New governor with new management
The new Arkhangelsk governor, Mr. Ilya Mikhalchuk, is overwhelmed by the beauty, richness and potentials of Arkhangelsk Oblast. However, he is confident that a new and more efficient way of governing needs to be introduced in the region
Mr. Mikhalchuk, who was appointed regional governor by President Putin on 11 April and approved by the regional parliament on 19 April this year, has in the course of his one month in office managed to elaborate both short-term and long-term action plans.
-A lot has to be done. We need to keep and revive businesses, develop forestry processing, impose order in our finances, fight illegal logging and more, the governor says in an interview with newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Ilya Mikhalchuk previously held the post of city mayor in the far eastern city of Yakutsk. He also has experiences from Gazprom.
New administration
He also admits that a reshuffle in the regional administration is inevitable. –I am sure that we will need to make staff changes, he says, adding that a new view on management processes needs to find rooting in the region.
-We have to create a regional government, which works independently, Mr. Mikhalchuk says to Rossiiskaya Gazeta. –So far I can see no system in the work of the regional government, he adds.
Governor Mikhalchuk took over regional powers from Nikolay Kiselyov who strictly had tailored the regional administration to his needs.
Focus on environment
In the newspaper interview, the new governor also calls for ways to strengthen municipal power, as well as to improve environmental work in the region.
-This sphere [environment] will always be in my zone of attention, he highlights, adding that new sewage cleansing facilities for the city of Arkhangelsk will have to be built. He admits that the major discharges of sewage waters into the Severnaya Dvina river is “a crime”.
