No one expected intrigue, because everyone knew that the issue had been agreed upon at the top. Uss himself also confirmed that he received an offer to continue working at the federal level from the first person of the state.
Recall that the term of office of Governor Alexander Uss expired this fall. But on April 20, he had a fateful meeting in the Kremlin, following which the official announced his resignation. Acting Governor was appointed 46-year-old Mikhail Kotyukov, who worked as Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. At the same time, Kotyukov is a native of Krasnoyarsk. He moved to Moscow in 2010, and before that he held various positions in the government of the region.
For the sake of Uss, two personnel reshuffles were urgently carried out.
Member of the Legislative Assembly Nikolai Kreminsky resigned (so far he was offered only the post of adviser to the speaker in return), followed by Senator Valery Semyonov, who became Deputy Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Thus, the road to the Federation Council for Uss was paved. Let’s add that he was already a senator twice – in 1993-1995 and 1998-2001.
I couldn’t refuse
Despite the predictable outcome, the June 8 vote was still not without excesses. The performance at the session was staged by the Liberal Democratic Party in the person of deputy Alexander Gliskov. The parliamentarian proposed to elect the vice-speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the regional leader of the party, Sergei Natarov, as a senator. Natarov has been in jail for the second year on charges of financial fraud. According to Alexander Gliskov, the status of a senator can help Natarov in his current position, and this will be a manifestation of “mercy.”
The proposal, of course, was immediately rejected on formal grounds. And the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Alexei Dodatko, had a verbal skirmish with Gliskov. The chairman stated that such ideas put the regional parliament in a bad light. Other deputies also did not appreciate the initiative of the Liberal Democratic Party.
– I saw how people moved from the Federation Council to the pre-trial detention center. But in reverse order… – comments parliamentarian Aleksey Kulesh.
As for Alexander Uss, in his speech he stated that he could retire and was internally ready for this. But they made him an offer they couldn’t refuse.
– In the final conversation, I was told that it still makes sense for me to stay in politics. And moreover, to represent the region in the Federation Council. Naturally, such proposals are not rejected. And I was very grateful for him. He expressed only two wishes: if you go, then only from the legislative assembly, which is understandable and close to me, and when the rotation occurs, take into account the interests of the colleagues it affects as much as possible, the politician shares the details of the April meeting in the Kremlin.
Skeletons in the offices
As the main complaint about the work of Uss as governor, it is now worth recognizing the many corruption scandals that have occurred in the region in recent years. These are, for example, the arrests of officials associated with the construction of the subway. Up to the fact that the former head of the regional government, Yuri Lapshin, has been under house arrest for several months.
They also recall the arrest of construction tycoon Vladimir Yegorov, who is charged with building a school in the Ilansky district of the region at an inflated price of almost 400 million rubles. Yegorov is considered an entrepreneur close to Alexander Uss. Ilansky district is the small homeland of the former governor. The builder has already reimbursed the damage to the budget, but he was not released from the pre-trial detention center. Finally, we can recall the very recent arrest red-handed while receiving a bribe of the director of the regional Capital Repair Fund.
– I understand that this is not directly related, but the governor is responsible for all the good and all the bad. This is a personal responsibility for the persons you brought to manage. It is wrong when the minister is in jail. All these people worked with you, you knew all of them. This undermines people’s trust, – Irina Ivanova, deputy of the legislative assembly, is convinced.
– Now it so happens that the Krasnoyarsk Territory is no exception. And there are problems, including legal ones, in other regions and structures. But most importantly, when the court says that the person is guilty, then we will say that this is a fact. But for now, we must proceed from the presumption of innocence,” retorts Uss.
As a result, the legislative assembly voted as follows: 39 deputies supported the candidacy of Alexander Uss, four voted against, one ballot was declared invalid.
