By Ekaterina Tesemnikova, exclusively to VK
A few days before the end of his term of office, President Medvedev decided to fire yet another governor. This time it was his own appointee, the head of the Stavropol region, Valeriy Gayevsky. On the same day, May,2, the President finally sealed the much-discussed law on governor’s elections. The governor candidates are now to be proposed by the political parties and elected directly be the people. Their terms will last 5 years and one person will be allowed to do only 2 terms in a row. The law will come into effect on June, 1 and the first elections are to be held on the first Sunday of October.
It seems that the prompt resignation of Gayevsky is caused by the desire of Moscow to get rid of all the ‘weak’ candidates before the above-mentioned law comes into effect. And Gayevsky showed his weakness log ago; the journalists even made up a long list of his failures. For example, he failed to attract investors to Stavropol resort project; he couldn’t organize the Stavropol Economic Forum proposed by the Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President to the North Caucasian Federal District Alexander Khloponin, and the rate of criminal activity in the region increased dramatically. And there was also the scandal with elections in the town of Lermontov: the deceived candidates went on a hunger strike. Gayevsky said they were ‘provocateurs’ while Kholoponin supported the strikers. As a result their demand – re-elections – was fulfilled.
The rumor has it that the main reason for Gayrvsky’s resignation is his tense relationship with Khloponin.
Valery Zerenkov, 63, was appointed the temporary acting governor of the district. This candidature didn’t surprise the observers. Zerenkov headed the Stavropol Parliament in the 90s and last year he became state Duma MP, where he worked in the Committee for Property issues. According to Zerenkov the main problems that Stavropol region is facing now are: the inter-ethnic tensions, the unification of the Cossacks, low wages, financing the education and healthcare.
Here are some excerpts from is interview to the ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ dating back 4 years:
On his career:
You can govern well only when you can work well yourself, only when you yourself are a good specialist in what you do.
On happiness:
I agree with Yuri Nikulin who said that happiness is when you go to your work in good mood and return in good mood. I am a happy person, I have two kids and four grandchildren, I love y job, I’ve achieved almost everything that I wanted.
On cooking:
I love cooking, and I like good table appointments: I think that food should look good as much as taste good.
On smoking:
I don’t smoke and can’t stand others doing it. I fight this bad habit in any way I can
On sports:
I love sports. I took up wrestling when I was 13, and I became a master of sports candidate.
On hobbies:
I don’t like gambling, or fishing or hunting. But I love sports, theatre and so on. But my main passion is my job.
On principles:
I always wanted to be perceived as a true man – a defender and a person to rely on. I never intrigue against anyone, and I can’s stand cynicism. Another important principle for me is that I never lie and I always help when I’m asked for help.
