There are no candidates for dismissal among Russia’s governors at present, outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.
“I won’t name any candidates for dismissal as there aren’t any. I am proceeding from the assumption that any governor who has not yet submitted resignation and who has not yet been fired by the president – and the president has and will retain that right – is a law-abiding and quite successful governor,” Medvedev said.
In the nearly four years Medvedev has been president, about a third of Russia’s governors have been changed: most through resignation, although a number were dismissed by the president.
In 2010, Medvedev fired Yury Luzhkov, the long-time Moscow major, due to inefficient management and the appalling level of corruption in the capital. Medvedev signed the decree ordering Luzhkov’s dismissal, citing “loss of confidence.”
This January, Medvedev fired the heads of Arkhangelsk and Volgograd regions, in late February he accepted the resignation of the Primorsk Territory governor and on March 23 the Saratov Region governor stepped down.
Political experts had anticipated further deep changes in the leadership of Russia’s regions, but Medvedev has not obliged them.
Last Friday, Moscow Region Governor Boris Gromov said he would resign when his current term of office expires in May, after 12 years in the post.