“Andrey Travnikov is a native of Cherepovets; like many Cherepovets, graduated from Cherepovets State University, went to work at the Cherepovets Iron and Steel Works. There he proved himself to be an exceptionally conscientious worker, a skillful leader, and knew how to unite and motivate people to solve common problems,” one of the managers of the Severstal company told RBC. RBC's interlocutor noted that the new head Novosibirsk region showed “efficiency, efficiency and openness to dialogue” also in his post as deputy plenipotentiary representative of the Northwestern Federal District.

For the region, the appointment was “an absolute shock,” former deputy governor of the Novosibirsk region Viktor Kozodoy told RBC. “On this occasion, we can only sing the song ‘Where in Vologda?’” he sneers. “Nothing is known about Travnikov; his candidacy was not discussed on the sidelines.” The choice of Travnikov is frankly incomprehensible, agrees political consultant Dmitry Fetisov. “He was considered a good business manager, but he absolutely did not prove himself either in the embassy of the Northwestern Federal District or as the mayor of Vologda. At the same time, he is not familiar with the region and will be negatively received by Novosibirsk residents and local elites, who are very disapproving of the “Varangians,” the expert argues.

For this region, Travnikov is an “absolute Varangian,” and he will certainly have problems building a gubernatorial image, says Rostislav Turovsky, vice-president of the Center for Political Research. The appointment of Travnikov, according to Turovsky, is due to the fact that in the Novosibirsk region they could not find a worthy successor for Gorodetsky. Part of the regional elite is “old, leaving, like Gorodetsky himself, and part is too small for large positions.” The expert called Travnikov “a 100% figure in Severstal.” “This company controls the entire Vologda region, but its interests in the Novosibirsk region, to put it mildly, are not obvious,” the political scientist emphasized.

Average Governor

Vladimir Gorodetsky was appointed acting governor of the Novosibirsk region in March 2014, after the resignation (due to loss of confidence) of the previous head of the region, Vasily Yurchenko. In the 2014 elections, Gorodetsky won 65%. Gorodetsky headed Novosibirsk for 13 years from 2000, then served as vice-governor. He was considered a person close to Viktor Tolokonsky, who headed the region from 2000 to 2010, and then went to the Siberian embassy.

Unlike Travnikov’s appointment, Gorodetsky’s resignation did not come as a surprise to anyone. After the start of the governors, political scientists from "" and from included him in the list of heads of regions "for departure".

Local experts had been expecting Gorodetsky’s resignation since the end of summer, Kozodoy told RBC after working with the Toguchinsky timber processing plant. However, Gorodetsky’s main problem was not corruption scandals involving his ministers, but conflicts with regional elites and, the expert believes. “Protests began in Novosibirsk in the winter of 2017 after the decision to increase housing and communal services tariffs by 15%, rallies and pickets took place different groups. Novosibirsk started going to rallies as if they were going to work,” Kozodoy explained.

It was under Gorodetsky that United Russia was defeated in the 2014 mayoral elections of Novosibirsk, losing to the communist Anatoly Lokot. being with a communist did not add to the governor’s popularity, political scientist Andrei Kolyadin is convinced. “His resignation continues the trend of changing heads of regions where there are problems with local elites,” the political scientist concluded.

Political consultant Fetisov called Gorodetsky an “average governor” who had a good understanding of the tasks of the federal center, tried to actively work to improve the investment climate, but did not have a strong team. The Kremlin did not have any particular complaints against him, so the main reason for his resignation was most likely his age, the expert believes.

Where will the Novosibirsk governor's trip to the Kremlin lead?

Rumors about a possible change of governor in our region that were circulating last weeks, were still confirmed.

What do you remember?

As reported by the Kremlin press service, Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 6 signed a decree on the resignation of the governor of the Novosibirsk region Vladimir Gorodetsky. He submitted his resignation of his own free will, and the President accepted his resignation. The intrigue is that the day before, the press service of the NSO governor denied rumors about such a scenario. Let me remind you that Vladimir Gorodetsky became the governor of the NSO in 2014, by the way, also unexpectedly, after the resignation of Vasily Yurchenko. Before this, Gorodetsky was the mayor of Novosibirsk for 13 years, but then he left for the administration of the regional government, heading a project for the development of the agglomeration. What do Novosibirsk residents remember about Vladimir Filippovich as governor? First, about the undoubted “advantages” of his reign. Let me remind you that at this time the economic crisis was gaining momentum, caused by harsh sanctions of Western countries against Russia and retaliatory ones. Food prices have risen sharply, and the issue of import substitution has arisen in many areas. Despite all this, it was possible to increase the region’s own income from 98.5 billion rubles. in 2014 to 120.8 billion rubles. in 2017. And reduce the regional budget deficit from 11.9 billion rubles to 1.3 billion rubles, respectively.

We developed a program for the reindustrialization of NSO, the presentation of which took place at Technoprom-15. We are talking about creating high-tech and knowledge-intensive production.

Over the past three years, the average salaries of Novosibirsk residents have increased from 26.1 thousand rubles. in 2014 to 32.2 thousand rubles. mainly due to withdrawal from the “gray zone”.

Under him, the region managed to attract more than 1 billion rubles from the federal budget for roads. Plus funds from local budgets. Many roads in the metropolis have been transformed. The issue of granting the status of a priority development area to the villages of Linevo and Gorny has been practically resolved. And these are preferential tax conditions. This is expected to attract investment and promote their development.

But two grandiose projects, to which Vladimir Filippovich devoted a lot of time and effort, caused scandals. This is the construction of a fourth toll bridge across the Ob in Novosibirsk and two waste processing plants. The implementation of both is on the terms of public-private partnership. High income for investors for decades to come and risks due to the regional budget - this raised many questions among deputies of the Legislative Assembly. They managed to significantly reduce their income figures. In addition, none of the experts can vouch for the high traffic of the new bridge, because, as surveys show, no one wants to pay for the toll voluntarily. There were rumors that the plan was to ensure high traffic by closing the Communal Bridge for several years under the pretext of repairs. As for the project of two waste processing plants, here, in addition to financial issues, environmentalists sounded the alarm. The place was chosen poorly.

Everyone remembers the scandal that broke out last year over an increase in heat tariffs, which significantly exceeded those recommended by the Russian government. And the governor approved them in principle, explaining that SIBEKO stated that the network was very worn out and there was a high probability of major accidents in winter. But deputies of the Novosibirsk City Council, and later the Antimonopoly Committee of the Russian Federation for NSO, had questions about the purchase of expensive Lexus cars and other expenses of the monopolist company.

Vladimir Filippovich has good quality- he listens to serious arguments and in all these cases went towards the deputies. Heat tariffs have been reduced.

From Vologda to Siberia!

Vladimir Putin surprised everyone by appointing 46-year-old mayor of Vologda Andrei Travnikov as acting governor of the NSO. Nowadays, many people joke on social networks: “Why was this person exiled to Siberia?” But it’s the other way around: Andrei Aleksandrovich is one of the politicians who made the right career, rising from the working class. He served in the army for two years. Then he returned to the plant and studied at the same time. In the 90s, he worked in the same workshop with Oleg Kuvshinnikov, who noticed Travnikov’s business qualities and called him to his team when he became mayor of Vologda in 2010. In March 2012, shortly after Kuvshinnikov was elected governor of the Vologda region, Andrei Alexandrovich was appointed his deputy.

From 2014 to 2016, he was Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern federal district. In November 2016, he was elected mayor of Vologda. It is clear that little can be done in a few months. But under him, the road around the city was completed. Under him, a program to repair courtyard areas began. According to local political scientist Andrei Patralov, Andrei Travnikov was tipped for the post of governor of the Vologda region. He is a man of action, not prone to florid speeches or spectacular appearances in public.

Vladimir Gorodetsky is the eighth governor in the country, whom the Russian President recently dismissed (the ninth is in the Omsk region). Moreover, rumors about such a decision have been circulating for a long time. Why is this happening? The country has a difficult economic situation due to the crisis; incomes of the population are falling. And next year there will be presidential elections. All nine governors who left came from problem regions where population discontent had risen to a high level. Scandals in the Novosibirsk region have not subsided over the past couple of years. Just look at the increase in housing and communal services tariffs in the region by 15%, the scandals over toll bridge projects and waste recycling plants that have been going on for several months... In general, they removed governors who had a high anti-rating among the population. So in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Viktor Tolokonsky failed to achieve people’s love...

And although the economic reports of the NSO are quite decent, I think that the echo of numerous scandals reached Moscow. And now is not the time to ignore them. It is quite possible that Vladimir Filippovich himself knew about his imminent resignation. But there was no decision by the President of the Russian Federation. I think the delay was due to the choice of a successor. Several people from the local elite were tipped to take his place. But some cannot keep the situation under control, others are too willful, and others have the wrong political views.

The choice fell on Andrei Travnikov, probably because he has both managerial and political experience, and he is not associated with Novosibirsk influence groups. It will not be easy for him, because our region is a minefield: one wrong step and a scandal will begin. Representatives of all local elites are tense, because it is not clear who he will rely on, what policy he has, what leadership style, what in general is he capable of? I think there will be a lot of intrigue now.

Should we declare an emergency?

Chairman of the Council of the Association of Peasant (Farm) Farms and Agricultural Cooperatives of the NSO Yuri Sheludyakov:

Many farms in the region are now on the verge of ruin. In a good way, we urgently need to announce state of emergency! The harvest is delayed - most of the grain has not been harvested. The grain is wet, so no one wants to buy it. There is nowhere to dry. Farmers do not know who to sell grain to, although the price has already dropped from 10 to 4.5 thousand rubles per ton. Last year, buckwheat cost 23 thousand rubles, and now it costs no more than 7 thousand.

My personal opinion is that in many ways such a deplorable situation arose due to the inaction of the authorities. When the governor was told about problems that needed to be urgently solved, at all meetings he used three large farms as an example - Sibirskaya Niva, Russkoye Pole, Irmen. But even among them, only the last one, Bugakov, has a stable financial position.

Andrey Aleksandrovich Travnikov.

Born on February 1, 1971 in Cherepovets, Vologda region. In 1990, he began working as an electrician at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant. In 1990–1992 he served in the army. In 1992 he returned to the plant, where he worked as an electrician until 1995. In 1998 he graduated from Cherepovets State University with a degree in electric drive and automation of industrial installations and technological complexes. He worked as a software engineer, in 1999 he was appointed project manager of the Severstal directorate for strategic planning. Then he received a Master of Business Administration degree from the State University Higher School of Economics. In 2000–2006 - deputy head of the section rolling shop. In 2006–2010, General Director of Elektroremont LLC (as part of Severstal OJSC). In 2014, he underwent retraining of the reserve management personnel at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation. From June 2014 to November 2016 - Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-Western District. In November 2016, he was elected mayor of Vologda. Married, has two children.

WHY DID VLADIMIR GORODETSKY LEAVE?

A political scientist expresses his opinion on changes in the leadership of the Novosibirsk region Dmitry Puchkin:

The main drawback, I think, is most likely that many representatives of the political class and the public perceive governors in comparison: they perfectly remember the style of work Viktor Tolokonsky, which was very dynamic, is remembered and Vasily Yurchenko, which also has a lot of dynamism. And against the background of them Vladimir Gorodetsky looks like a person without any drive, without dynamics. This is such a leader of a conservative plan. In addition, especially for Last year A huge gap has clearly emerged between the public and the governor, since very big problems have emerged in terms of communication.

And now - a word from a social activist, and formerly vice-governor Victor Kozodoy:

Novosibirsk is a free-thinking city. This had to be taken into account and worked with public opinion and consciousness. In this case, this was actively ignored, some groups were cut off. This is not entirely correct from a management point of view. Of course, many questions arose and still arise regarding personnel policy, personnel, existing system management no longer corresponds to reality. Realities are changing - we need to change the structure, we need to change the approach. People work the way they did 10 - 15 years ago.

Political scientist's opinion Dmitry Bereznyakov:

Recent conflicts arising in the public space indicate that those interest groups that currently exist in our region still pursue their own goals and cannot come to some kind of generalized line of common regional policy. This affects decision-making at the governor level, and this is certainly his weakness. The elites cannot agree among themselves; they pursue their own interests - they view the territory of the city and region as a certain zone for making profit, and not as a territory for certain long-term investments, where you yourself live. Therefore, a situation arises when the elites do not agree, the top management is not able to reconcile them among themselves, and top level As a result, conflicting decisions are made. But this is the specificity of Novosibirsk; it has been emphasized by many political scientists since the 2000s.

WHAT WAS THE RELATIONSHIP OF GORODETSKY WITH COLLEAGUES IN AUTHORITY - THE REGIONAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY?

Deputy speaks Vadim Ageenko:

I think that constructive relations did not develop, because communicating with factions once every six months is not constructive interaction. Deputies of many committees of the budget, transport, and our committee sometimes turned to the governor on some federal programs that we considered controversial and needed to be discussed, but we were not able to have such a frank discussion. They sent ministers and deputies who insisted only on their point of view and did not want to understand. Yes, we were included in programs for improvement and safe roads, but these were federal programs. I don’t think that this is a great merit of the governor - there was simply a desire to allocate money to the constituent entities of the Federation. Our subject was chosen as one of those where it is easier to do this.

A political scientist talks about one important advantage of Gorodetsky Dmitry Bereznyakov:

Gorodetsky’s most important advantage is that he, by and large, managed to stabilize the elite conflict that existed in the region when Yurchenko left. The governor is essentially the person who must be able to coordinate interests. There are governors who have not succeeded in this. Ours succeeded, he has this plus sign.

© Evgeny Mezdrikov. Vladimir Gorodetsky (leaves)

The governor of the Novosibirsk region, Vladimir Gorodetsky, resigned on October 6. He leaves his position “of his own free will” after a visit to Moscow.

« Accept the resignation of the Governor of the Novosibirsk Region V.F. Gorodetsky. at your own request » , says the Kremlin website.

Andrei Travnikov has been appointed acting governor.

Vladimir Gorodetsky was born on July 11, 1948 in the Smolensk region. He graduated from the Bryansk Institute of Transport Engineering and came to Novosibirsk in 1972. In 1985-1989 - second secretary of the Pervomaisky district party committee, chairman of the district executive committee, then first deputy chairman of the city executive committee.

Since 1991, Gorodetsky worked at the Novosibirsk cotton mill. In 1996, he returned to the mayor’s office as first deputy mayor of the city, Viktor Tolokonsky. After the latter was elected governor, he began to perform his duties. Since 2000, he was elected mayor of Novosibirsk three times. On January 9, 2014, Governor Vasily Yurchenko appointed him as his deputy for agglomeration development, which was perceived as...

However, in March 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Yurchenko due to loss of confidence and appointed Gorodetsky as acting head of the region. On September 14 of the same year, he won the election with 64% of the vote. His closest pursuer from the LDPR, State Duma deputy Dmitry Savelyev received 18.9%.

Andrey Travnikov was born on February 1, 1971 in the city of Cherepovets. Graduated from Cherepovets Metallurgical College in 1990 and Cherepovets State University in 1998. He is Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Northwestern Federal District. In addition, Andrei Travnikov led large divisions of the Severstal company, worked as the first deputy mayor of Cherepovets and was the first deputy governor.