VZCZCXRO7004
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK
DE RUEHYG #0085 3631019
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291019Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1400
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1044
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0633
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 0623
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 1438

UNCLAS YEKATERINBURG 000085 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV RS
SUBJECT: REGIONAL APPOINTMENTS BALANCE BUSINESS INTERESTS 
 
REF: YEKATERINBURG 0075 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  Newly-appointed Sverdlovsk oblast governor 
Aleksandr Misharin outlined his priorities for journalists in a 
two-hour press conference on December 25.  His initial 
appointments to the regional government reflect his emphasis on 
improving Sverdlovsk oblast's infrastructure and a balancing of 
interests between the region's most powerful industrial groups. 
Consul General discussed the new governor's initial actions over 
lunch with local political analysts on December 25.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  At his inaugural press conference, Misharin 
enumerated the following priorities for the region:  improve 
overall energy efficiency; create a transportation and logistics 
hub; introduce "innovation" into the economy; develop an 
employment program; implement the federal "monocities" program. 
To manage these tasks, he has elevated Minister of Economics 
Mikhail Maksimov to first deputy chairman of the regional 
government.  The 35-year old Maksimov, who has a reputation as 
an innovative manager, is one of a handful of holdovers to 
retain his ministerial portfolio from the outgoing 
administration of former Governor Eduard Rossel.  In 2007, 
Maksimov was tabbed by Rossel as economics minister after his 
successful management of Yekaterinburg's Koltsovo Airport 
construction project.  The principal investor in the airport 
construction project was the Renova Group owned by oligarch 
Viktor Vekselberg, who wields significant economic power in the 
region. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Misharin's emphasis on transportation, especially 
railroads, was clear in his appointment of 28-year old 
Konstantin Koltonyuk as Minister of Finance, which most local 
analysts considered a surprise, given his age and background in 
engineering.  Koltonyuk worked in the Russian Ministry of 
Transportation and later the Department of Industry and 
Infrastructure in the Presidential Administration, both of which 
were in Misharin's purview during his years in Moscow (Ref A). 
Family and industry connections most certainly played a role in 
this appointment:  Koltonyuk's father is highly placed in a 
company that builds and maintains railroad infrastructure 
facilities and equipment. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The interests of industrialist Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy, 
owner of the Sinara group, a major regional conglomerate, were 
also taken into consideration.  One of his former associates was 
named to a post in the new administration.  Misharin's emphasis 
on infrastructure also caters to a part of Pumpyanskiy's 
business:  he owns a factory that produces modern locomotives 
just outside of Yekaterinburg.  Prime Minister Putin visited the 
factory earlier this month.  In addition, the new Minister of 
Industry and Science, Aleksandr Petrov, who heads a company that 
produces industrial ovens, is said to satisfy the expectations 
of the metallurgy and machine-building sectors. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Two other appointments deserve mention:  Misharin 
established a new Ministry of Information technology to be 
headed by Irina Bogdanovich, the first woman appointed to his 
cabinet.  The new ministry is to promote computer and Internet 
technologies, develop distant learning and virtual communication 
projects in remote areas.  Our contacts characterized IT 
infrastructure in Sverdlovsk oblast as relatively 
underdeveloped, despite the region's wealth and economic 
strength.  As a final note, the new Minister of Agriculture is 
Ilya Bondarev, the former deputy minister of natural resources 
who is a 2009 USG program alumnus. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Our interlocutors unanimously agreed that Misharin is 
Putin's man.  After all, Misharin was Putin's regional 
presidential campaign manager in 2004.  They believed that the 
delay and procedural confusion that preceded the Misharin's 
appointment were due to bureaucratic infighting between the 
Presidential Administration and the Prime Minister's office 
rather than a conflict between President Medvedev and Putin over 
the nominees.  Further, none of our contacts felt that the 
region's relatively "liberal" atmosphere cultivated by Rossel 
over the years would change.  They saw no prospect for the 
imposition of constraints on civil society under the new 
governor.  Misharin's early appointments, which draw heavily 
from the transport sector, especially the railroads, demonstrate 
a strong preference for the familiar and show deference to the 
interests of the region's key economic players and industries. 
 
SANDUSKY