Komi Governor Vladimir Uyba is criticized by the opposition, the ruling party, local elites, and social discontent is growing in the region. Experts believe that his fate is sealed and he will be dismissed. The only question is when? But at least until September of this year, everything will probably remain unchanged.
Modest progress
Vladimir Uyba is considered a Kremlin creature, and was appointed acting. Governor of Komi (with a subsequent victory in the elections) in 2000. He decided to lead a difficult region. The Komi Republic belongs to subsidized subjects of the Russian Federation, although there are all prerequisites for economic growth. There is timber, oil, and other minerals here. But there are also serious problems. As Versiya has already reported, one of the main ones, according to experts, is the outflow of the able-bodied population. People leave because of the harsh climate, in addition, there are not enough so-called “points of attraction” – educational institutions and enterprises, there are serious health problems.
Probably, the inhabitants of the region associated hopes for a better life with the new governors, but they were disappointed. The successes of Vladimir Uiba turned out to be extremely modest. Two years ago, local media, summing up the results of his activities, noted that
Vladimir Uiba has practically nothing to brag about. Probably, the opening of several rural feldsher-obstetric centers and a school in the village of Pomozdino, Ust-Kulomsky district, the construction of which began in 2018, can be added to its asset. In the meantime, the authorities are talking about the construction of a republican infectious diseases hospital, the reconstruction of the radiological department of the republican oncological dispensary, the reconstruction of the building of the opera and ballet theater, the construction of a multifunctional socio-cultural center in the village of Pazhga, Syktyvdinsky district, a medical building in the village of Ust-Tsilma and a number of other important social facilities in rural hinterland. Local media notice that it is not particularly dense, but they believe that even these modest plans, the team of Vladimir Uyba is unlikely to be able to master.
The situation with demographics in the region has not improved either. According to the Comistat, there are fewer people in the republic due to natural loss and migration flow.
The natural decline in the region, that is, the excess of the number of deaths over the number of births, has been observed since 2017. In January-October 2022, 5,402 people were born in the region, and 8,735 people died. The natural decline was 3,333 people. The migration loss for the same period amounted to 3358 people. It turns out that for 10 months of 2022, the population of Komi decreased by at least 6691 people.
In the ranking of regions in terms of the standard of living of the population, Komi was in 65th place in 2021. The following year, the republic slipped to 69th place, where it is today.
In a word, the life of the population of Komi has not changed for the better. Uyba failed to establish relations with the local elites. Experts believe that he failed to rely on the oil workers, who, having been working in Komi for a long time, deliberately distanced themselves from the governor and do not perceive him as a player with whom they need to negotiate.
“Administrative Paralysis”
It so happened that Uyba became one of the most criticized governors in the whole country. Recently, Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Andrey Turchak spoke unflatteringly about his work, who, at a conference call with the Ministry of Education, called the situation with the construction of schools in Komi “administrative paralysis.”
The United Russia website contains information that school No. 3 in Syktyvkar and a school in the Yemval microdistrict in Syktyvkar were in the “red” zone in Komi.
According to one of them, construction readiness is 0%, according to the second – 15%. The construction of school No. 3 requires additional funding – 411 million rubles, which the republic cannot allocate. The Komi authorities appealed to the Ministry of Education to exclude the object from the project.
The authorities of Komi also got it from the chairman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko. An ethno-blogger from Komi, Genrikh Nemchinov, at a meeting in the Federation Council dedicated to the development of rural areas, said that in some municipalities, men have to bring firewood seven kilometers from the village: “An 80-year-old man walks seven kilometers, chopping in the cold. I would like this issue to be resolved.”
Valentina Matvienko, in turn, called such a story “a complete disgrace.” According to her, the authorities should bring the necessary amount of firewood to this village, and preferably to each house, especially if a pensioner lives there. “If this information is confirmed, it is necessary to understand and immediately correct this situation. How can you mock people like that,” said Valentina Matvienko.
Such criticism is rarely accidental, rather it is a warning to the head of the region.
shortsighted
It should be noted that Vladimir Uiba has an extremely difficult character. He is extremely quick-tempered, manages to make scandals from scratch, harsh and unpredictable.
Two years ago, at a meeting of the republican parliament, Vladimir Uyba cursed Oleg Mikhailov, a deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who criticized the active governor. In 2021, at a meeting with residents of the village of Mutny Mainland, which fell into the oil spill zone, he was indignant at the intentions of people to turn to the Russian president, saying that for them he himself is the president.
At the end of last year, his meeting with the residents of Ezhva, who opposed the construction of a landfill in the area, ended in a scandal. During one of the live broadcasts, the head of the region, Vladimir Uyba, called the protesters against the landfill “environmental garbage.” At the meeting, the residents demanded that he apologize for his words, but the official offered them to watch football and left.
And in April of this year there was another scandal. Vladimir Uyba refused to move the illegally parked car after the remark of the traffic police inspector, and then reprimanded the policeman.
A video of this conversation appeared on Telegram channels.
“Who is complaining?” Uyba asks arrogantly.
“Citizens are complaining,” the policeman replies.
“Citizens are complaining about things that should not be complained about. Once again I say: the head is holding a meeting. Temporarily, I cordoned off the territory for myself. And you must stand here with flashing lights and say: the territory is cordoned off for a meeting of the head of the republic, the guarantor of the Constitution. Here, get up and stand!” Uyba orders.
The scandal was outrageous. The authors of the Telegram channel “Successor”, for example, wrote that the head of the region himself “is substituted out of the blue”, and looks “just a pity”. State Duma deputy Yevgeny Popov advised Uyba to write a letter of resignation and never again be related to the authorities.
About 10,500 Russians believe that the head of the Komi Republic, Vladimir Uiba, should be fired after a scandalous dialogue with a teaching staff, according to a poll conducted by political scientist Marat Bashirov.
Thus, 62% of those who voted out of 44.7 thousand people are in favor of dismissal, and 21% believe that one should not get excited about the resignation. Bashirov himself called Uyba’s behavior “simply disgusting” and suggested that in September “we will have another gubernatorial election coming up.” In the ranking of the influence of the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, prepared by the Agency for Political and Economic Communications after the video was distributed in the media and social networks, the positions of the governor of Uyba weakened and dropped from 80th to 85th place.
Approaching the final
Of course, it’s not good to be rude to people. And it would be better if a person still thinks about what he says, especially if he is the head of the region. But in fairness, it is worth noting that Uyba is not the only governor in the country who allows you to behave incorrectly with people. Why was so much attention paid to this particular scandal with a traffic police officer, which was shown on federal channels and covered in the central media?
It seems that foresight is also not a strong suit of the governor. As Sergei Starovoitov, chairman of the Club of Regions, recalled, the fate of the governor of Komi Uyba was sealed back in 2021, when he allowed himself a sharp skirmish with the secretary of the United Russia General Council at a conference call in the presence of Sergei Kiriyenko. “After that, all its intra-regional problems became somehow especially noticeable, and every day now only brings it closer to the finale,” Starovoitov believes.
Apparently, the local power structures also decided to use the moment. According to the authors of the local Telegram channel “KomiLeaks”, the videos with Uiba “leaked” on the Internet are a sign of a planned action. The Ministry of Internal Affairs for Komi has not officially announced whether the circumstances of the publication of the video intended for official use on social networks are being checked.
At the same time, the power bloc of the republic is actively included in the current politics. Prosecutor Nikolai Yegorov travels around the region, inspecting the construction of schools and “reduces administrative pressure on business” – in general, he tries to take on the work of the governor.
According to Vitaly Ivanov, a regionalist political scientist, the story of rudeness to a policeman would not have resulted in anything serious in itself. But coupled with previous incidents, you can count on a cumulative effect. Ivanov believes that at the moment no radical decisions like Uyba’s resignation will be made, because “they don’t get fired for this” – an “ugly story” came out, but no more.
At the same time, a number of experts believe that the head of Komi will not sit until the end of his term. The main question is when this will happen. It is likely that nothing will happen until autumn: the Kremlin is not up to Uiba right now.
In turn, political strategist Yulia Mileshkina believes that the consensus of the elites regarding the head of the region is obvious: everyone is waiting for his resignation.
In her opinion, before the end of Uyba’s term of office, which, we recall, ends in 2025, it will be possible to appoint an interim in about a year. “It could be November-December 2024,” Mileshkina believes.
