Murmansk, Arkhangelsk governors with medium rating
Both Governor Yuri Yevdokimov of Murmansk and Ilya Mikhalchuk of Arkhangelsk are rated among the 30 regional leaders who could be in risk of losing their jobs in a new study from two political science institutes.
Both governors get four out of five points in the study from the Sankt Petersburg-based International Institute of Political Expertise and the Petersburg Politics Fund. That places them among the 30 governors with medium rating and with reduced chances for reappointment, newspaper Kommersant reports.
However, as noted by the researchers, none of the governors with four point are in immanent danger of being fired.
The rating of Mr. Yevdokimov and Mikhalchuk is better than for the leaders of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Republic of Karelia, who both are among the ten leaders with the worst results.
While Yuri Yevdokimov has been Murmansk Governor since 1996, Ilya Mikhalchuk was appointed Arkhangelsk Governor only in April this year. Mr Yevdokimov last year got the Kremlin’s blessing for another four-year period. Like the big majority of the Russian governors, both Mikhalchuk and Yevdokimov are members of the United Russia party.
As part of Vladimir Putin’s bid to strengthen Moscow’s power over the regions, direct governor’s elections were in 2001 replaced by a system of appointments.
The rating from the International Institute of Political Expertise is the third of its kind.
Read more:
Will the Karelian governor be fired? BarentsObserver, 29 October 2008
Read also stories (in Russian) about the issue at:
Murman.ru (Murmansk Oblast)
Bclass.ru (Arkhangelsk Oblast)
