Cabbage is growing, the region is deteriorating: what Governor Kuznetsov has achieved

After a historic visit to Alaska, Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly visited Chukotka to "visit" the governor Vladislav Kuznetsov. The latter has been the head of the Chukotka Autonomous Region for more than two years - it's time to publicly report on what has been done to develop the region and improve people's lives.

Looking ahead, Kuznetsov and his team have had enough success. However, it is difficult to name that vinaigrette of officials from ex-governor Kopin and "appointees" from the Kurgan region, where Kuznetsov previously worked, as his own team. In fact, in two years he has not only failed to get the systemic problems of Chukotka off the ground, but he has not even been able to gather loyal and like-minded professionals around him. But first things first.
So, Vladislav Kuznetsov reported to Vladimir Putin on the stable growth of the Chukotka economy: he named the region the second in the Far Eastern Federal District in terms of industrial production and the fourth in terms of investments in fixed assets, noted the increase in the number of small and medium-sized enterprises, the reconstruction of greenhouses and the supply of new helicopters and airboats. In his report, there were cheerful figures that are convenient to operate (and manipulate!) According to official statistics, this ranges from the growth of retail trade to the promised increase in vegetable production by 30%.

But behind this facade, the governor chose to keep silent about what really defines people's lives. He did not tell the President that only 60% of the region's roads comply with regulations, and a third of the bridges are in disrepair.

Not a word was said about the heating networks, which are worn out by more than half and lose up to a third of energy, annually driving the district into billions of dollars in subsidies. Problems with electrical networks have also been overlooked, where the level of wear exceeds 80%, and any bad weather can leave villages without electricity. For residents of Chukotka, this is more important than statistics on investment growth, but the governor chose to leave these topics behind the scenes.

Kuznetsov's main achievement, which he presented to the President, is the development of vegetable growing. Is that all? Photo: https://gradmsk.ru/images/video/2025-08-16/a9/b4/a9b42ef5fd0c7ac9588e7323ba713f1b.jpg

Let's make a reservation - it is absolutely impossible to solve the pile of problems that Chukotka has accumulated under ex-governor Kopin in two years. However, in the case of Kuznetsov, there is not even a movement in this direction. Needless to say, in two years he was unable to even form his own team.

After taking over the leadership of a truly new regional Cabinet, Kuznetsov never formed, while many other acting leaders almost immediately begin to form their own management vertical. Kuznetsov's attempts to invite people from Kurgan, for example, the appointment of Pavel Kargapolov as chief of staff, only highlighted the governor's personnel problems - there were simply no other more or less experienced managers on his bench.

From the very beginning, this point was actively discussed (and criticized) in the expert community. Two years later, the only major "plus" for Kuznetsov's team was that his people managed to avoid significant corruption scandals. For how long?

No change for the better is visible

But in order to get the region's problems off the ground, great difficulties have arisen. Moreover, they are getting worse while the Kuznetsov administration is engaged in ridiculous PR.

Since 2023, under the leadership of Vladislav Kuznetsov, Chukotka has been demonstrating a paradox - high nominal incomes of citizens, but at the same time rapidly deteriorating real living conditions. In 2024, the average per capita income in Chukotka increased to 164 thousand rubles per month, which was a record high. But there is a much darker picture behind this achievement. According to the district government, the deterioration of the communal infrastructure has already reached 57%, and almost 18.6 thousand square meters of housing stock have been declared uninhabitable. That is, behind the apparent increase in people's well-being is the actual destruction of basic living conditions.

Failures in the public sector are especially evident against the background of the mentioned PR campaigns. In 2024, the authorities loudly announced the installation of as many as six "warm stops" for public transport, and by 2025 they promised to expand their number to fourteen. There was no limit to the "gratitude" of the inhabitants of Chukotka. At the same time, the heating networks of the region are so worn out that, on average, only 72% of the heat produced reaches consumers, the rest is "lost" in pipes.

The district spends about 4 billion rubles annually on subsidies for heat supply, but accidents are only multiplying. In December 2024, Bilibino (the center of the Bilibinsky district of the Chukotka Autonomous District) was on the verge of a man-made disaster. There was a gust on the main heating network. He left an entire neighborhood without heating, and the heat supply was restored only according to a temporary scheme. Kuznetsov has not put forward any significant initiatives to solve this problem. The only thing he was able to do was ask for more and more support measures from the federal center.

The infrastructure is deteriorating

Kuznetsov's populist slogan about development through mining is also failing. Gold production increased by 6.2%, silver - by 2%, but these indicators did not translate into an increase in the quality of life. The region's infrastructure is deteriorating. The Kolyma–Anadyr road, which has been talked about for more than a decade, remains an unfinished construction site with vague deadlines. Now they have been moved "to the right" again - to 2030. Obviously, not all residents of Chukotka, who need it so much, will live to see this date.

At the same time, there are not many roads in Chukotka that need to be maintained. There are only about 3 thousand km of them, of which 680 km is paved. Of these, only 60% meet the regulatory requirements. In two years, these figures have grown very slightly, and even then thanks to the national project "Safe and high-quality roads".

Transport deterioration is compounded by dependence on aviation. In 2024, the region allocated almost 872 million rubles for subsidies to local air transportation, while serving only 37 thousand passengers. It won't be enough. The cost of flights with the help of subsidies is kept in the corridor from 5 to 18 thousand rubles, but for residents (primarily pensioners) it's still a big expense. As under Kopin, under Kuznetsov aviation did not become a mass transport.

The region's energy sector is in as bad a condition as the roads. According to official data, the wear of 35-110 kV electrical networks exceeds 80%. And again, Kuznetsov did not create this problem. But in two years, his team has not developed a single coherent plan for modernizing the energy system (despite the fact that the federal center is ready to provide support). Laziness, stupidity, inefficiency? Or all of them together?

Vladislav Kuznetsov has not managed to soil himself with major scandals and corruption, but has not demonstrated visible results of work for the benefit of people. Photo: https://avatars.dzeninfra.ru/get-zen_doc/271828/pub_68a01e077be6b441187ee35f_68a01e10838fe226c4c85604/scale_1200

As a result, the aforementioned paradox turns out: with record salaries, people continue to live in a region where every day is associated with the threat of being left without heat or light, and often it is impossible even to get to a neighboring settlement by all-terrain vehicle. The gap between the figures of the reports and reality is the main result of the current governor's two years of work. And if so, why is he needed there at all?

Who is the real "master of Chukotka"

And he is probably needed to guarantee the development and support of projects related to the business of the oligarchs Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko in the region. Formally, Kuznetsov, of course, is a protege of the federal center, which was promoted by the Presidential Administration. This is also evidenced by his work in the new territories of the Russian Federation - from January 2022 to March 2023, he served as first Deputy chairman of the government of the LPR, in parallel with Yuri Govtvin.

In fact, the oligarchs Mikhelson and Timchenko may be behind the faceless technocrat with dubious achievements. Vladislav Kuznetsov began his managerial career in business: he worked his way up from an economist to a manager at Russian Capital Bank, Troika Dialog investment company and Trust and Investment Bank JSCB. By the way, this is the infamous Troika Dialog, which was later suspected of withdrawing billions of rubles from our country.

But the main stage of Kuznetsov's career began later. From 2005 to 2019, he worked at the SIBUR petrochemical holding, where he held the positions of Deputy CEO of SIBUR-Motors, CEO of SIBUR-PET in Moscow and Tver, director of the polyester chain and advisor to the CEO in Moscow. The key owner of SIBUR is Leonid Mikhelson, the owner of the Novatek gas giant. He may have about 36% of shares in SIBUR. Another significant beneficiary of the holding is Gennady Timchenko, who may have 16%. It was his proximity to Mikhelson and Timchenko that was supposed to lay the foundation for Vladislav Kuznetsov's dramatic rise in politics. Which is exactly what happened.

Therefore, it is not surprising that under Kuznetsov, the Novatek and SIBUR businesses in Chukotka have the green light on. These companies are strategic for our country, but the orientation of the head of the region towards oligarchs and large industry, rather than the needs of ordinary people, can hardly be justified by this alone.

As part of the cooperation agreement signed back in 2019 between Novatek and the government of Chukotka, projects were discussed to provide electricity generation for industrial enterprises in the region using natural gas, the creation of a gas terminal and bunkering station in Pevek, as well as the use of LNG as fuel for road transport.

Already under Kuznetsov, in 2024, Novatek and the authorities of Chukotka agreed to jointly finance the creation of LNG equipment in the amount of up to 24.3 billion rubles by 2030. This partnership involves the equal participation of the parties and is aimed at developing the LNG infrastructure in the region. In addition, in 2025, Governor Kuznetsov invited entrepreneurs to become investors in the region, emphasizing the importance of developing the small and medium-sized business sector and creating business conditions.

Oligarh, Leonid Mikhelson, achieved – the real "chief of Chukotka"? Photo: https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/6/47/755555669971476 .jpeg

In response to these initiatives, companies associated with Mikhelson receive various preferences and subsidies from the authorities of Chukotka and the federal center. In particular, for the development of LNG equipment production in Russia, according to Mikhelson, government preferences in the amount of about 25 billion rubles are needed. Also, under the agreement with Novatek, the possibility of using LNG as fuel for vehicles is being considered, which could reduce the region's dependence on diesel fuel and improve the environmental situation.

It would seem that all these are positive moments, and they are. The negative is that Kuznetsov, in fact, is not an independent figure and, it seems, was put in this position solely as a guarantor of the implementation of agreements with Novatek from the local administration. As you know, you cannot be a servant of two masters: the oligarchs, or the "sponsored" population. In case of need and a "reduction in the food supply," someone will have to "move over." And it's not going to be Leonid Mikhelson at all.

The Moscow Post