Last Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Igor Komarov, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, ex-CEO of the Roscosmos state corporation, as his plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District. Igor Anatolyevich replaced Plenipotentiary Representative Mikhail Babich, who presented his credentials as Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Belarus the day before yesterday in Minsk.
And although personnel changes in the embassy are of greater concern to the Nizhny Novgorod regional elites, since this is where the headquarters of the “governor general” is located, as well as the top of the regions he supervises, we decided to remind where this institution came from and who was noted in this position. And also tell us what the new plenipotentiary is famous for.
Divorce with the Urals
The institution of plenipotentiary representatives of the President of Russia originated in our country as a response to the separatist attempts of a number of southern republics. Vladimir Putin’s decree of May 13, 2000 stated that the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the federal district is an official who is appointed by the head of state and represents him within the district, ensures the implementation of the constitutional powers of the head of state in the territory of the district. The plenipotentiary representative is a federal civil servant and is part of the presidential administration. The first seven plenipotentiary representatives - in the Central, Volga, Ural, Northwestern, Siberian, Far Eastern and Southern federal districts - were appointed at the same time, in 2000. Later, the North Caucasus and Crimean federal districts were also formed (the latter has already been abolished).
For the Kama region, the division of districts was then a surprise, since our region had always been considered part of the Greater Urals and competed for primacy with the Sverdlovsk region. Having become part of the Volga District, which was dominated by agricultural regions, and the capital of the plenipotentiary mission was based in Nizhny Novgorod, the Kama region administratively forever lagged behind Yekaterinburg, which became the center of a new “vicerarism” - the Ural Federal District.
The first plenipotentiary representative in the Volga region was the former Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and leader of the Union of Right Forces faction in the State Duma, Sergei Kiriyenko. The fourth dan holder in aikido got along well with the governor of the Perm region, Yuri Trutnev, who has also been practicing martial arts since his youth. Together they implemented a project to unite the Perm region and the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug. And after the creation of the Perm Territory, in one period they left their then posts and received new appointments - in the capital. Sergei Kiriyenko headed the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (now Rosatom), and Yuri Trutnev headed the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation.
Faint trace
The following plenipotentiaries, although they were well-known and outstanding personalities in their own right, left too little trace in the history of the Perm region. From 2005 to 2008, the post was held by Alexander Konovalov, whose main political advantage was graduating from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University, where Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev also once studied.
The tallest plenipotentiary - and Alexander Vladimirovich was two meters tall - later took the post of Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
He was replaced by a native of foreign intelligence, Grigory Rapota, who was already a pensioner by age. He held the position from May 2008 to December 2011, having outlived all possible age limits for holding public office, and then he also took the post of State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, where he still works!
The last one was Mikhail Babich, who served as plenipotentiary from December 2011 to August 2018. By the way, he was, perhaps, the only one who seriously influenced the state of affairs in the Perm region. Mikhail Viktorovich was involved in Viktor Basargin’s resignation from the governor’s post; at the same time, he tried to lobby the chief federal inspector for the region, Igor Tsvetkov, to become governor.
According to Zvezda sources, Igor Borisovich’s candidacy was seriously considered in the Kremlin, but Maxim Reshetnikov’s lobbyists turned out to be stronger. Therefore, soon after the appointment of a new governor and the presidential elections, the inspector left his position, went to the capital, and they report that he is still not employed. He lives on the general's pension.
Generally speaking, plenipotentiary representatives rarely had a tangible influence on the formation of the political landscape of the Perm region, intervening in exceptional cases. The broad masses mainly remember them from their visits in connection with the introduction of new governors, when during their visits the center of Perm was blocked by traffic police officers and the city was stuck in traffic jams.
A chance for the defense industry?
Apparently, the decorative nature of plenipotentiary missions, which no longer bear significant political burden and responsibility, has long been striking. There were rumors that after the spring presidential elections they would be liquidated as unnecessary (by the way, this is not the first time such conversations have circulated - ed.). However, this did not happen. On the contrary, with the beginning of the new political season, they started talking about strengthening the role of embassies and even about the likely consolidation of regions based on them, and... about a new administrative-territorial division of the country!
However, the appointment of a new plenipotentiary representative for the Volga Federal District, Igor Komarov, speaks more of the first option. Igor Anatolyevich, of course, has a rich and varied biography. After all, by the age of 54, he had not worked or served anywhere. He even has a foreign award to his name - the French Order of the Legion of Honor. But in recent years his career has visibly declined. The work of Roscosmos, which he headed, was criticized at government meetings, as well as at specialized meetings with Putin. Management blamed poor quality control in the industry, as well as financial problems. During Komarov’s leadership, the total debt of the state corporation’s enterprises exceeded 150 billion rubles.
Since it is still not customary to put such people on the street, Igor Anatolyevich was first appointed Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, and after just two months he was sent to the Volga region...
Some business media ridiculed the appointment, but it holds some promise for the Perm region. There are enterprises directly related to the rocket and space industry in the region.
And let’s hope that Igor Komarov will not remain indifferent to the needs of the Kama defense industry.
Text: Evgeny Plotnikov
The large-scale personnel changes of the past week made a number of regions and serious departments shudder. Russian President Vladimir Putin once again put the principle of personnel rotation into practice. This time, the change of composition does not occur according to the classical canons - despite the proximity of the federal elections, both the heads of the regions and the key coordinators of the processes in the territory - the plenipotentiary representatives of the president - are changing. The most violent reaction was caused by the news about the possible change of plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District, Mikhail Babich.
Despite the fact that most experts agree that these personnel decisions at the federal level have been brewing for a long time, they came as a surprise to many. Among journalists and political scientists, the massive personnel changes in the last week of July have already been dubbed “salvos.”
Swift and pre-thought-out personnel decisions are the signature style of the Russian President
New leaders took up positions in four constituent entities of the Russian Federation at once: strategically important Sevastopol, in the Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl and Kirov regions. Of the quite expected, perhaps, only the last - after Nikita Belykh, the region was tensely waiting for a new leader.
Besides, Vladimir Putin replaced four presidential plenipotentiaries in federal districts. Former governor of the Kaliningrad region Nikolay Tsukanov was appointed presidential envoy to the Northwestern Federal District. In this post, he replaced the plenipotentiary representative with Nizhny Novgorod roots Vladimir Bulavin, which as a result of reshuffles of the federal department of the Customs Service at a difficult and responsible moment for it.
The Crimean Peninsula has now officially become part of the Southern Federal District, which is headed by the former Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice Vladimir Ustinov.
Presidential Envoy to Crimea Oleg Belavintsev received an equivalent assignment to the Caucasus.
Now the former governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo appointed presidential envoy to the Siberian Federal District.
It is obvious that the head of state made the main personnel decision at the end of the cannonade of high-profile resignations and appointments. If all other decisions went around Ukraine, then the last one concerned it in the most intimate and direct way. The key point concerned the Volga Federal District, or rather, its first person.
Vladimir Putin has prepared a reset of the diplomatic course between Russia and Square.
The social feast is over
The rumor that personnel news has not been exhausted appeared in a number of media outlets on Thursday evening last week. And already on Friday, a number of sources confirmed that the candidacy of the Volga plenipotentiary Mikhail Babich flawlessly passed to the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Ukraine in both houses of the Russian parliament.
We would like to remind you that the current Volga region plenipotentiary representative may be replaced in this post by Mikhail Zurabov. Many experts note that in the new realities of relations between Russia and Ukraine, Zurabov turned out to be unable to conduct a constructive dialogue between the parties. The deterioration of relations between the two fraternal countries in recent years has been largely uncontrollable. And here soft diplomacy no longer gives results. The dead-end path of negotiations resembles a conversation between a blind man and a deaf-mute. A new figure in the foreign policy arena should also represent a new path for clear agreements between countries on a number of important economic, intercultural and political issues.
Diplomacy with muscle goes to Ukraine together with Mikhail Babich
This character is fully personified by Mikhail Babich, a native of the security forces, an experienced apparatchik who diplomatically showed himself in the civil service in Russia. Many international experts at the federal level greeted the news of Babich’s possible new appointment with enthusiasm, emphasizing that such a candidacy for the Russian Ambassador to Ukraine could really do a lot to improve relations between the two countries. But, as usual, there were also opponents. First of all, from the Ukrainian side, and secondly, in Russia itself.
The news that Mikhail Babich may soon change his place of work has become a litmus test both on the Ukrainian side and within the country. In Square, as expected, the potential ambassador was greeted with buckets of mud long before his appointment. The information background, previously created in Russia around the figure of Babich, on the banks of the Dnieper echoed with echoes of dirty publications and compromising evidence, which in its assessments had nothing in common with the biography of the Volga presidential envoy.
On the Volga, these notes were quickly picked up by Babich’s political opponents.
It is no secret that the story of the presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District has become very unusual for the inhabitants of the Volga region. Sergey Kiriyenko, Alexander Konovalov, Grigory Rapota. The narrow circle of Mikhail Babich's predecessors was strikingly different in their manner and ideas about the tasks of the presidential plenipotentiary representative.
Kiriyenko was hyperpoliticized and focused on the Nizhny Novgorod region, where he lived and began his career.
Konovalov turned out to be detached from worldly affairs, but a rather systematic functionary.
Rapota quickly fell under the influence of local elites and the atmosphere of the right wing of the White House of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.
For 4.5 years in his high-ranking status, Mikhail Babich managed to achieve the almost incredible: he aligned the district’s subjects politically, without giving any of them a special status. He spent most of his time on endless business trips and meetings throughout the district. His circle was mostly far from local politics (which local politics could not forgive him for).
The fact is that it was Babich who first refused the status of “beloved wife” to the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Like any rejected woman, the Nizhny Novgorod region was never able to forgive the plenipotentiary representative, who did not single her out among Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Penza and other regions, objectively assessing the development of the subjects and, if possible, without interfering in the political squabbles of local princelings. The only moment when the plenipotentiary made his first and, apparently, last political statement on Nizhny Novgorod soil concerned the scandalous situation of confrontation between the current governor Valeria Shantseva and his proteges at the head of the regional center - Oleg Sorokin And Oleg Kondrashov. Then Mikhail Babich made his point in local politics, which was happily picked up by the local media.
Thanks to the plenipotentiary at a critical moment in the internecine war between the city and the region, the status quo for the current head of the region was staked out at the federal level
But the gnawing resentment of the dubious characters of the local political elite, as you understand, lay hidden for a long time. Needless to say that both recipients of the unflattering definition of the plenipotentiary at one time became involved in high-profile and dubious corruption and even criminal cases? However, the tough and principled position of the presidential representative was and remains not to the liking of many of these characters, with whom the local elite is generously saturated.
They greeted the new possible appointment of Mikhail Babich with no less impudent rustling than in the radically minded Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
I would not like to paint the image of an enemy when it comes to the desire for constructive peace, but this is precisely the definition that comes to mind, not only in the aggressive political junta outside Russia, but also within the country.
Babich was on the Volga - just the fish that was needed to keep the crucian from dozing
Many experts note that the choice of the head of state in favor of the new ambassador speaks of special trust in Mikhail Babich. Relations with Ukraine today are placed at the forefront of the country's foreign policy and largely determine the economic situation of Russia. Today too much depends on how effectively the dialogue between the two countries will be built.
Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs Leonid Slutsky has already given his assessment of the possible appointment: he is confident that “Mikhail Babich is a very strong candidate and he will do a lot to ensure that extremely difficult relations between countries begin to improve in accordance with common sense.” At the same time, calling not to accept criticism of the candidacy of the new Russian ambassador from the Verkhovna Rada, because marginalized political parties will not accept any candidacy that comes from Moscow, creating PR for themselves among their electorate.
The information that the Russian President intends to send a new ambassador to Ukraine has already received a portion of negative assessments. Anticipating the official approval procedure of the Ukrainian side, on July 29, Moscow and Kyiv gave preliminary consent (agrement) to the appointment of Mikhail Babich.
Until now, there has been no official response from the Ukrainian side.
For those who are envious, this is how the residence of the Russian Ambassador to Ukraine looks out of status today. It will take a lot of effort to change this
It is worth recalling that the procedure for appointing a new ambassador can take quite a long period of time. If we recall the situation when in place Viktor Chernomyrdin took over Mikhail Zurabov, the period from the moment of the ambassador’s resignation until the presentation of the new credentials lasted from July 9, 2009 to January 25, 2010. Then Russia lived for more than six months without a plenipotentiary ambassador to Ukraine, and, in general, nothing happened. Of course, the current situation hardly tolerates such delays.
However, for those who have already shown their grin at the current plenipotentiary and probably the future Russian ambassador to Ukraine, the time has not yet come to rejoice. And it is not a fact that such a time will come for them at all.
Mikhail Babich, in any uniform, knows how to hit the target. How to go to this goal in the shortest way
Photo: om-saratov.ru, newsru.ua, gfi56.pfo.ru, pravdapfo.ru, penzanews.ru, qwas.ru, vladnews.ru, publikatsii.ru, penzanews.ru
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Representative of the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich has made a good political career by today's standards. However, judging by media reports, he is not very happy with his position and would like to take a higher position. So they had already predicted the position of ambassador to Ukraine instead of Mikhail Zurabov, who was relieved of his post by Vladimir Putin. But the Ukrainian side opposed this appointment, taking into account some details from the politician’s biography.
It also didn’t work out to become an ambassador from Russia to warm Turkey, but Mikhail Babich was named one of the candidates for this position. However, the Kremlin categorically denied this information. Now, according to new information, Mikhail Babich may leave the post of presidential envoy in the Volga Federal District and head the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP). However, there is constant talk about various possible government “relocations” of Babich.
Biography of Mikhail Babich
The future politician was born on May 28, 1969 in Ryazan. His father was a paratrooper officer, and little Misha dreamed of following in his parent’s footsteps, but after school he was not accepted into the Ryazan Airborne School for health reasons. The young man applied to the communications school and successfully graduated, after which he nevertheless joined the ranks of the Airborne Forces.
According to the official version of the biography, Mikhail Viktorovich Babich took part in the fighting in Chechnya. He served in the army until 1994 and retired with the rank of colonel. Later, already a statesman, Babich received a legal education in Moscow and studied at the State Academy of Management.
Returning to civilian life, the former colonel went into business. After 4 years, he already managed three companies, among which was the famous Rosmyasomoltorg, which supplied food to the Russian army. The name of this company is associated with a scandal that led to the initiation of a criminal case.
The company's management was accused of embezzling 2 billion rubles, proceeds from a program for the sale of humanitarian aid from the United States. Mikhail Babich, who received the nickname “Butcher” from the media during the proceedings, denied guilt and claimed that the case was fabricated by competitors. As a result, the head of one of the intermediary firms, Dmitry Ilyasov, was found guilty.
Politician Mikhail Babich
In the late 90s, Mikhail Viktorovich Babich joined the ranks of government officials, receiving the position of deputy unitary enterprise for regulating food markets in Moscow. He worked there until 2000, after which he became part of Boris Gromov’s election headquarters, where he resolved financial issues.
When Gromov won the elections, Mikhail Babich became deputy chairman of the Moscow region government. Six months later, he was accused of gross violation of labor standards and fired. Babich had to be reinstated in his position through the court, but having proven he was right, he immediately wrote a letter of resignation.
After his dismissal, Mikhail Viktorovich Babich moved to the Ivanovo region, where he received the post of vice-governor in the local administration. The head of the region, Vladimir Tikhonov, reacted favorably to the new Moscow specialist, noting Babich’s excellent economic thinking and his ability to attract money, but there were also those who did not like this appointment: they accused the vice-governor of pursuing personal interests and being overly harsh in his treatment of opponents.
The two-year stay in the new position was also not without scandals. The first of them flared up when Mikhail Babich supported the purchase of shares in a local distillery by a large alcohol company, and the second when it became clear how much money was being spent on maintaining the residence of the Ivanovo region in Moscow (the amount of 5 million rubles was huge for the local budget).
If in the first case the prosecutor's office did not find anything illegal in the actions of the official, then the second case almost ended in arrest. The governor stood up for his subordinate and filed a complaint with Vladimir Putin, after which Babich was excluded from the list of suspects.
Chechnya
In November 2002, Mikhail Viktorovich moved to Chechnya and headed the new government there. The appointment of a Russian official to this post was explained by the need to soften contradictions within the republic. He stayed in this position for just over a year and wrote a letter of resignation. According to the Izvestia portal, the reason was a conflict with Akhmat Kadyrov. After this, Babich took the post of assistant to German Gref and was elected to the State Duma under the United Russia quota.
In 2011, Vladimir Putin appointed him as his representative in the Volga Federal District. Mikhail Babich served as plenipotentiary representative for 7 years. It was the solid political weight of the former colonel that ultimately helped resolve internal conflicts in the leadership of the Nizhny Novgorod region, which ended with the resignation of Governor Oleg Sorokin.
General's Sponsor
But Babich’s irrepressible character did not allow him to calmly enjoy his deputy mandate. As soon as it was announced that instead of direct elections in the regions, a scheme would be introduced in which the President would propose gubernatorial candidates to legislative assemblies, Mikhail Viktorovich decided to take advantage of the moment. It was only necessary to find a suitable subject.
And the deputy’s choice fell on his native Ryazan region. Only one thing stopped him: a year before the announcement of the new procedure for appointing regional heads, elections were held in the Ryazan region, in which a candidate close to the “Babichev clan” won, namely Airborne Forces General Georgy Shpak. At the same time, Babich himself openly supported him in those elections.
And then, unexpectedly, an entrepreneur from Kasimov, Natalya Suchkova, showed up and said that she sponsored the general’s election campaign in the amount of 48 million rubles. In return, she expected to receive the position of vice-governor, but Shpak “dumped” her sponsor.
Babich did not react in any way to the brewing scandal, but his friend, also a State Duma deputy from United Russia, Igor Morozov, demanded that the election results in the Ryazan region be canceled.
He motivated this by the fact that the amount named by the entrepreneur was eight times higher than the amount of financing of election campaigns allowed by law. But in the end, Morozov withdrew his claim, publicly acknowledging the election results.
Public reception
Despite the fact that the name of such a young politician had already been involved in many scandals, thanks to his demonstrative loyalty to the authorities, he continued to remain in the political scene. In December 2007, Babich was again elected to the State Duma. And already in 2008 he headed the public reception of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In this position, he was remembered for the fact that he saw elements of a crime in one of the news stories of the TV-6 Vladimir channel.
According to the lists of the Vladimir region, Babich entered the Duma of the fifth convocation. For the next elections in 2011, he again decided to go from the list of the Vladimir region, which he himself headed. It should be noted that by this time he began to lose ground. At the beginning of the year, despite rumors, he did not join the presidium of the General Council of United Russia. He was also called the successor of Andrei Vorobyov as head of the party’s executive committee, but this appointment also did not take place. And yet he made it into the new State Duma. True, United Russia was then mercilessly criticized by the Vladimir communists, accusing the party in power of all kinds of falsifications.
But Mikhail Babich did not remain as a deputy of the sixth convocation for long, since on December 15 he was appointed plenipotentiary representative of the President in the Volga Federal District. At the same time, Mikhail Viktorovich was appointed chairman of the State Commission for Chemical Disarmament. However, he did not particularly show himself in this post.
After the coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014, the Russian ambassador to Kyiv, Mikhail Zurabov, decided that it was time to leave his “execution” post. After he resigned, a message appeared that Babich was being prepared to replace Zurabov. According to some reports, Mikhail Babich had connections in the security bloc in Ukraine, on which they were going to rely. But under Ukrainian President Poroshenko, all these connections were, to put it mildly, pushed away from power, therefore, when a request came to Ukraine to obtain an agreman for Babich, the Kremlin received a refusal in response.
Declaration
Judging by the election declaration to the State Duma of the Russian Federation for 2010, Mikhail Babich and his wife Galina are large landowners. Then he indicated four land plots in the Ryazan region with a total area of 1.5 million square meters (159.7 hectares). However, already in the declaration for 2011, when the official took the post of plenipotentiary representative, all this wealth disappeared from his life and information about his income. However, according to the Unified State Register, from 2008 to 2011, the official’s wife, Galina Babich, was still the owner of these plots; in 2011, she still owned part of these lands, and their second owner was the Ryazan company Investgroup LLC. This company now owns all the hectares once declared by Babich.
It is interesting that Investgroup LLC belongs to Vadim Novozhilov, the husband of Babich’s sister Alla Polyakova.
It is also interesting that in 2016 Polyakova became a deputy of the Moscow Region of the 6th convocation and headed the Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources Management. The website of the regional Duma reports that in 1994 she managed the Antey Group of Companies LLC, whose employees beat up the managers of the Ivshveya company. Since 2014, the same Vadim Novozhilov, presumably her husband, has become the owner of this company.
He is also listed as the founder and director of a number of companies of the same name, including the Moscow LLC Private Security Company Antey. Until 2009, this company was called CJSC Private Security Company Antey, and its owners were CJSC Antey Corporation and Vadim Novozhilov. This is exactly the security structure whose employees beat up the managers of the Ivanovo garment factory “Ivshveya” in the late nineties. Mikhail Babich himself headed the Antey Corporation CJSC from 1995 to 1998.
Mikhail Babich is a prominent Russian politician, whose activities in almost every position were accompanied by high-profile scandals. However, this did not at all prevent the rapid career growth of the energetic official, whose firm grip and penetrating power are recognized even by his ill-wishers.
Childhood and youth
The future politician was born on May 28, 1969 in Ryazan. His father was a paratrooper officer, and little Misha dreamed of following in his parent’s footsteps, but after school he was not accepted into the Ryazan Airborne School for health reasons. The young man applied to the communications school and successfully graduated, after which he nevertheless joined the ranks of the Airborne Forces.
Mikhail Babich
According to the official version of the biography, Mikhail Viktorovich Babich took part in the fighting in Chechnya. He served in the army until 1994 and retired with the rank of colonel. Later, already a statesman, Babich received a legal education in Moscow and studied at the State Academy of Management.
Business
Returning to civilian life, the former colonel went into business. After 4 years, he already managed three companies, among which was the famous Rosmyasomoltorg, which supplied food to the Russian army. The name of this company is associated with a scandal that led to the initiation of a criminal case.
The company's management was accused of embezzling 2 billion rubles, proceeds from a program for the sale of humanitarian aid from the United States. Mikhail Babich, who received the nickname “Butcher” from the media during the proceedings, denied guilt and claimed that the case was fabricated by competitors. As a result, the head of one of the intermediary firms, Dmitry Ilyasov, was found guilty.
Political career
At the end of the 90s, Mikhail Viktorovich joined the ranks of government officials, receiving the position of deputy unitary enterprise for regulating food markets in Moscow. He worked there until 2000, after which he became part of Boris Gromov’s election headquarters, where he resolved financial issues.
When Gromov won the elections, Babich became deputy chairman of the Moscow region government. Six months later, he was accused of gross violation of labor standards and fired. Babich had to be reinstated in his position through the court, but having proven he was right, he immediately wrote a letter of resignation.
After his dismissal, Mikhail Viktorovich moved to the Ivanovo region, where he received the post of vice-governor in the local administration. The head of the region, Vladimir Tikhonov, reacted favorably to the new Moscow specialist, noting Babich’s excellent economic thinking and his ability to attract money, but there were also those who did not like this appointment: they accused the vice-governor of pursuing personal interests and being overly harsh in his treatment of opponents.
The two-year stay in the new position was also not without scandals. The first of them flared up when Mikhail Babich supported the purchase of shares in a local distillery by a large alcohol company, and the second when it became clear how much money was being spent on maintaining the residence of the Ivanovo region in Moscow (the amount of 5 million rubles was huge for the local budget).
If in the first case the prosecutor's office did not find anything illegal in the actions of the official, then the second case almost ended in arrest. The governor stood up for his subordinate and filed a complaint, after which Babich was excluded from the list of suspects.
In November 2002, Mikhail Viktorovich moved to Chechnya and headed the new government there. The appointment of a Russian official to this post was explained by the need to soften contradictions within the republic. He stayed in this position for just over a year and wrote a letter of resignation. According to the Izvestia portal, the reason was a conflict with. After this, Babich took the post of assistant and was elected to the State Duma under the United Russia quota.
In 2011, Vladimir Putin appointed him as his representative in the Volga Federal District. Vladimir Babich served as plenipotentiary representative for 7 years. It was the solid political weight of the former colonel that ultimately helped resolve internal conflicts in the leadership of the Nizhny Novgorod region, which ended with the resignation of Governor Oleg Sorokin.
Babich contributed to the appointment to this position. In an interview on his official website, he called him “a really tenacious person” and made it clear that he considered this a good personnel decision. Also, during Babich’s leadership, several large-scale anti-corruption campaigns were carried out, after which the former governors of Udmurtia and Mari El were arrested.
Mikhail Babich’s merits as the President’s Plenipotentiary Representative were highly appreciated by his colleagues, including the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the head of Bashkortostan and the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services Mikhail Men.
Income
When summing up the results for 2017, among all the presidential envoys, Babich had the most modest income. He was in last place on the list with an amount of 6.5 million rubles, which is 93 thousand more than last year’s results. The Babichs and their children own two apartments – 177 and 55 square meters. According to the declaration, family members do not have a single car.
Personal life
Mikhail Viktorovich is married. His wife Galina worked at Probusinessbank. They are the parents of two children. The eldest son Alexander is an entrepreneur, the youngest son Artem is a schoolboy, studying at one of the elite educational institutions in Moscow.
Babich does not advertise information about his family, and it is almost impossible to find accurate information about his personal life.
Mikhail Babich now
In mid-2018, rumors about Babich’s resignation began to circulate in the political environment. He was assigned a place in the Presidential Administration, the post of assistant for Ukrainian affairs and other notable positions. In August 2018, Mikhail Babich was appointed Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Belarus. The official Instagram account of the Belarusian Embassy in Russia published a photo of Babich with the Ambassador of the Republic to the Russian Federation Igor Petrishenko and congratulated him on his new position.
This is Mikhail Viktorovich’s first diplomatic appointment in his entire political career. It was originally planned that he would become ambassador to Kyiv, but Ukraine did not accept him. Now Mikhail Viktorovich refuses to comment on his appointment, clarifying that he has yet to understand the situation.
Awards
- 2017 – Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree
- 2014 – Order of the Holy Blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow, III degree
- 2011 – Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree
- 2010 – Certificate of Honor from the President of the Russian Federation - for services in lawmaking and the development of Russian parliamentarism
- 2006 – Order of Friendship
- Medal of Honor"
- medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow"
- Certificate of Honor from the Government of the Russian Federation
- Medal "For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth"
- Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" 1st class
- personalized weapon
The appeal received by the office of the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District has been considered.
A comment:
Thus, it is immediately clear that we have not received a response from the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation (PPP in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation).
Apparently we won't get it. Alas.
Our appeal was considered and responded to by the “apparatus”, which does not have the powers of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President and does not perform his functions and cannot officially express the opinion of the Plenipotentiary Representative.
The facts described in your appeal deserve due attention. However, it is not possible to solve your problem at the regional level, since local government authorities are not vested with all the powers, unlike federal authorities. To do this, you need to apply through representatives in the State Duma from your district with the initiative to carry out a Federal Target Program, within the framework of which this environmental problem will be solved.
Comments:
1. The PPP apparatus in the Volga Federal District clearly recognizes that “The facts described in your appeal deserve due attention.”
This attitude makes us grateful and gives us hope.
2. We accept the offer to contact the deputy with gratitude and will definitely contact you. At the same time, we understand perfectly well that our deputies may support us, but it is at least naive to count on the responsiveness of other State Duma deputies. But it is up to them whether the proposed Federal program will be or not.
Our own (i.e. city and regional) deputies don’t need us, so what can we expect from Moscow deputies?
However, you still need to apply.
3. Essentially, the PPP apparatus in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation rejects any actions of local authorities towards solving the problem, stating that “ local government bodies are not vested with all powers" and that it is necessary to create and finance a special Federal target program.
This is not entirely correct:
3.1. Such a statement removes any responsibility of local authorities for the state of the environment and its further deterioration. At least until the Federal Target Program starts working (indeed, what kind of responsibility can there be if they do nothing for a good reason - due to lack of necessary powers?).
3.2. Such a statement removes any responsibility for local authorities to do anything specific to improve the environment (really, why would they? They don’t have “all the powers”).
4. Let us recall that the essence of our problem is that:
4.1. The state of the environment causes reasonable concern among the population;
4.2. The government's policy leads to a further increase in the anthropogenic load on the environment, causing further deterioration of its condition;
4.3. Residents do not receive the necessary protection from the authorities and other official bodies for their violated rights to a healthy environment.
5. It is not clear how one can categorically state that “it is not possible to solve our problem at the regional level”?
It seems obvious to us that, in fact, our complex problem can be solved with the participation of authorities at all levels, each in its own area.
Indeed, complete rehabilitation of the territory by regional forces alone is fundamentally impossible. Too much crap for too long. And it is really necessary to raise the question of a federal target program. This is especially true with regard to measures for the rehabilitation of territories that were negatively impacted during the years of intensive harmful chemical production in the interests of the country's defense.
However, why can’t (shouldn’t) the regional authorities do anything at all to at least stop the deterioration of the situation?
6. Do all events require federal money?
Is federal money really needed for local authorities to reconsider their policies, which are currently leading to further environmental degradation in the zone of influence of the eastern industrial hub?
Is it not possible to solve the problem of designing and constructing a landfill outside the urban area at the regional level, as required by federal and regional environmental legislation?
Is it impossible to organize constant monitoring of the state of the environment in the area of influence of the eastern industrial hub without federal money?
Aren't the designers of a low-pressure dam obligated to carry out a forecast of its impact on the environment in the area of settlements and numerous dumps of toxic industrial waste? Does this also require federal money?
Is federal money needed to ban the development of environmentally hazardous industries in the eastern industrial zone? Moreover, considering that this particular ban is contained in the existing environmental legislation, which directly prohibits the construction of hazardous industries in places where the maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances in the environment has already been exceeded?
Is federal money needed for a strict ban on excess emissions of harmful substances into the environment and effective control over the implementation of this ban?
Is it not possible, without federal money, to establish a procedure for enterprises to operate in unfavorable weather conditions that would prevent an increased flow of harmful substances into the territory of settlements?
Is it really impossible to carry out a project to build a solid waste landfill outside the city without federal money? And isn’t the regional government obliged to comply with its own laws that directly prohibit the placement of solid waste in urban areas? Is federal money needed to comply with regional legislation?
Is federal money really needed to ensure that the owner of a solid waste landfill located on urban territory complies with current instructions and ensures the operation of the landfill without fires and other harmful effects on the environment?
Is federal money really needed to force a private enterprise () to design and begin construction of its commercial landfill outside the city area, in full compliance with current environmental legislation?
Is federal money needed to build paved roads in communities located in contaminated areas to reduce the further harmful effects of airborne contaminated dust on residents?
Is federal money needed for measures to restore the green zone around the eastern industrial hub?
Do you also want to clean up wild landfills in our forests around the solid waste landfill using federal money?
The list of similar questions can be continued.
Obviously, all this will simply not be allowed into the Federal program.
To carry out these activities, the good will of local and regional authorities is required to conscientiously fulfill their purpose - to act in the interests of the population and strictly within the legal framework of the Russian Federation.
The Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District is not a supervisory structure, and also does not perform those functions that, by law, are assigned to the executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local government bodies, the prosecutor's office, law enforcement agencies and the courts of the Russian Federation.
Comments:
1. Indeed, the apparatus of the PPP in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation should not perform the functions assigned to other self-government bodies, the prosecutor's office and the courts. But he also does not have the right to perform the functions of an authorized representative of the President of the Russian Federation.
The piquancy of the situation lies in the fact that the residents did not turn to the STAFF of the plenipotentiary representative at all and do not rely on him. A device is a device.
2. Residents appealed to the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation, and not to his apparatus, rightly believing that their requests were formulated in full accordance with the “Regulations on the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation...”.
In particular, paragraph 5 of the “Regulations...” is formulated as follows (quote) “5. The main tasks of the plenipotentiary representative are: -organization in the relevant federal district of work for the implementation by government bodies of the main directions of the state’s domestic and foreign policy, determined by the President of the Russian Federation; -organization of control over the implementation in the federal district of decisions of federal government bodies; …».
As we understand, the “main directions of internal ... state policy ... determined by the President of the Russian Federation” include the current environmental legislation and the environmental doctrine of Russia, which were signed by the President of the Russian Federation and are aimed at protecting the environment and observing the constitutional right of a citizen of the Russian Federation to a favorable environment. It is the President who is the supreme guarantor of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
It also seems to us that it is precisely the requirement from the relevant authorities to properly “... control over the implementation in the federal district of decisions of federal government bodies,” we had the right to expect from the plenipotentiary representative of the President in the Pension Fund.
The subjects of local government bodies include municipal housing stock, municipal roads, local energy, water and heat supply systems, planning and development of settlements, landscaping and sanitary well-being, local communications systems, utilities, municipal transport, etc.
A comment:
1. This is exactly how we understand the distribution of subjects of authority between governing bodies.
It is precisely these functions that we demand from local self-government bodies. It is precisely these functions in terms of ensuring the reduction of technogenic pressure on the environment that the authorities do not perform properly.
It is the reluctance of local authorities to comply with environmental legislation that we are complaining about.
2. But we did not ask the authorized representative to perform these functions - we asked him to demand their implementation, in accordance with his existing powers.
The essence of our appeal to the PPP to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation is precisely that we are complaining to the plenipotentiary representative of the President about the alleged violations of federal and regional environmental legislation in his “kingdom.”
And to whom should we complain about violations of environmental legislation, about the insecurity of our right to an environmentally friendly environment, i.e., about violations of the main directions of domestic policy? Especially after we did not receive proper protection from the environmental prosecutor’s office and local authorities, including the regional ones?
3. Of course, there are courts, there is a prosecutor's office.
However, the courts are a long procedure and a lot of money, which we, naturally, do not have.
And the prosecutor’s office has clearly shown over the past years that it does not want to deal with our problems. She does not want to react to obvious violations of environmental legislation on the part of business (owners of landfills) and the authorities supporting this business.
4. The PPP apparatus at the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, of course, understands all this very well.
Protection of civil rights and interests, including those violated, is carried out by interested parties independently, using the methods specified in Article 12 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, or by the court, as follows from the provisions of Article 11 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
A comment:
In other words, we are told that NO ONE HAS ANY RELATION TO the problem except us.
But this doesn't seem to be true.
Indeed, Article 11 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines the right of citizens to independently protect their civil interests.
However, this does not exclude the right of citizens to other means of protection.
And they essentially tell us - dear citizens in a rule-of-law state, read the Civil Code (Articles 11 and 12) carefully and defend yourself - do everything yourself:
Protect yourself from aggression on the environment. The prosecutor's office and supervision, which are supposed to monitor compliance with the law and established standards, will not help;
Defend yourself from bandits and thieves. The police, who are supposed to fight them, will not help;
Protect yourself from external enemies. The army, intelligence services, etc., which are supposed to protect the country, will not help. If something, God forbid, happens, the people will again raise the club of anger, saving themselves;
Protect yourself from economic crimes. The police, the prosecutor's office, the UBEP will not help;
Fight for pensions yourself. No one will help, as it turned out, not even the Constitutional Court.
Lord God! Are government agencies, which exist well on the people’s money, really not obliged to protect the people?
The Federal Law of 01.01.01 “On the general principles of the organization of local self-government in the Russian Federation” states that local government bodies and local government officials are responsible to the population of the municipality, the state, individuals and legal entities in accordance with the law.
