At his inauguration, the new Novgorod governor warned of several difficult years. Not an inauguration, but a ceremony of taking office. Inauguration of the governor of Novgorod

Today at noon the third governor of the Novgorod region, Andrei Nikitin, took office.

The hall of the regional philharmonic society was full. The military orchestra on the balcony played “The Trumpeters’ Song”, known from the film “About the Poor Hussar” - “ real life in the city comes when the military arrives there.” The governor's new badge was displayed on stage. The sign was made specifically for the inauguration. On the chain are 22 coats of arms of Veliky Novgorod and its regions, connected by buttons with double-headed eagles.

Former governor and future senator Sergei Mitin entered the hall. He took a place next to Akron director Vladimir Gavrikov and they were animatedly talking about something. Other guests shook the former governor's hand, and some hugged him.

Finally, Vice Governor Sergei Sorokin asked everyone to take their seats. The flag was solemnly brought into the hall. And Andrei Nikitin, still acting governor, appeared on the screen. He walked into the Philharmonic from the side St. Sophia Cathedral through the guard of honor. Hundreds of guests waited for him in complete silence for several minutes. When acting The governor went up to the stage and the chairman of the election commission, Tatyana Lebedeva, presented him with a certificate. And the chairman of the regional Duma, Elena Pisareva, asked to take the oath. Andrey Nikitin said:

I solemnly swear to faithfully serve the people, to comply with the Constitution, federal and regional laws, the charter of the Novgorod region, to carry out the decrees of the president and decrees of the government of the Russian Federation.

Then the anthem was played.

The presenter announced that Andrei Sergeevich is now the governor of the Novgorod region. Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative to the Northwestern Federal District Vladimir Sevrikov came out to congratulate him. He read out the congratulations of the plenipotentiary, in which he asked to pay special attention to the economy of the region. Metropolitan Lev read out the patriarch’s congratulations.

Then Andrei Nikitin spoke again. He said, in particular:

We have several very difficult years ahead. The development program will have to be implemented in conditions of a shortage of funds and a high level of debt in the budget. It makes no sense to look for the reason for this in one thing. It’s all due to a sum of factors, a kind of perfect storm in which the region’s economy, along with the entire country, has found itself. We are experiencing it, unfortunately, more difficult than some other territories. We are losing competition with other regions for modern jobs, business conditions, and quality of life. The level of health care and social services in the regions has not changed much over the past decades. At the same time, people often cannot get to hospitals and clinics. The roads do not meet any requirements, and the water supply system has long been worn out. Due to the high mortality rate, the rate of population decline in our country is one of the highest in the country.

But a region with such a history, according to Nikitin, cannot give up its future. We must become one of the business, cultural and tourist capitals Russia. You can’t do everything quickly, but as Churchill said: “Let’s get started.”

Having outlined the priorities: developing healthcare, creating the best investment climate in the country, creating a comfortable environment in cities, Nikitin invited officials to work together, abandoning behind-the-scenes intrigues. He promised support to volunteers and thanked caring people who pay attention to various shortcomings.

He ended his speech with a quote from the Archbishop of Novgorod Feofan Prokopovich: “The goal is achieved by our faith and good deeds.”

The group "Malachite" performed the song of the group "Old Park": "I will pray for Russia, I am in a Russian church."

This ended the inauguration. And the governorship began.

Photo by Alena Kuznetsova

The ex-governor of the Novgorod region Sergei Mitin as a member of the Federation Council from the region can be explained by the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for today with the governors elected during the regional elections on September 10. It is likely that before this trip to Moscow, the still acting governor of the Novgorod region, Andrei Nikitin (his inauguration is scheduled for October 14), should have closed the issue of the “honorary pension” of 66-year-old Mitin (who did not receive any other compensation for his voluntary-forced departure from post of head of the region in February 2017), since this decision was initially made in the capital.

And if political scientist Evgeny Minchenko calls Andrei Nikitin is Putin’s “personal creature”, noting, however, also his affiliation with the assistant to the President of Russia, ex-Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov, the Nezygar telegram channel, known for its insides, is not the first time insisting that Nikitin - "creature of the Rotenbergs." Nezygar also included the newly elected head among the “Rotenberg people” Yaroslavl region Dmitry Mironov and the governor of the Tula region Alexei Dyumin, who is increasingly being called a possible successor to Putin as president.

In particular, political scientist, MGIMO professor Valery Solovey, who has gained fame as a forecaster whose predictions often come true, in a recent interview said that if we talk about who will replace Putin, then “the security forces - both the army and the special services - are discussing Dyumin as a foregone conclusion.” At the end of July, another insider, editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy radio Alexei Venediktov, said that Nikitin’s candidacy was also being considered as a possible replacement for Putin. “I think this is a person like Denis Manturov. Like Max Reshetnikov, Andrei Nikitin. A technocrat without a team, without an ideology,” Venediktov said.

Which of the elite groups will win the competition to approve Putin's successor - the security forces, betting on the conditional Dyumin, or the system liberals, preferring a young technocrat like Nikitin - is not so important, because in fact, both Dyumin and Nikitin are considered by many experts as members of the same informal influence groups. Whether it is possible, following the anonymous Nezygar, to call them nominees of the Rotenbergs is a question, but the fact that they are, one way or another, connected with each other is confirmed by the most different sources. For example, the Ural politician Nafik Famiev back in June of this year, according to which the acting governor of the Novgorod region Andrei Nikitin could in the coming years lay claim to the post of Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. According to Famiev, Nikitin is the author of economic programs Tula Governor Alexei Dyumin, and it is the latter, the expert believes, who will become Putin’s successor.

It is assumed that Andrei Nikitin’s governorship may not last long, and in 2-4 years he will be promoted to Moscow. In any case, if he stays in Novgorod for a long time and goes for a second term, then this could put an end to his career as a federal official, since in the current conditions he will be able to bring a dying and depressed region out of the deep socio-economic hole into which it was plunged in ten years. years of his reign, Nikitin’s predecessor (and now newly minted senator) Sergei Mitin, is simply unrealistic. Nikitin understands this perfectly well, but in order for him to count on a serious promotion, he will obviously need to demonstrate at least some positive results his work as governor. In this sense, he is very well motivated, and some kind of hope can be pinned on him in the short term, which is why I decided to support him in the recent elections.

Andrei Nikitin and his team can breathe a sigh of relief: the worries of the election period are over, all that remains is to wait for the inauguration, which in the Novgorod region, having been original, was carried a month after the end of the elections.

“Whose will you be?”

One way or another, Andrei Sergeevich can say: I did not let down the President who “sent me”, I won. And even in percentage terms he exceeded the result that experts predicted for him.

Another thing is that this victory cannot be called convincing. Unless, of course, we count the votes cast by citizens who came to the polls, but measure the true level of legitimacy of the future governor. The level expressed by the number of residents who will rightfully talk about him: “my governor.”

Let us remind you that there were 97,405 such people. In total, 509 thousand people are registered as voters in the Novgorod region.

The low level of turnout - 28.35% - greatly depreciates the very decent, at first glance, 68% of the votes that A. Nikitin won. Because its legitimacy in the eyes of all residents of the region of “conscious” age was, it turns out, only 19%. That is, he is the governor of 1/5 of the population.

On the other hand, especially to kill to the young governor not worth it. The same misfortune befell some of his other colleagues.

It was funny to listen to how the federal media sang hosannas to the head of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, admiring how this even younger, 30-year-old manager managed to score 81.06% (Putin himself was satisfied with 63.6% five years ago). But 65% of Russians turned out for the presidential elections in the Russian Federation. And for the elections of the Kaliningrad governor - 39.35%. So Alikhanov’s legitimacy is 32.4%. This is better than in the Novgorod region, but Alikhanov worked in the region for two years, and served as acting governor for more than a year.

Nikitin’s closer competitor (in the eyes of the Kremlin, of course) is Artur Parfenchikov, who was also appointed acting head of Karelia this year. Reporting his victory (more than 60%), the crafty TASS agency did not announce the percentage of turnout. However it did Center for Political and Social Research of the Republic of Karelia . And it became clear why the agency, which had so conveniently regained its Soviet name, remained silent.

Parfenchikov (unlike Nikitin) is a local native, and there have been no elections in Karelia for 15 years. And yet, the republic seemingly ignored the elections. 29.19% of voters came to the ballot boxes. And Parfenchikov’s legitimacy was thus about 18%.

Let's rummage around some more political map countries. Let’s ignore Mordovia - simply because it traditionally comes to vote en masse, just like some Caucasian republic or the Moshensky district of the Novgorod region (probably the everyday life of the Mordovians is boring, there are no other entertainments; just don’t give me nationalism - I have a bit of Mordovianism flowing within me) blood). Let's take a look at Yaroslavl, where United Russia member Dmitry Mironov captured the governor's seat, showing a glorious 79.32%. However, only a third of the million-strong voters came to the polls. Therefore, the winner's legitimacy is 26.7%.

His party member Igor Vasiliev became the Kirov governor with a result of 64.03%. He replaced Nikita Belykh, who is still waiting in prison for the court to decide his fate. However, the Vyatichi people, without any enthusiasm, went to change the governor, who was accused of bribery. Less than a third of citizens fulfilled their “civic duty.” Legitimacy, therefore, is quite Novgorod: 19.3%.

In the Sverdlovsk region, the field was cleared in advance for Governor Kuyvashev, depriving Yekaterinburg Mayor E. Roizman of the opportunity to pass the municipal filter. And in order to increase turnout, simultaneously with voting in 20 municipalities, a drawing of prizes was held from the organizers of the Ural Gems festival, who “put on a barrel” cars, apartments, household appliances. A mountain of effort gave birth to a victory the size of a mouse. Kuyvashev scored 62.16%, but since 37.31% of voters turned out for the elections, the triumphant trophy is 23% legitimacy.

“Central Asia” will not repeat itself

Now let's move from geography to history.

This topic is apparently risky. It is noticeable that the acting governor of Novgorod not only does not consider himself a successor to his predecessor, but also treats him in approximately the same way as he treated his predecessor. Although the current situation is different from the situation in 2007: Mitin came to the province, already denounced as “Chicago” and being cleaned out by the security forces, and he himself left his post not at night, like M. Prusak, but quite openly, making a statement to the press, yes He was also accepted among other retirees by the head of state. But if he ended up on Nikitin’s list of candidates for a seat in the upper house of the Russian parliament, it was clearly under pressure from certain lobbyists in the capital: the new team’s attitude towards the “Mitinsky times” is jealous.

If so, let us remember the result of S. Mitin in the 2012 gubernatorial elections - the first after the abolition of the democratic procedure throughout the country. The turnout then was 41.5%. Let's leave aside the assumption that citizens are missing elections (in the Sverdlovsk region they now have the opportunity to vote for a governor for the first time in 14 years - so what?) and let's put aside suspicions of postscripts (the mass nature of the phenomenon has not been revealed). Let's take it as true that the governor received 75.95% of the votes. This means that S. Mitin’s legitimacy has reached 32.5%. That is, he had the right to say that he relied on a third of the population. Not for every fifth...

Now let’s remember M. Prusak - the memory of whom his successor carefully erased from Novgorod history. He, if you have not forgotten, was generally one of the first Russian governors elected by the people.

On December 17, 1995, the 35-year-old head of the regional administration won 56.17% of the votes with a turnout of 67.33%. The times were not easy: the year 1993 was still memorable, the slogan “Yeltsin’s gang - brought to justice” was still heard, and Yeltsin’s appointee, who was considered one of the president’s favorites, gained the trust of a third of citizens.

On September 5, 1999, he received a fantastic, Central Asian 91.56% of the votes with a turnout of 50.16%. That is, he could rely on more than 40% of citizens.

4 years later, the region, already tired of the permanent ruler, ticked him off in 78.73% of the ballots. 37.11% of those eligible took part in the procedure. That is, the regional regime, already stagnant and overgrown with a mass of claims from citizens (as well as security forces), received legitimacy higher than this year (and even than in 1995).

The educated sense...

All this is not said as a reproach to Andrei Nikitin. Times have just changed. More precisely, times have changed political regime: deliberate and sophisticated.

It seems to me that it influences a lot. And even the abolition of the “against all” column plays against the elections as such. This faceless “candidate” from the ballots of the past, by the way, in 1999 and 2003 invariably finished second in the Novgorod region, right behind the current governor, gaining from 2 to 5%, that is, he was more popular than most local and visiting politicians. The opportunity to vote for this phantom returned the voter the appearance of choice and allowed him to declare his position.

The voting date also has an impact, of course. I don’t think that V. Putin would want to run for president in the first ten days of September, when Russians have their mouths full even without presidents - the one who doesn’t catch the day “ velvet season"in the south, disappears in country or suburban dachas. The last time he was elected at the very beginning of spring, when not only in Mordovia a citizen had nothing to entertain himself with. And previous elections in the Novgorod region were held in mid-October, when the harvest was harvested and the beds were ready for spring. You should have invited people to the ballot boxes in the summer! Which, if you remember, is what the Duma of Veliky Novgorod once did, feigning yielding to the pressure of citizens and scheduling a referendum on the issue of direct elections of the mayor of the city at a time when it would certainly be declared invalid.

I was seriously surprised by the forecast of voter activity in the Novgorod region, which was given by the Agency for Political and Economic Communications in the summer, predicting a turnout of 54.6%. An excellent illustration of the impotence of Russian sociology, which is bogged down in a commercial quagmire!

By the way, in 2012, even Veliky Novgorod, which has always been in opposition to the provincial government, always finds matters more important than expressing will, and is always skeptical due to the higher concentration of the educated class, which understands what is happening with the country’s political system, showed a weak, but quite acceptable turnout : 34.31%. This, gentlemen, is not the current 24.6%.

The inconvenient timing is not a coincidence. United Russia knows what it is doing. We have already written about Change is possible if the party of bureaucrats is pushed to the political margins, where it belongs. But for this it is necessary to push the designers and inspirers of this party out of power. The task seems to be unsolvable today.

Rather, it will be the other way around. The steady decline in turnout will end with the parliament - of course, “at the request of the working people” - canceling the compromised regional elections altogether. He will leave only presidential ones - for the sake of the West.

Governor of the Novgorod region Andrei Nikitin officially took office. The inauguration ceremony took place in the large hall of the regional philharmonic society. Andrei Nikitin took the oath and received the chief certificate official region.

Ladies in elegant dresses, men in classic suits - protocol ruled on this day. Become a witness historical event the Novgorod Philharmonic brought together the public, business leaders, representatives of government bodies from municipal to federal structures, the clergy and, of course, journalists. In total there are about five thousand people, among whom there are many familiar faces.

Here is the ex-governor, and now a member of the Federation Council from the Novgorod region, Sergei Mitin, deputy, walking through the Novgorod Kremlin State Duma Alexander Korovnikov, here is another parliamentarian Anton Morozov, by the way, he is also Andrei Nikitin’s competitor in the last gubernatorial elections. On September 10, Andrei Nikitin confidently beat his competitors, gaining 67.99 percent of the votes.

Chairman of the regional election commission Tatyana Lebedeva presents the certificate to the governor, and the speaker regional Duma Elena Pisareva, as expected, invites the elected head of the region to take an oath of allegiance to the residents of the Novgorod region, the Russian constitution and the charter of the region.

Andrei Nikitin's inauguration ceremony turned out to be much more modest and dynamic than that of his predecessors. Only a few people spoke from the stage. Metropolitan of Novgorod and Old Russian Leo read out congratulations from Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, and wishes authorized representative President in the North-Western District Nikolai Tsukanov was handed over by his deputy Vladimir Sevrikov.

In his first official speech as governor, which lasted about 20 minutes, Andrei Nikitin said that several difficult years await us. The development program will have to be implemented in conditions of a shortage of funds and high debt burden on the budget. The economy of the region, together with the entire country, as the governor put it, was caught in a storm, but survived it more difficult than other regions. There is a lot of work to be done, but residents are already waiting for the results. From the Philharmonic, after a small buffet,

Andrei Nikitin went straight to his office, where he invited journalists. Behind the door, the sign on which has lost the prefix “I.O.” the governor shows his first workplace after repair. Correspondents are interested in whether there will be further personnel changes in the government. “They will!” Nikitin answers. Open selection will be announced for vacant positions. This will allow us to give jobs to those who truly deserve it. Maybe then Novgorod region, like this office, will change over time.