Methods of selecting acting regional governor candidates in Russia see major overhaul - source
MOSCOW. Feb 17 ((Interfax) - The Kremlin has radically changed the way candidates are selected for acting regional governors: now they have to sit tests and undergo an interview, a Kremlin source told Interfax.
"A multi-stage method was used in selecting candidates for acting governor in the regions whose governors resigned early," the source said.
First of all, a portrait of an 'ideal governor' was created based on analysis of the most successful Russian territories such as the Kaluga and Belgorod regions, Moscow, Tatarstan and others, the source said.
Interviews with the leading governors helped outline competences making an efficient regional administration head. "Among them are results orientation, the ability to communicate with the public, regional elites and the media, comprehensive strategic thinking and some others," the source said.
Governor candidates were selected from among the presidential reserve of specialists, based on their track record of success in previous jobs, the source said. "Polls were also carried out among a candidate's colleagues, former bosses and subordinates so as to obtain as many references regarding them as possible," the source said.
The next stage was the co-called personnel assessment that involved business games, interviews and tests, the source said.
"This must reflect the expectations of residents of the region proper: do they want someone from their own region or would an outsider be more preferable for the territory," the source said.
Several candidates were selected for each region, following which the president was presented with at least three for every territory, the source said. "It was up to the head of state to make the choice," he said.
Recently government replacements occurred in those regions where gubernatorial elections are looming: of 15 regional heads ten are new, the source said.
Between February 6 and 15, five governors announced their early resignation. President Vladimir Putin appointed Maxim Reshetnikov as acting Governor of the Perm territory to replace Viktor Basargin. Buryatia's Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn was replaced with Alexei Tsydenov; Novgorod region's Sergei Mitin with Andrei Nikitin; Ryazan region's Oleg Kovalyov with Nikolai Lyubimov; and Karelia Governor Alexander Khudilainen was replaced with Artur Parfyonchikov.
Last summer, governors were replaced in the Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl and Kirov regions and in the city of Sevastopol. The head of Adygea quit at the beginning of 2017.
The Tomsk, Saratov, Sverdlovsk and Belgorod regions and the republic of Mordovia will have incumbent governors running for reelection in September 2017.