Arkhangelsk approved its new governor
The Arkhangelsk regional parliament today approved Ilya Mikhalchuk as the regions new governor. At the same time, a regional analyst fears that the appointment of Mr. Mikhailchuk might trigger serious conflicts within the regional power establishment.
The candidacy of Mr. Mikhalchuk was supported by 55 of the 59 parliament deputies. Ilya Mikhalchuk takes over the governors chair from Nikolay Kiselyov, who did not get the Russian presidents confidence for a second governors term. The regional parliaments approval of Ilya Mikhalchuk comes only about a week after the Russian presidential administration appointed his candidacy for governor. Head of the Pomor Centre for Social-Political Studies, Mr. Vadim Treskin, says to Rosbaltnord.ru that the quick coming to power of Mr. Mikhalchuk might indicate that some [power] group has been in a hurry to appoint its man in the region. He now fears that the new governor might jeopardize stability in the region and that disputes between regional power groups might surface. Ilya Mikhalchuk, the former city mayor of Yakutsk, was completely unknown to the people of Arkhangelsk when appointed by President Putin on 10 March. That might itself not be a drawback. Also Nikolay Kiselyov was relatively unknown when he in a sensation election defeated sitting governor Yefremov in the 2004 governors elections.
