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Saturday, 13.08.2011
Kozak to be appointed new Governor in St Petersburg
St. Petersburg. United Russia is searching for a suitable successor to polish its image, once Governor Valentina Matvienko has stepped down. The favourite candidate is a close confidant of Putin and Medvedev.
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After her departure from St Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko will leave behind an enormous shambles. The trust of its citizens in the city government is at an all time low after numerous scandals, bankruptcies, bad luck and mishaps, and the rating of United Russia is even lower. Many political analysts see this as the reason of the Governor`s removal and appointment as chief of the Federation Council.
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Credible and charismatic candidate sought
Before the Duma elections in December a new Governor has to be presented who is credible as well as competent in matters of city government as well as has no involvement in the sleaze of the Matvienko clique.
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Dmitry Kozak has the best prerequisites for the position: The Vice-Premier, however born in the Ukraine, is part of the St Petersburg connection present in the Kremlin. During the 90`s he worked actively together with Vladimir Putin in the St Petersburg city government.
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He also has experience in the administration of the Neva River metropolis. He studied alongside Dmitri Medvedev at the University of Law in St Petersburg, which is already a common training ground for Kremlin workers alongside the secret service. Kozak graduated two years prior to Medvedev.
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Firefighter for the most difficult tasks
He is highly respected in the Kremlin for his skills as a lawyer as well as a crisis manager. The judicial reform introduced right at the start of the Putin era is attributed to Kozak. In recent years, the Vice-Premier had to prove himself several times as firefighter.
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For many years he was responsible as governor general for the crises region of southern Russia with North Caucasus being the center of conflict (the North Caucasus is now a self governing region). Once Russia was successful with the bid for the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi for 2014 he was made responsible for leading the preparation for this billion dollar project.
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Olympic preparations are ongoing
According to the opinion of political analysts is the biggest obstacle to his transfer to St Petersburg. Work has not been completed yet. He would not be allowed just to drop it all, according to the newspaper “Kommersant”, said a Kremlin informant.
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Inaugural visit to St Petersburg
And yet, the newspaper apparently learned from another source (from Smolny), that Kozak is supposed to be Matvienko`s heir. Kozak himself is currently on site. Together with regional Minister Victor Bassargin and Matvienko, he will hand over a new section of the St Petersburg ring road.
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When he was in Moscow, Kozak had severely criticized the St Petersburg city government. Especially the lack of preparation for the winter months, which he called disastrous. Should they not be better prepared this year, the responsible administrators will be made accountable, he threatened. This might possibly be his inaugural speech for the position of Governor of St Petersburg.
Original German text can be found here >>>
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