The governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, who has headed the region since 1997, resigned. He recorded a video message in which he linked his decision to the fire in the Winter Cherry shopping center, which killed 64 people.
“Dear Kuzbass residents, I did everything I could. I met with the families of the victims, tried to resolve issues of providing assistance. Once again, I offer my deepest condolences,” Tuleyev said.
"I submitted my resignation to the President of the Russian Federation. I consider it a correct, conscious and only correct decision for myself. Because it is impossible to work as a governor with such a heavy burden. Morally it is impossible. Peace and goodness to you. And to your families. May the Lord protect everyone from you and our native Kuznetsk land,” added Tuleyev.
The day before, Znak.com reported about Tuleyev’s possible resignation on April 1. According to a source of an online publication close to the administration of the Kemerovo region, Tuleyev’s resignation will be of a “mild nature” (the governor himself will address residents of the region). RBC previously reported that there are no plans for a “demonstrative resignation” of Tuleyev. The regional administration's website says that the governor resigned "of his own free will."
Among the victims of the fire in Winter Cherry are about 40 children, including an 11-year-old relative of Tuleyev. The 73-year-old governor never appeared at the scene of the fire, and he also ignored the local residents who came out to a rally on March 27, at a meeting with President Tuleyev, their “troublemakers.” This meeting lasted more than 11 hours; in particular, the vice-governor of the region Sergei Tsivilev, who is called a possible successor to Tuleyev, spoke with its participants.
At a meeting with Putin on March 27, Tuleyev apologized for the tragedy to him, but not to the residents of the region: “Vladimir Vladimirovich, you personally called me. Once again, thank you very much. I apologize to you personally for what happened on our territory.” An apology to the Kuzbass residents appeared later.
Aman Tuleyev is 73 years old and entered politics in the late 1980s. He headed the Kemerovo region in 1997 and was re-elected head of the region four times with a result of 93.5-96.69% of the votes. His powers for the next gubernatorial term expired in 2020.During Aman Tuleyev’s work as governor of Kuzbass, rumors repeatedly appeared about his health problems and his upcoming resignation. In particular, on May 22, 2017, he went on official leave, which was later extended due to an operation prescribed to him due to a problem with intervertebral discs back in the fall of 2016. Against this background, reports appeared in the media that Tuleyev would leave his post, but the information was not confirmed, and on August 12 he returned to work.
According to the Charter of the Kemerovo Region, the first deputy governor will act as head of the region.
When exactly and who will announce it publicly is not yet clear.
Obviously, the main reason for the resignation will be the situation related to the fire in the shopping center, where Tuleyev was unable or did not want to come.
“Tuleev’s refusal to come to the shopping center is simply a cynical manifestation of inhumanity! Whatever one may say, the governor is the most important person in the region, it is he who bears the responsibility for solving all problems. If a person is not ready to take responsibility for what is happening, then This bluntly indicates the professional incompetence of such a leader."- political scientist Nikita Isaev wrote in NI.
Let us recall that Tuleyev has been leading the region since 1997, being one of the oldest heads of regions in Russia.
In June 2017, after the arrest of two of his deputies, Tuleyev already wrote a letter of resignation, citing health reasons.
“NI” asked political scientists whether Aman Tuleyev should resign after the tragedy in the “Winter Cherry” shopping center:
Abbas Gallyamov, political scientist
If he wants to remain in the memory of the region’s residents as not the worst person, then it’s better for him to leave. If he doesn’t leave now, he will go down in history as a sharply negative character.
If the Kremlin does not dismiss him now, then he will thereby take a significant part of the negativity upon himself.
Yuliy Nisnevich, professor, doctor of political sciences
I think that Tuleyev’s resignation is quite real, because in an amicable way, after what happened, he should be removed. Here, apparently, the moments that were important coincided. The decision that it would be removed was made a long time ago and they were waiting for the end of the event, which took place. Several interests have converged here, so resignation is quite likely. True, another factor may also play a role: the favorite phrase that “an honorable man, he ruled for so many years”... which concept will prevail, I do not presume to judge. Now to take it off - to show everyone that you are concerned about what happened - I fully agree. We don’t like to fire officials under pressure. But there is no pressure here yet, no one is demanding Tuleyev’s resignation, there have not even been such calls. Therefore, there is no pressure, let alone opposition. Therefore, by the way, it is reasonable to remove it before such calls begin.
Konstantin Kolachev, political scientist, head of the “Political Expert Group”
I believe that the issue of Aman Tuleyev’s resignation was resolved last fall. It is no coincidence that a new vice-governor was appointed there, who until recently headed a large company - the general director of the Kolmar coal company, Sergei Tsivilev, who met with Putin before his appointment. I think that even then Tuleyev’s resignation was a foregone conclusion; another question is that they did not want to carry it out before the presidential elections. In the presidential elections, Tuleyev was needed with his authority among the population.
I saw population surveys in the Kemerovo region. There, requests for updates were only 25%, that is, only a quarter of those surveyed said that the region needs a new governor. Not long ago, two of Tuleyev’s deputies were detained; rumors about his resignation circulated throughout last year; the fact that he governs the region while sitting in a wheelchair, that is, even for health reasons, he cannot fulfill the duties of governor in full. He did not leave on time and voluntarily, now he will have to leave not very gracefully. It was possible to save face and leave last year.
As for Tsivilev, it is no secret that he is considered a possible successor to Tuleyev. The appointment of the head of a large coal mining company, whose main shareholder is Gennady Timchenko, was probably not accidental. Everyone commented on this appointment as preparation for replacing the current head of the region. It's not even a matter of purpose. More importantly, before his appointment, Tsivilev met with the president. How often does the general director of a mining company meet with Putin, after which he is appointed to the post of vice-governor of a large region? I think everything was clear and understandable. After Putin's inauguration, he was supposed to become acting governor.
Tuleyev did not have enough time. His term of office expires in 2020, but everyone believed that the gubernatorial elections in the Kemerovo region would take place in 2018. His departure is a foregone conclusion. You can demand Tuleyev’s departure now, but it’s strange to demand something that has already been decided. The only question is whether he will leave gracefully. To save face, it would be correct to take responsibility for the tragedy that occurred, to say: I cannot continue to work as governor, I make a decision and leave. It would be beautiful. If this happens after the inauguration, it will look different. At the same time, you need to understand that there is a reason, and there is a reason. In this case, the tragedy in the Winter Cherry shopping center served as a reason, and the reason for the resignation was not yesterday; I repeat - the decision to resign from Tuleyev was made last fall.
There are no plans for a demonstrative resignation of the governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, after the tragedy in the Winter Cherry shopping center. The head of Kuzbass will leave his post, but later. For now he dismissed the leadership of his administration's political bloc. Meanwhile, the people are outraged by Tuleyev’s behavior. As sources close to the Kremlin told RBC, the decision to resign the governor of the Kemerovo region Aman Tuleyev from his post, which was made even before the tragedy in the Winter Cherry shopping center, which claimed the lives of 64 people, remains in force, but his indicative resignation is not planned in the near future. “Now he [Tuleev] remains in his place,” said one of the interlocutors. If you dismiss the head of the Kemerovo region in hot pursuit after a fire, it will look like a decision made under pressure, explains another source close to the Kremlin. “Putin, as you know, does not like to make personnel decisions under pressure; he is not a supporter of demonstrative resignations,” says the source. Also, Tuleyev will not be forced to resign before the end of spring due to the fact that he has many merits and the president respects him very much. By the way, on recentpresidential elections Putin received 85.57% of the votes in the Kemerovo region, the turnout was 83.35%. After the campaign, the Kemerovo governor will be honorably retired, the newspaper found out. At the same time, according to political scientist Abbas Gallyamov, a demonstrative resignation would be perceived positively by society. “This could be interpreted this way: Putin “hears people,” the expert notes (). As Kommersant reports, on Wednesday the first layoffs took place in the regional administration after the fire, but it was not officials responsible for infrastructure who were dismissed, but employees internal political bloc: vice-governor Alexey Zelenin and head of the internal policy department Nina Lopatina. According to deputies of the Kemerovo regional council, this happened because of a rally of many thousands on the main square of Kemerovo. However, such resignations will not solve the problem and look like a big mistake. All this looks like a search for switchmen, notes political scientist Alexey Polukhin. According to the vice-president of the Center for Political Technologies, Rostislav Turovsky, Aman Tuleyev, by dismissing the “switchmen,” is trying to “gain time and avoid a quick resignation, the risk of which has arisen.” This allows his circle to “continue bargaining with the federal authorities: what will be the conditions for the change of power, which will happen anyway.” For so many years, “a lot of not only political, but also financial issues have been tied to Tuleyev and his entourage, and the center is unlikely to want to “bring down” this system,” the expert believes (). Residents of the Kemerovo region waited three days for words from the governor about the tragedy , and when they waited, they didn’t hear the most important thing - simple human words: “I’m sorry” and “I offer my condolences.” But it became known that certain forces were “terribly simply rocking the situation.” "Moscow's comsomolets" notes that elected 21 years ago as a defender of workers' rights, now Tuleyev has not condescended to simply sympathize with the residents, even in the midst of a terrible tragedy. Is it the case that Aman Gumirovich is an elderly, sick man who can no longer cope with the situation, having entrusted the management of the region to his 14 deputies, each of whom has his own interests? Or is it that the “people's tribune”, who captured the hearts of people in Yeltsin's times, over time realized himself so irreplaceable that his potential voters - residents of the region - became for him not an end, but a means? Or even worse - a burden that prevents you from “ruling with dignity”? But Governor Tuleyev became a verdict on the system, which allowed him to bronze for 21 years in office to the state of a monument that already understands little.... (). "TVNZ" talks about how orthopedic traumatologist Andrei Volna, who previously lived in Kuzbass and received an award from the hands of the Tuleyevs, has now thrown down the gauntlet to him. The doctor dedicated such an emotional post to the Kemerovo governor that more than two thousand people copied it in half a day. “You chickened out and didn’t come out to the Kuzbass people. Not to the shopping center. Not to the square. You didn't even apologize to them. You called the citizens troublemakers. And, moreover, you did not resign, although, as the permanent head of the region, you bear full political responsibility for what happened,” Volna wrote. He also refused the Kuzbass Prize Laureate because he does not want to have anything to do with Tuleyev. “Your position and your behavior deserve nothing but contempt. And I urge you to take the only right step - to apologize (not to the president, but to the people) and resign,” the doctor concludes ().
Elections to the Council of People's Deputies of the Kemerovo Region, as well as the elections of the new governor of the region, should be held on a single voting day on September 9, 2018.
An initiative with Moscow roots
April 5, member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy Anton Gorelkin reported, that seven deputies of the lower house of parliament from the Kemerovo region turned to the acting head of the region, Sergei Tsivilev, with a request to support the nomination of Tuleyev for the post of speaker of the regional council. “We are confident that his many years of work experience, including in the legislative branch, the generally recognized authority of a wise politician, a thorough knowledge of the specifics of the region, and the ability to make non-standard, competent decisions in difficult situations will continue to be useful to our region,” stated the text of the request published by Gorelkin .
Not everyone in the Duma agreed with this proposal. “I think this is wrong, and I think people simply won’t understand this decision,” State Duma Deputy Speaker Sergei Neverov (United Russia faction) told Interfax on April 6. Later on Facebook he added: “And this is my personal opinion. Because Tuleyev is a whole era.”
“The transfer of the mandate of a deputy of the Council of People’s Deputies of the Kemerovo Region to the former governor Tuleyev and his election to the post of head of this council is a complete violation of all the democratic foundations of our state and the electoral legislation in particular,” - wrote Another deputy speaker of the Duma, LDPR deputy Igor Lebedev, is on Twitter.
Risks of conflict
Tuleyev’s return to politics creates risks of conflict with his successor, experts interviewed by RBC believe.
Tuleyev acts “in the logic of the leader of a regional authoritarian regime,” Tatyana Stanovaya, head of the analytical firm R.Politik, told RBC. In her opinion, the ex-governor will want to retain his leverage and guarantees of the security of his “clan.” She calls Tuleyev’s decision to become speaker of the regional parliament “an ambitious and dangerous decision.” “It is not yet clear whether Tuleyev will pursue any active policy or whether it is only important for him to ensure his minimal interests,” says Stanovaya. “But potentially there is a conflict here, and to some extent a challenge for the presidential administration, because ultimately they will have to resolve it.”
Tuleyev’s arrival to the post of speaker is connected with his desire to find a “worthy sinecure,” since he is one of those people who “work while they are alive,” believes Andrei Kolyadin, ex-head of the regional policy department of the presidential administration for domestic policy. If Tuleyev begins to interfere in the actions of the new head of the region, Tsivilev, a conflict is possible between them, the political scientist believes. “If Tuleyev has enough tact and experience not to meddle in the executive branch and make personnel appointments, everything will be calm. If the desire to “embrace” the new governor and become his own father, preventing him from making independent decisions, outweighs, then a conflict is possible,” Kolyadin suggested.
Political consultant Dmitry Fetisov calls the likelihood of a conflict between Tsivilev and Tuleyev “very high.” “The Kremlin was preparing Tsivilev for the region, believing that he would seriously change the order that had developed in the region under Tuleyev,” Fetisov explained his point of view. “Tuleev, showing that under no circumstances is he ready to lose control over the region, will thereby oppose Tsivilev and interfere with his work.” Tuleyev’s desire to take the chair of speaker of the regional council is connected “both with his personal thirst for power and with a calculated plan to “blackmail” the federal center,” Fetisov suggested. In his opinion, Tuleyev shows the Kremlin that he has enormous influence in the region and is ready to use it if the security forces show interest in his entourage.
Left to come back
The governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin with a statement of resignation on March 31. “I consider it the right, conscious, and only correct decision for myself, because with such a heavy burden as governor, well, it’s impossible, morally impossible,” he said in a video message to the residents of Kuzbass. The resignation was initiated by Tuleyev himself, RBC source close to the Kremlin. The Kremlin, according to a federal official, understood that the time had come for Tuleyev to leave, but it was assumed that “he would leave in May.”
Tuleyev made the decision to leave after a fire at the Winter Cherry shopping center, which killed 64 people, including 41 children. After the fire in the region of Vladimir Putin, there was national mourning. Tuleyev, two days after the video message, the vacant mandate of a deputy of the Kemerovo Regional Council of People's Deputies.
Before his resignation, Tuleyev was the oldest head of the region in Russia: on May 13 he will turn 74 years old. In May 2017, he underwent spinal surgery in Germany, after which he underwent post-operative rehabilitation in a Kemerovo hospital, then was transferred to Moscow and only returned to Kemerovo in August.
Tuleyev’s successor as head of the region was Sergei Tsivilev, a partner of businessman Gennady Timchenko in the Yakut coal company Kolmar, a “Varangian” for the region, who became the region’s vice-governor in early March. Experts interviewed by RBC say that Tuleyev’s possible successor has no experience in administrative work in politics and has virtually no connections with Kuzbass financial and industrial groups and elites.
On Sunday, April 1, the governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, submitted his resignation to the president. He noted that this is the only right decision after the tragedy that occurred in the Kemerovo Winter Cherry shopping center. Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of Tuleyev, who led the region for the last 20 years. We talked with Kuzbass political scientist, Doctor of Historical Sciences Alexander Konovalov about what will happen to Kuzbass after Tuleyev.
“No one expected that the resignation would happen in the coming days”
Professor of Kemerovo State University Alexander Konovalov noted that Tuleyev’s resignation was discussed in expert circles even before the tragic events in Kemerovo, and also without reference to the results of the presidential elections in Russia - primarily due to his age. Until today, Aman Tuleyev was the oldest governor of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Taking into account the state of health of Aman Tuleyev, the resignation would have taken place. The question is whether it was accelerated by these tragic circumstances. This is where all the negativity lies, because an unexpected event gives rise to a lot of as yet unobvious consequences. This is also connected with the selection of a new team, naturally, with questions about how the owners will behave, whether some kind of regional leadership concept will be urgently determined, which will come from Tsivilev. What political forces are becoming more active in Kuzbass and how will our leading political parties, which belong to the so-called systemic opposition, manifest themselves. There are a lot of unanswered questions, because no one expected that the resignation would happen in the coming days,” says Alexander Konovalov.
Aman Tuleyev resigned from the post of governor not because of loss of trust, but of his own free will, which is why, the political scientist believes, the former governor of Kuzbass will not be followed by any inspections or criminal cases. By the way, on Sunday, April 1, Vladimir Putin called Tuleyev and thanked him for his many years of work.
Meanwhile, there is now an explosion of discontent in society, which does not add calm to the region.
I believe that there was a clear flaw in the regional administration and those specialists who oversaw public relations. In my opinion, of course, it would be worth listening to the opinion of the opposition forces and promoting their development. We have a different configuration, including in the elections to the regional Council. Still, such an asymmetry, when out of 46 parliamentary seats 44 are occupied by deputies of the United Russia party, does not paint a region where, in fact, there is a powerful working class, the spokesmen of which, as a rule, are members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Naturally, there are also supporters of liberal political parties, although there are not many of them, but within three to five percent they probably have their own electorate,” the political scientist added.
“Tsivilev is a person with implicit leadership qualities”
Having accepted the resignation of Aman Tuleyev, the president appointed Sergei Tsivilev as acting governor of the Kemerovo region. Previously, Tsivilev served as deputy governor for industry, transport and consumer market. It should be noted that Tsivilev worked as a deputy for a little more than three weeks - from March 5, 2018. The politician came to Kuzbass from Yakutia, where he headed the Kolmar group of industrial enterprises for the extraction and processing of coking coal. By the way, here Tsivilev was not only the general director, he owned 70 percent of the company's shares. After his appointment to the post of Deputy Governor of Kuzbass, Sergei Tsivilev donated his share of the shares to his wife.
Sergei Tsivilev promised Kemerovo residents to punish those responsible for the fire in "Winter Cherry"
According to political scientist Alexander Konovalov, it will not be easy for the acting governor of the Kemerovo region to win the trust of the population, since he replaced a politician who was universally popular.
Tuleyev, who was a bright, charismatic politician, is being replaced by a man with implicit leadership qualities. I can’t say that he lacks them completely. Of course, he was the head of a large company, but this is not a tribune politician, this is not a person who participated in presidential campaigns as a presidential candidate. He has never been a State Duma deputy, has never worked in federal executive bodies, and it is very difficult to gain the trust of the population in these conditions. If he takes part in the gubernatorial elections, he needs not only to unite and consolidate his electorate, he needs to work on his image, meet with people, and it is still difficult to say how he will behave. I think that many have not even heard that there is such a deputy governor,” noted Alexander Konovalov.
According to the political scientist, it is still difficult for the population to imagine that Tsivilev will become Aman Tuleyev’s successor. At the same time, we are not talking about a successor, since it is not yet clear whether Tsivilev will continue the main course built by the former governor. As we remember, Tuleyev ran in the 2015 gubernatorial elections under the slogans of maintaining stability in the region and preventing the redistribution of property. It is still unclear how Tsivilev will build his relations with the owners and representatives of large financial and industrial groups. Meanwhile, he has already addressed residents of the region after his appointment, saying that he is implementing all initiatives and decisions for the development of the region.
“There is no need to talk about political stability”
Alexander Konovalov noted that today there is an unstable situation in the region. And to improve it, it is necessary to create information openness.
I cannot call the current situation stable, and Tuleyev himself, whom we saw in his office today, when addressing him, said that this is his position, that he cannot remain governor in these conditions, that is, he probably understands and accepts take part of the responsibility for the mistakes that happened.
Also unknown is the consequences of the governor’s resignation for his team, which is also a factor of instability.
You understand that both budgetary obligations and socio-political tranquility are related to how the executive bodies of state power work. Now, of course, everything is entering a stage of turbulence, and we cannot say what Tsivilev will do. I should note that according to the charter of the region, the Board of Administration of the Kemerovo Region, if the governor resigns, also resigns and performs duties until a new board is formed. In this regard, Tsivilev has a free hand, he can completely free himself from the deputy governors, he can leave someone behind. There is no need to talk now about the political stability that existed under Tuleyev,” said political scientist, professor at Kemerovo State University Alexander Konovalov.
Elections for the new governor of the Kemerovo region will be held on a single voting day on September 9. According to the political scientist, candidates from opposition parties, as well as acting governor Tsivilev, will traditionally participate in them. However, Alexander Konovalov did not rule out the possibility that Tsivilev could relinquish his post in a couple of months, as, for example, the acting governor of the Kaliningrad region, Evgeny Zinichev, did. But for now it is obvious that the technical candidates will be representatives of the systemic opposition and Tsivilev himself.
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Aman Tuleyev resigned. On Sunday, April 1, the governor of the Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, officially submitted his resignation. He has held his post since 1997. Tuleyev resigns after a fire occurred in the Winter Cherry shopping center in Kemerovo, in which 64 people died. In his special video message, the head of the Kemerovo region explained the reasons for leaving
