The head of the executive power in Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov, is known for being one of the most discussed and scandalous politicians among state leaders at the regional level in record time. In the four ratings of governors, opposite to Konovalov's position is the definition of “the most”.
Head of the problematic subject of the Russian Federation
The Republic of Khakassia (RH) is at the top of federal news today. The depressed region, squeezed into a ring of administrative resources, has one of the worst financial conditions in the Federation: the amount of debt is more than 21.4 billion rubles, the insolvency of the population, low salaries, the threat of default. The republic is under the external treasury department. At the end of 2019, the "news of the day" was the announcement that, at the initiative of Governor Valentin Konovalov, the Ministry of Finance developed a plan to increase the revenue base of the republic. The goal is to increase the consolidated budget revenues in 2020 by 1 billion 236 million rubles.
However, when covering the political events in the region, observers focus on some aspects of the activities of the current head of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov, who took over as governor in the fall of 2018. On the one hand, the political community admits that Valentin Olegovich has to work in rather difficult conditions, it is practically impossible to raise such a problematic subject of the Russian Federation. On the other hand, they say that he is not fully responsible for everything that happens in the republic, that he makes unforgivable mistakes and miscalculations. Today Valentin Konovalov is positioned as an inept leader, a bad manager, and a scandalous politician. The reason for this is the personal qualities, youth and lack of experience, as well as the party affiliation of the governor of the RH.
Worst Regional Leader
"National rating of governors" - under this name, the Center for Information Communications "Rating" periodically publishes the results of studies evaluating the activities of the heads of the RF subjects. Representatives of the expert communities who are involved in the work have repeatedly assessed the head of the Republic of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov, as the worst. According to the results of a survey conducted in June 2019, having failed to improve indicators compared to the previous period, he traditionally took the last 85th place.
According to a public opinion poll conducted by VTsIOM, the number of supporters of the "people's" governor is rapidly falling - in the second year of his rule, he loses 10-15% of support every quarter. Only 16% of the respondents are satisfied with Konovalov's work as the head of the republic, and every tenth who voted for him in the elections would no longer do this. For many people, Valentin Olegovich from the governor of "hopes" gradually turned into the governor of "disappointments".
But these are dry statistics. As for the qualitative assessment, the picture here is no less comforting. Representatives of the public, as well as many officials of the republican structures, suggest that the current head of the executive branch resign and give way to a more experienced and professional person. Some of the parliamentarians of Khakassia are in solidarity with the deputy of the Supreme Council Denis Brazauskas, who made a proposal to delete the governor's administration from the republican Constitution, since it is "an absolutely useless body."
What's the matter? Why Valentin Konvalov was retrained from a candidate "about nothing" to a "worthless" governor. Is he unable or unwilling to solve the problems of the region? Do they interfere with his work or do they not allow him to prove himself to the fullest? The question remains open.
The lowest income governor
Every year the Kommersant edition analyzes and informs its readers about how the income and property of the heads of Russian regions have changed. The amount indicated in the reporting documents at the end of 2018 by the governor of Khakassia was recognized as one of the lowest incomes in the entire history of declaring companies. Only the ex-governor of Dagestan M. Magomedov received less than V. Konvalov's earnings - 150 thousand rubles in 2009. In the current rating, the Khakass head with an annual salary of 607.4 thousand ended up in the company of the poor governors (Kalmykia and Ivanovo region), who received an income of just over a million.
It should be noted that the last position in this list itself is not very indicative, because Konovalov took office only on November 15, 2018. Things got better quickly and simply. The newly-made governor considered the amount of 100 million rubles a year not substantial enough, which is allocated from the state budget for the maintenance of the administration of the head of the republic. One of the first regulations adopted by Konovalov at the new post was the decision to award bonuses to the staff of the apparatus in the amount of 200% to 400% of the salary. It is easy to calculate that with such an income, the governor of Khakassia no longer appears in the “tail” of the rating of the heads of Russian regions. Its current income has tripled compared to last year, says Kommersant. And in your republic, you cannot call the governor a poor person (for comparison: the current value of the nominally accrued average salary in Khakassia is 40, 4 thousand rubles).
Young party member and inexperienced manager
The fact that today federal and regional officials occupy their seats at the age of 30 is not an exception to the rule, but rather a trend in Russia's domestic policy. Among them are such energetic and business personalities as Dmitry Artyukhov, head of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, the head of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov. Among the galaxy of young functionaries at the regional level, Konovalov is in the position of the most unsuccessful governor. Political analysts are inclined to explain this by the lack of experience in business or management activities in Valentin Olegovich. Before being elected to the post of head of the executive branch, the young man was engaged exclusively in public work in Abakan, was an employee of the party apparatus in the Khakass branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Many in political circles note that he makes mistakes in his work because of his personal qualities (indecision, populism, amateurism).
According to experts, Khakassia, following the results of the 2018 elections, has turned into a field for a political experiment. After all, the venerable United Russia member Viktor Zimin as head of the republic was replaced by a representative of the opposition, the young communist Valentin Konovalov. It turned out that, least of all, Valentin Olegovich was ready for the fact that he would have to deal with his native region. Having started actively building a party career in 2015, by the age of 30, having become a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Konovalov considered the election campaign in the republic as a springboard to the federal level.
Why does a young party member and inexperienced manager fail to become a successful leader? “Such is the fate of young communists: with all their might they call Russia to the ax, or she calls them to the parade ground,” the political associates of Valentin Olegovich say pathetically. “Time will leave its mark, youth will become a song and will leave us for others,” say those who continue to pin their hopes on the widely discussed and notorious current governor of the Republic of Kh.
