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Viewing cable 09YEKATERINBURG75, END OF THE ROSSEL ERA IN SVERDLOVSK OBLAST: NEW GOVERNOR

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09YEKATERINBURG75 2009-11-17 07:58 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Yekaterinburg
VZCZCXRO0039
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYG #0075/01 3210758
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170758Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1386
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 1029
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG PRIORITY 0608
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK PRIORITY 0618
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG PRIORITY 1423
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEKATERINBURG 000075 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR RS
SUBJECT: END OF THE ROSSEL ERA IN SVERDLOVSK OBLAST: NEW GOVERNOR 
APPOINTED 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified.  Not for Internet Distribution. 
 
1. (SBU) Rampant speculation swirling around the delayed 
announcement of the appointment of the Sverdlovsk oblast 
governor ended late November 10 Urals time with the news that 
President Medvedev had appointed Aleksandr Misharin to a 
four-year term as governor.  Misharin is scheduled to arrive in 
Yekaterinburg on November 17 and will meet with the oblast duma 
at 09:00; at 12:00, the joint session will meet to confirm his 
appointment as governor.  Although KPRF deputies have said they 
will vote against his appointment as a matter of principle 
(because they oppose the abolition of gubernatorial elections), 
United Russia has a sufficiently large majority so that swift 
confirmation is expected.  Although Rossel's term expires on 
November 21, it was extended over the weekend to allow Misharin 
to take the oath of office on November 23, a weekday.  Urals 
Federal District PolPred Vinnichenko said on TV that he approves 
of the president's decision:  "The decision was made with due 
account of all individual qualities and personal and business 
characteristics of the candidate." 
 
2. (SBU) According to the Oblast Charter, the new governor 
should propose a new Prime Minister.  If the oblast duma does 
not approve the suggested candidate, the governor has the power 
to dissolve parliament.  In turn, the new Prime Minister will 
name a new Cabinet of Ministers and all incumbent ministers and 
the head of the governor's office will submit their 
resignations.  Local observers believe that the current Minister 
of Industry and Science, Anatoliy Gredin, who previously worked 
with Misharin at Sverdlovsk Railway, might become the Prime 
Minister.  Several ministers who have either reached their 
pension age or will reach it in the near future will probably 
also be changed. 
 
3.  (SBU) The local political elite called the change in oblast 
leadership the end of an era (Rossel has been in power for 19 
years) and compare it to Yeltsin's resignation in 2000.  Much is 
made of the November 10 date of the announcement -  in 1993 on 
November 10 Yeltsin dismissed Rossel from the governor's post. 
Although his desire for independence from Moscow (the Urals 
Republic) was reduced by Putin's administration, Rossel remained 
a supporter of democratic practices.  He was also one of the 
first governors to set up a human rights ombudsman's office, and 
has allowed more media freedom than in some neighboring regions. 
 Rossel was a tireless promoter of Sverdlovsk oblast and 
skillfully navigated between the interests of the local elite 
and the Kremlin.  He persuaded the Kremlin to hold the Shanghai 
Cooperation Organization and BRIC summits in Yekaterinburg and 
traveled widely to attract investors to the region.  Supporters 
point out that Rossel did not appoint family members to 
government-controlled positions and that he does not appear to 
have gained economic privileges during his administration. 
Rossel has said that he wants the senate seat on the Federation 
Council vacated by Yuri Osintsev, an appointment that requires 
the new governor's approval.  Political observers believe that 
if his appointment is approved, Rossel could end up as First 
Deputy Chairman of the Upper House. 
 
4. (SBU) Bio Note:  Aleksandr Sergeyevich Misharin was born on 
January 21, 1959 in Artyomovskiy, Sverdlovsk oblast.  His father 
worked for Sverdlovsk Railway and his mother in the local 
medical clinic.  He has a younger brother, Vladimir.  His 
classmates from secondary school remember him as an excellent 
student who also played guitar and sang.  They say he enjoyed 
listening to records and liked the British group Smokie and the 
Beatles.  He also played soccer and basketball.  He graduated 
from the Urals Electromechanical Institute of Railway Engineers 
in 1981 and completed a degree in economics in 1997.  Misharin 
worked as the Chief Electrical Engineer for the Yekaterinburg 
Metro from 1989-1991, returning to the Sverdlovsk Railway as 
Deputy Chief Energy Engineer in 1991.  Later in 1991 he was 
promoted to Chief Energy Engineer, and in 1996 was appointed the 
Chief Engineer of Sverdlovsk Railway.  In 1998 he became the 
Deputy Minister of Railway Transport of Russia and in 2000 was 
promoted to First Deputy Minister of Russian Railways.  In 2002, 
Misharin was appointed Director of Sverdlovsk Railway and 
returned to Yekaterinburg where he initiated construction of the 
first modern railway management unit in the Urals-Siberian 
region, equipped with the high technology and equipment allowing 
electronic control of the vast Sverdlovsk Railway network.  In 
2004 he became Russian deputy transport minister and in January 
2009, director of the presidential administration's industry and 
infrastructure department.   He is a United Russia member and 
sits on the party's General Council.  He has received numerous 
government and public awards.  He has been married twice and has 
two children.  Unofficially, his former colleagues say that 
Misharin is a reasonable person, not prone to conflict or 
authoritarian actions, and open to suggestions.  He is known for 
spending long hours in the office. 
 
YEKATERINB 00000075  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
5. (SBU) Comment:  Rossel's departure seems to mark the 
beginning of a change of regional heads who took office in the 
Yeltsin era.  Consulate contacts admit that the era of aging 
governors has come to an end, but no one is sure that Misharin 
is the right choice for the oblast.  They question whether he is 
strong enough to maintain the balance of interest between 
federal power and local elites, and wonder whether he will 
follow the Kremlin line more strictly than Rossel, which might 
adversely impact the regional economy.  Heads of oblast 
financial-industrial groups know Misharin from negotiating rail 
contracts with him, but they are not talking; he is otherwise 
viewed as a "black box."  We will see whether Sverdlovsk becomes 
more integrated into the vertical of power or retains some 
independence. 
TRIMBLE