was not active in public, mainly appearing in the stories of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Kuzbass" at the head of the table at meetings. The second wave of information about the impending deterioration of the governor arose in mid-May. They said that Tuleyev went on a charter to Germany for treatment and supposedly recovery after surgery. Then, on May 23, the latest official information appeared in the Kuzbass media concerning Governor Aman Tuleyev. It said that Tuleyev took leave until June 1, and his duties were “acting.” handed over to the first vice-governor Vladimir Chernov.

However, neither on June 1, nor in the following days, the governor of the Kemerovo region did not go to work. He was simply not mentioned in the official press releases for June. On June 5, FederalPress obtained unofficial information. A source close to the highest circles of the administration of the Kemerovo region spoke about the deterioration of the governor’s health, as well as his “severe stable condition.” This “rumor” was subsequently once again denied by the main media relations department. By the time this text was published, Dorongov’s department had not been able to promptly respond to a request from a FederalPress correspondent about Aman Tuleyev’s future work plans.

The circle closes

Meanwhile, there are three weeks left until a kind of anniversary. July 1, 1997, by decree of the then President of Russia Boris Yeltsin Aman Tuleyev was appointed governor of the Kemerovo region instead of Mikhail Kislyuk, who, according to the official wording, “was removed from office by the head of state due to a transfer to another job.” That castling was a necessary measure. The region was teetering on the brink of crisis, the budget had a huge deficit, and salaries had not been paid for months. Kislyuk himself, many years later, in an interview with journalists, called his resignation part of the deal between the presidential administration and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. “For a certain loyalty, the communists, and Tuleyev was then the second person in the Communist Party, asked the Kemerovo region,” Kislyuk said in 2014. “The region was given to them, and I was given to Moscow.” That's it, change. This is politics."

It is curious, but in the event of Tuleyev’s possible resignation due to incapacity, the Kemerovo region will also fall to the next governor with a difficult inheritance. “Kuzbass is a promising region with proper and competent management, but at the moment it is a “big black hole” in which they mainly dig coal, and money, in most cases, goes offshore,” says a Kuzbass social activist, a member of the regional headquarters of the “All-Russian Popular Front” in the Kemerovo region Maxim Uchvatov. – The number of residents has decreased by several hundred thousand people over 20 years and continues to fall. Despite the adopted deficit-free budget, we see how the public debt of the Kemerovo region is growing at a record level and is one of the highest in the country. As an additional burden, the new head of the region will receive a bloated management apparatus that needs to be optimized. The region needs to be brought out of crisis and decline, and this is a very big and serious job that will take more than one year.”

The raw materials issue, tied to coal exports and the dependence of the regional budget on world energy prices, will be the main challenge for Tuleyev’s successor. “The price situation is not the best right now. Considering that Kuzbass is heavily dependent on coal, the new governor will have to, first of all, build contacts with coal miners, a political scientist from Novokuznetsk told FederalPress. Andrey Polukhin. “I am sure that Moscow will give carte blanche for any changes, including for the candidate to bring his own team.”

The Last of the Mohicans

None of the experts interviewed doubt that changes will come to the Kemerovo region along with a possible new governor. Irkutsk political scientist Alexey Petrov believes that under the new leader, Kuzbass “has a chance to become a more democratic region and engage in party building.” “Judging by information openness, media development and civil initiatives, Tuleyev is still stuck somewhere in the last century,” says Petrov.

An expert from the Moscow Center for Political Analysis is confident that the system built by Tuleyev will be destroyed. Andrey Tikhonov, who noted that “the inheritance will resonate with the successor for a long time.” “In any case, Tuleyev’s departure now is not as incredible as it was several years ago,” Tikhonov noted in an interview with FederalPress. – Recently, the role of the governor’s corps has decreased significantly, so veterans like Tuleyev look somewhat archaic. His departure remains only a matter of time, and health problems can play a decisive role in this process. In my opinion, health is not the most common reason for the resignation of governors. Increasingly, they leave their posts in handcuffs. But Tuleyev’s case is unique and his honorable retirement is quite expected.”

Unlike the Kemerovo region, Tuleyev’s departure from the scene on the scale of the Siberian Federal District will not be so significant. For example, for Krasnoyarsk, Tuleyev’s resignation will not do anything for the local political situation. “Our regions do not have any special intersections,” noted a political expert from Krasnoyarsk Alexander Chernyavsky. – Just a few years ago, Aman Tuleyev was a symbolic figure in the speeches of the Krasnoyarsk opposition, which cited the Kuzbass governor as an example to local bosses. They liked the social protection of workers, the “firm hand” policy, and the protection of the interests of Kuzbass at the federal level. Lately this adoration has died down.”

Heir to the "red directors"

It is logical that in connection with the possible resignation of Aman Tuleyev, the question of a successor becomes important. Recently, there have been many possible successors to Aman Tuleyev as governor. “A person from the security forces would be quite suitable for Kuzbass,” says Andrei Tikhonov. “And in order to maintain at least some stability, we will have to, according to the “latest fashion,” attract the Varangians.”

Various sources named the Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia party Sergei Neverov, and the current governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Viktor Tolokonsky, and even Russian businessman Sergei Matvienko. But the name most often mentioned is Sergei Nosov, the current mayor of Nizhny Tagil.

Thus, the head of the Ural branch of the Civil Society Development Fund Anatoly Gagarin believes that the appointment of Nosov as “acting” governor of the Kemerovo region,” is more than a rumor. “He is a popular, charismatic and confident politician,” Gagarin is sure. – Over the years of his mayorship, he managed to build good relationships with all the players in the political arena of the Sverdlovsk region. Even his detractors recognize Nosov's political weight. He is included in the presidential administration and has a certain influence there.”

Moreover, Sergei Nosov is suitable for Kuzbass with his ability to work with the electorate. “People love him for his directness, impulsiveness, and ambition,” noted the head of the Ural branch of the Civil Society Development Foundation. – He spent too much time as a mayor. In addition, he worked for so many years in the EVRAZ structure and even managed to celebrate a year of leadership at the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant. Even in his spirit, he is the man the working-class region needs. The appointment of a real heir to the era of “red directors” will be within the logic of the actions of the presidential administration, which increasingly relies on the young and energetic.”

However, Nosov also has a certain drawback - the lack of his own team, which he could invite to work in Kuzbass. “This is his big disadvantage: Nosov still has an authoritarian management style, which makes him similar to Tuleyev, but at the same time can negatively affect the leadership. He simply doesn’t have people on par with him, only banal deputies,” clarifies Anatoly Gagarin.

Silence is not golden

In the Kemerovo region itself, during the years of Tuleyev’s governorship, the institution of successors did not develop. In this category, probably, only two names can be named. But if Valentin Mazikin, the former first vice-governor has long been retired, then Dmitry Islamov, the current deputy of the State Duma of the Kemerovo region, has been in good standing with Tuleyev’s team for a long time. In particular, Islamov, being the vice-governor for economics and regional development, was involved in the development of the theme of single-industry towns, the creation of territories of advanced socio-economic development, and with his direct participation a socio-economic strategy for the development of the region until 2025 was developed. But not all experts assess Dmitry Islamov’s authority positively. “It seems to me that no one will accept him as a successor,” believes Maxim Uchvatov. “This is a man from Tuleyev’s team, and the whole region is tired of his team, people are sick, business is running with great strides, income tax has fallen to a record level over the five-year period.”

There are other explanations for Moscow’s silence regarding Governor Tuleyev’s absence from his post. “Unofficial information has emerged that the presidential administration is conducting testing and interviews with possible candidates,” says Andrei Polukhin. “But they haven’t yet come to a common decision on who can replace Tuleyev.”

However, Aman Gumirovich is not yet at work. “If there are no health problems, then the governor of Kuzbass could debunk the rumors by appearing in public,” believes the director of the consulting agency NPR Group Dmitry Fetisov. “Without refuting the false rumors, Tuleyev will not emerge from this story as befits a governor, and his future fate will have to be decided promptly.”

2nd of March. website - The appointment of the head of the coal mining company Sergei Tsivilev as vice-governor of the Kemerovo region means the preparation of a replacement for the current head of the region Aman Tuleyev, says political strategist Gleb Pavlovsky.

“The replacement of Aman Tuleyev seems inevitable to everyone, not so much for political reasons, but for age reasons. In such a situation, the entire regional establishment, political groups, as well as the administration and business elite, are beginning to prepare for the “post-Tuleev era.” And Tuleyev himself understands this,” - G. Pavlovsky stated to Interfax on Friday.

The upcoming resignation of A. Tuleyev will entail a kind of “transition period” in which S. Tsivilev seems to be the optimal candidate for leading the region, the expert believes.

“Most likely, we are talking about a successor, the leader of the region in a time of transition. Tuleyev has formed such a “personal” system in the region that it is simply impossible to replace it immediately. There will be an era of “transit” in which Tsivilev has the greatest chance of leading the region,” - said the agency's interlocutor.

“I believe that Tsivilev’s appointment is subject to precisely this logic because it would be strange if the political and administrative process in such an important region was left to its own devices. Even in smaller regions, the depressed center has a certain circle of candidates for replacement. Sometimes they occupy positions of vice “There are sometimes no governors, but in Kemerovo, I believe, this issue is completely ripe. And I think that Tuleyev himself will soon stop resisting the idea of his departure,” said G. Pavlovsky.

The general director of the Yakut coal mining company Kolmar, S. Tsivilev, has been appointed to the post of deputy governor of the Kemerovo region for industry, transport and entrepreneurship, which has remained vacant since March last year, sources in the regional administration and business circles told the Interfax-Siberia agency.

“S. Tsivilev has been appointed to the position of A. Tuleyev’s deputy for industry, transport and entrepreneurship. He will be officially presented next week,” said one of the agency’s interlocutors.

At the same time, sources suggest that soon after the presidential elections “he will be appointed acting governor.”

According to the budget of the Kemerovo region for the next three years adopted this year, funds for the gubernatorial elections are allocated for 2018, and not for 2020, when A. Tuleyev’s powers expire.

The Kolmar company refused to comment on the possible appointment.

The press service of the administration of the Kemerovo region told the agency that “information about appointments, if they take place, will be on Monday.”

Earlier in the media it was reported that at the end of February S. Tsivilev met with President Vladimir Putin, to whom he told about the work of the company. At the same time, V. Putin called the development of social programs of the coal mining company effective.

S. Tsivilev owns 70% of the Kolmar group (he recently increased his share from 40% by purchasing 30% from Andrey Bokarev), 30% from Gennady Timchenko's Volga Group.

The Kolmar group of companies is a Russian holding that unites coal mining enterprises, trading and logistics companies, forming a single cycle of production, enrichment and shipment of high-quality coking and thermal coal mined in the fields of the Neryungri region of Yakutia. Kolmar is building two mining and processing plants (Denisovsky and Inaglinsky), as well as a marine coal terminal in the port of Vanino. Investments in the Inaglinsky GOK are estimated at 62.5 billion rubles, in the terminal - 33 billion rubles.

https://www.site/2017-06-21/posle_tuleeva_kemerovskaya_oblast_mozhet_stat_odnim_iz_samyh_problemnyh_regionov

Popular autocrat

After Tuleev, the Kemerovo region may become one of the most problematic regions

In the coming days, Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev may resign of his own free will due to health reasons. This is what the publication's interlocutors close to the presidential administration say. One of them clarifies that the health of the veteran governor (Tuleev has headed the region since 1997 and is one of the last governors of Yeltsin’s conscription who are still in office) worsened three months ago, but before that leaks were avoided.

Another interlocutor clarifies that the last time he saw Tuleyev was at the annual presidential address to the Federal Assembly and the governor moved with the help of a person specially assigned to him. The interlocutors do not yet risk predicting who can replace Tuleyev in his post, where he has spent the last 20 years. One way or another, it is obvious that the candidacy of a successor will be agreed upon with the outgoing heavyweight.

The experts interviewed note that it is quite difficult to judge the situation in the Kemerovo region: the information field of the region is tightly controlled. A few exotic stories reach the center. For example, several years ago Tuleyev established Bigfoot Day and promised a prize of one million rubles for the capture of the Yeti. “The money will be provided by the owners of the mining enterprises,” Tuleyev says in a video posted on YouTube, adding that he has already agreed with local shamans for help.

As an anti-crisis initiative, Tuleyev introduced a special program to provide large needy families with two female rabbits and one female rabbit free of charge. To receive rabbits, a family must write an application addressed to the governor. The program has been extended to 2017; previously, thousands of needy families received rabbits and there are already offspring, writes Baikal news agency.

In 2011, the author of the text had at his disposal closed sociological surveys of the FOM on the ratings of governors, intended for the presidential administration. According to this survey, the ratings of many governors did not even reach 15%, but Tuleyev became the leader of that closed rating: according to the FOM, in the fall of 2011 he was supported by 78% of the population (the survey was not conducted in Chechnya). The author of the current text then published a note about this. The next day, Aman Tuleyev’s press service issued a press release: “According to closed polls by the FOM, Aman Tuleyev is the most popular Russian governor.”

In the latest “Governor Efficiency Rating”, which is periodically released by the Civil Society Development Foundation under the leadership of Konstantin Kostin, Tuleyev was placed in 5th-6th place - after Vladimir Yakushev (Tyumen region), Dmitry Kobylkin (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), Anatoly Artamonov (Kaluga region), Rustem Minnikhanov (Tatarstan) and Ramzan Kadyrov (Chechnya).

“Tuleev’s special feature is his ultra-high recognition. He is probably one of the five to ten most recognizable governors in the country for the average person. He acts as the patriarch of politics, having absorbed the respondents’ idea of the optimal combination of the advantages of Soviet power and adaptation to market realities. To what extent this correlates with reality is difficult for the average person to understand, since the media has been “built up” under Tuleyev,” says Mikhail Vinogradov, head of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation.

the site looked into the reasons for Tuleyev’s political longevity and his possible political legacy - if the resignation of the 73-year-old governor does take place.

Yeltsin's rival, Putin's partner

Tuleyev's political career began in 1990, when he was elected as a people's deputy of the RSFSR, becoming chairman of the Kemerovo Regional Council of People's Deputies. In August 1991, Tuleyev promised State Emergency Committee participant Gennady Yanaev to sign every word of the State Emergency Committee’s appeal, and in 1994 he became not only the head of the Kemerovo Legislative Assembly, but also a member of the Federation Council. On July 1, 1997, President Boris Yeltsin appointed Tuleyev governor of the Kemerovo region. In September of the same year, Tuleyev won the gubernatorial elections with a result of 94.5%. In 2001, he was re-elected early and won with 93.5% of the vote. After that, in the 2000s, Tuleyev was reappointed to this post twice, and in 2015 he again took part in the gubernatorial elections and gained 96.6%.

B. Korobeinikov / RIA Novosti

Tuleyev ran for the presidency of Russia three times. In 1991, he received 6.81% of the vote (fourth place out of six); in the 1996 presidential elections, he withdrew his candidacy in favor of Gennady Zyuganov on the eve of the first round of voting. In the 2000 elections, Tuleyev received 2.95% of the vote, with almost all the votes cast in the Kemerovo region, where he overtook Vladimir Putin and took first place.

Tuleyev was an atypical Yeltsin appointee - a folk hero of Kuzbass, the leader of the local opposition, and twice Yeltsin’s competitor in the presidential elections, recalls political scientist Vitaly Ivanov.

“It was strange that Tuleyev agreed to become an appointed governor, since he could have simply gone to the polls and won them, but he chose to come to the region, having been appointed by Yeltsin’s decree. The secret of his longevity is that until recently he had good health, and at the same time, in the late nineties and early 2000s, he provided the state with serious political services by taming Kuzbass. He behaved constructively and during the 2000 presidential campaign, he established constructive relations with the oligarchs in the region - in fact, the only one who suffered was Zhivilo. He showed managerial talent, becoming a friend both to the people and to big business. He spoke harshly to the oligarchs, but also gave them a lot. With his departure, the “golden age” of Kuzbass will end. In recent years, the economic situation has not been the most favorable for him, but is Tuleyev to blame for this?” - argues Ivanov, characterizing him as “a very successful politician, one of the best governors in the last twenty years.”

Yuri Abramochkin / RIA Novosti

In the 1995 elections, Tuleyev, who collaborated with the communists throughout the 90s, was one of the top three of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Then in the region the Communist Party gained more than 60% of the votes. In 1999, Tuleyev was again included in the election list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, but in the regional elections he supported the Unity bloc. He joined United Russia in 2005.

Tuleyev later even sued Zyuganov. In 2008, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation lost to Tuleyev in court and had to pay compensation of 450 thousand rubles for the fact that shortly before that, on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, he said that “Tuleev staged a plow in the Kemerovo region.” In 2011, Tuleev again sued the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, now with the regional branch for the article “Tuleev is sheltering pedophiles” posted on the party website. The first secretary of the Kemerovo regional committee, ex-State Duma deputy Nina Ostanina is constantly suing the governor and losing in court. Now there are only three factions in the Kemerovo Regional Legislative Assembly: United Russia (40 people), LDPR (1 person) and SR (1 person). There are no communists there.

In 2016, in the Kemerovo region, during the State Duma elections, the regional election commission announced that the turnout was 86.8% and United Russia won with a result of 77.33%, and the other parties did not receive even 10% of the votes. The regional group of United Russia, which included the region, was headed by Tuleyev.

Vladimir Rodionov / RIA Novosti

The former head of the territorial department of the internal policy department of the presidential administration, political consultant Andrei Kolyadin told the site that he watched Tuleyev from afar when he himself worked on Vladimir Putin’s election campaign in 2000.

“Tuleev gave the impression of a rational, negotiable person. The Department of Internal Policy has always treated him, and still treats him, with great respect,” Kolyadin told the website.

More authoritarian than the Kremlin

All experts describe Tuleyev’s political style as extremely authoritarian. Tuleyev is, on the one hand, relying on enhanced provision of social assistance to pensioners and low-income people, who form the core of his electoral base. At the same time, he has excellent relations with regional and federal financial and industrial groups, for whom he, being in words a left-wing populist, creates all the conditions for the realization of business interests.

Experts note several interesting features. Firstly, Tuleyev uses the top management of financial and industrial groups represented in the region to write government programs, says one of the publication’s interlocutors, close to the presidential administration. “In effect, the governor created for himself a system of free intellectual crowdsourcing,” he says.

As an anti-crisis measure, enterprises present in the region pay taxes in advance, that is, in 2017 - already for 2018, says the publication’s interlocutor. This allows us to solve operational problems, but in the future this pyramid will inevitably lead to a budget crisis, the source adds.

One of the businessmen close to Tuleyev is Roman Abramovich, who owns a third of the Evraz holding, which, in turn, has numerous business interests in the Kemerovo metallurgical industry (Evrazruda, EvrazEk companies, Raspadskaya coal mine, Metallenergofinance and many others).

Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti

Another holding close to Tuleyev is the Siberian Business Union with numerous assets in the field of ferrous metallurgy. One of the company’s co-owners, Vladimir Gridin, was a deputy from United Russia of the fifth and sixth convocations.

Current State Duma deputy Otari Arshba is closely associated with Tuleyev - until 2003 he was vice-president of Evrazholding, in 2002 he worked on Tuleyev’s election campaign, and from 2003 to 2008 he was chairman of the social council of Evraz S.A. One of the publication’s interlocutors among political strategists says that it was Arshba who largely controlled the information flows in the region and played his role extremely successfully: there is almost no negative information about Tuleyev in the region.

“In the 90s, Kuzbass was one of the most active regions of Russia; chaos there was higher than the national average, so the need for order appeared there earlier,” recalls political scientist Oleg Matveychev. — Tuleyev realized this need in a more rigid and eastern form than Vladimir Putin in the country as a whole. Tuleyev squeezed the opposition and built an authoritarian, impenetrable system. At the same time, he provides all possible social assistance to pensioners; they enjoy free travel in the region and all kinds of social benefits. All regional financial and industrial groups play by Tuleyev’s rules, those who disagree are squeezed out of the region. The social programs that financial and industrial groups implement in the region are branded by Tuleev, and not by their brands, as is usually the case: everywhere there are posters “Tuleev built”, “Tuleev restored”. This is done with the money of financial industrial groups, but is given credit to the governor. At the same time, the main industrial city of the region is Novokuznetsk, but money is taken from there and invested in Kemerovo. Tuleyev actually made Kemerovo from scratch a regional capital of the Soviet type, which is why Novokuznetsk does not like him: There are universities, hospitals in Kemerovo, people are forced to go there,” notes political scientist Matveychev.

Political strategist Dmitry Gusev calls Tuleyev a “hero of the early 90s,” when he was super popular among the working class and was considered, along with General Alexander Lebed, one of Boris Yeltsin’s possible competitors. “Yeltsin sent him to Kuzbass, and Tuleyev managed to cope with the region. Being a powerful man, he built the entire system for himself, destroyed the opposition, and organized the privatization of many enterprises. One of the businessmen close to him was Roman Abramovich. Tuleyev’s management scheme is structured like this: he blackmails the oligarchs with the fact that the people are behind him, he is really popular, so he demands that they invest in the region and in social programs. In public, he behaves like a populist, but in reality he stands guard over the interests of the oligarchs. Maintaining this balance is what gives him the opportunity to remain in power all these years,” Gusev believes.

Among Tuleyev’s major conflicts with business, experts recall the story of businessman Mikhail Zhivilo, founder of the Metallurgical Investment Company. In the 2000s, Zhivilo had problems with the Siberian Business Union around the Chernigovets coal mine. Soon, Olympic champion Alexander Tikhonov was arrested and accused of preparing an assassination attempt on the governor. Zhivilo left for France, fearing arrest. Russia demanded his extradition, but the French side refused. In 2005, Zhivilo received political refugee status.

As for political conflicts, one of Tuleyev’s main current opponents is the head of the local Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Nina Ostanina. In addition, Tuleyev had a glaring conflict with the former mayor of Novokuznetsk Dmitry Martin, who headed the city from 1997 to 2010. In September 2009, on the initiative of Tuleyev, an inspection was organized of the Novokuznetsk Management Company, co-owned by the son of the city mayor, Maxim Martin. The audit revealed significant violations, a fact later confirmed by the Prosecutor General's Office. In mid-December 2010, a criminal case was opened against Sergei Martin for “abuse of official powers, resulting in grave consequences.” In 2015, Martin was sentenced to 4 years in prison, but was granted amnesty for the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Sergey Subbotin / RIA Novosti

In 2013, a corps of observers “For Clean Elections,” led by politician Boris Nadezhdin, came to the elections for the head of the city of Kemerovo. Observers spent election night at the police station. As Nadezhdin himself recalled, they were detained based on a police tip when they were driving to one of the polling stations to deal with the alleged stuffing of ballots, but the car was stopped because the police said that it matched the lead in the beating case. In the morning, the observers were released and went to the airport. The Dozhd TV channel quoted a statement from a Kemerovo police colonel, who said that the observers came to Kemerovo to establish their own rules and teach Kemerovo residents how to live.

Tuleyev’s entire life was spent in plain sight. Like all leaders of the labor movement, Tuleyev was close to the communists for some time, but then he quarreled with Zyuganov and won a lawsuit against him, says Konstantin Kostin, the former head of the internal policy department of the presidential administration, head of the Civil Society Development Fund.

“Tuleev managed to create a fairly effective economic model, but it has largely exhausted itself and began to fail. He managed to solve many social issues; of all the heavyweight governors, he probably has the highest rating. In past years, if a visitor got into a taxi and said something bad about Tuleyev, in the best case they could throw him out, in the worst case it could lead to a fight. Tuleyev was one of the first governors to develop a system of compensation for victims of emergency situations, since the region is difficult in this regard - accidents occur in mines. Tuleyev worked on this issue 10 years ago and developed a compensation system. He built a model of social responsibility for business, modernized mines, and used the economic potential of the region to improve the social situation,” says Kostin.

Failed resignation

In recent years, rumors about Tuleyev’s resignation began to circulate several times on the political sidelines. According to one version, the then first deputy head of the administration, Vyacheslav Volodin, advocated for replacing the Kemerovo governor. Once (in the spring of 2015) there was even a leak from the Kremlin that the decision on resignation would be made in the coming days, but contrary to all expectations, this event did not happen. The Tuleyev administration did not escape the attention of the security forces as part of the anti-corruption campaign. In November 2016, Vice Governor Alexander Danilchenko was detained and accused of extorting shares in the Razrez Inskoy mine. At the same time, the head of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Kemerovo Region, Sergei Kalinkin, and another vice-governor, Alexey Ivanov, were arrested. Tuleyev stood up for his subordinates, publicly calling them “decent people.” It is noteworthy that the defendants were given house arrest as a preventive measure, rather than the usual detention for such cases.

A cleared political field, accumulated economic problems. The Kemerovo region will not be a gift for Tuleyev’s successor, experts agree.

The head of the Political Expert Group, Konstantin Kalachev, recalls that the miners were the main instigators of the events of 1991; Kuzbass was then almost the most restless and dangerous region, which was able to ultimately calm the Tuleyevs.

Dmitry Astakhov / RIA Novosti

“Tuleev’s authority in the Kemerovo region in the 90s was almost limitless. It was not for nothing that in 2000, when he ran for president, he took first place there. “I think Vladimir Putin considers Tuleyev a person inscribed in the history of Russia, and the best that remains of the governor’s corps of the 90s,” says Kalachev. “Tuleev’s political longevity is ensured not only by the services he provided to the federal center, but also by Putin’s personal assessment of the scale of his personality. I think Putin considers him “the last of the Mohicans.” Tuleyev himself will determine the time of his resignation. This is the case when being in power prolongs life. I think Tuleyev may resign either due to a very serious illness, when he physically cannot work anymore, or if he dies at work,” says Kalachev, adding that it will be extremely difficult for the successor of the Kemerovo heavyweight: the system is built for him personally, the region is complex, and no one, including big business, really wants the “Tuleevism” to continue.

“Coal enterprises have already transferred taxes for the next year to the regional budget, so after the presidential elections, Kuzbass will face a serious economic crisis, because the money will already be spent,” reads a source from a website close to the presidential administration.

The head of regional programs of the Information Policy Development Fund, Alexander Kynev, calls the political regime in Kuzbass “rather authoritarian.”

“The territory shows an extremely high percentage of turnout and voting for power in elections. In the 90s, obviously, Aman Tuleyev was highly popular, but in recent years, analysts have expressed great skepticism about the Kuzbass electoral procedures. The region is put on a par with the North Caucasus in terms of electoral anomalies,” says Kynev. — For example, in a region with a large share of workers, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation does not overcome even the 5% barrier and does not even take second or third place in the elections. In the region, the authorities are so authoritarian that it is impossible to even assess the realities. There is almost no significant opposition, and extremely difficult conditions have been created for NGOs and independent media. There is an assumption that real support for the governor has decreased, and the replacement of Tuleyev looks inevitable, if not now, then in the foreseeable future. In my opinion, subsequently maintaining strict control over the region will be extremely difficult, and the Kemerovo region will become one of the most problematic regions of the country. There is such a thing as post-authoritarian syndrome, when after the departure of an authoritarian leader the situation becomes unstable and chaotic. I think that soon the situation when Kuzbass was a silent stronghold of the current government will remain a thing of the past,” says Kynev.