Another Young Russian to Watch: Valentin Konovalov, Governor of Khakassia

At the end of November, Valentin Olegovich Konovalov will turn 37, older than he looks in the above photo. He’s a member of Russia’s Communist Party and since 2018 has led Khakassia as its governor when he was 29. His Wiki bio is short but informative.

As you see, Khakassia is in Southern Siberia and is well endowed with natural resources and arable land, plus spectacular vistas. But I want to focus more on Mr. Konovalov because despite his youth he’s displayed excellent governance abilities and is certainly popular with his constituency because he gets things done. The Wiki bio explains the rather odd circumstances of his two election victories. There’s far more to his story than what the bio provides. Konovalov met with President Putin on 1 November at the Kremlin to discuss his Republic’s socio-economic development and further plans. Putin is almost twice his age which can be intimidating, but IMO you’ll see that he handles himself very well:

Vladimir Konovalov : Mr President, first of all, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to personally report on the situation in the republic, how the republic is living, what the Government of Khakassia is doing to develop the economy and improve the well-being of our residents, and how we are fulfilling the goals and tasks that you have set for us.

In general, I would like to say that the republic has good results in a number of socio-economic indicators-both in 2023, and if we take the six-year period, starting from 2017, we are growing and are in a good position in the Siberian Federal District, these are a number of indicators: growth of the gross regional product, industry, investment volume, salary. We have prepared slides, and a number of these indicators are presented.

In 2018, when the elected heads of state met with you, you set the task of developing the non-primary sector of the economy, and I want to report that we fulfilled this task in our republic. In 2020, we developed a new strategy for socio-economic development until 2030, where we have identified the development of non-primary sectors of the economy as one of our priorities.

And, in general, over the years we have provided additional support to the manufacturing sector, including participation in national projects and regional programs, as well as to agriculture and the construction industry, which is developing quite dynamically in our country. Just last year, we set a record for the entire period, including the Soviet era, for housing commissioning – 373 thousand square meters were commissioned, 0.7 square meters for each resident.

We actively support tourism and the service sector. This allowed us to achieve certain results. In other words, since 2017, our income from manufacturing has grown 1.7 times, we have almost doubled our income from agriculture, tripled our income from tourism, and doubled our income from small and medium – sized businesses. But, of course, our dependence on the aluminum industry and on the coal industry still remains, as it has historically happened: aluminum has been around since Soviet times, our Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station was built for aluminum plants, the coal industry has been a significant part of our economy since tsarist times, but we are gradually reducing this dependence.

Separately, Mr Putin, I would like to report on the implementation of national projects and how we are fulfilling your instructions in this area. I must say that since 2019, we have attracted more than 35 billion rubles for national projects, which, of course, allowed us to transform the republic in a number of areas. If we talk, for example, about healthcare, we have built 39 facilities since 2019, mainly FAPs, outpatient clinics in rural areas, including large facilities in cities.

For example, the radiological building of an oncological dispensary, and we provide assistance there not only to residents of Khakassia, but also to residents of Tuva and the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. We have almost completely updated the fleet of medical vehicles, about 200 were purchased over the years, 1.5 thousand medical equipment. We are also actively working with personnel, and we have also been implementing a regional program for purchasing housing for doctors and paramedics for three years. We are acquiring them to attract them to the region, because of course there is a certain shortage of personnel, and in recent years we have taken 16 support measures so that people can come to work in our republic.

Vladimir Putin: You still have a lower number of doctors than the national average.

Vladimir Konovalov: Yes, Mr President, it is true, so we are making additional efforts in this area to attract medical personnel to us. By the way, we have started training paramedics at our technical schools, and we are expanding this direction, because there is also a certain shortage of secondary and junior medical personnel, especially in rural areas.

And of course, national projects have allowed us to make a big breakthrough in the field of education and upbringing. Since 2019, we have built and purchased 17 kindergartens and, in general, for the first time in the history of the republic, at least in modern times, we have closed the problem of waiting lists for kindergartens. Since 2021, we have no waiting lists, and we meet 100 percent of the applications that young parents receive.

We are actively working today on the task that you set – to avoid second shifts. Again, starting from 2019, we have built eight schools and removed some of the tension, but today we still have about 23 percent of the total number of schools that retain the second shift.

Basically, of course, this problem is typical for the city of Abakan, and there we need to build about 9,5 thousand more places to completely avoid two shifts. But we are actively engaged. Again, the national projects that you initiated help us a lot in this regard. We have built schools for two thousand in Abakan, and now we are building for the third thousand, and there are, of course, further plans to ensure that this indicator is met.

Separately, I would like to focus on the program of integrated rural development. Thank you very much for launching it, because from the very first days of its implementation, since 2020, we have been very actively involved in it, and, frankly, this has allowed us to transform the villages that were included in the program.

We also took a comprehensive approach: in addition to this federal program, other regional programs and national projects were also built. We are currently implementing this program in three localities: this is [the village of] Bely Yar-almost 1.5 billion [rubles], the village of Askiz-1.1 billion, and in Arbaty-half a billion. And there we have new schools again, kindergartens, cultural centers, objects of "communal housing". That is, in general, after the completion of the projects—we have these three projects coming to an end this year and next, in 2025—life in these villages will not differ in any way from urban life.

Moreover, we even have a "multi-apartment building" being built there, in particular, in the village of Bely Yar. This is quite close to Abakan and is actually part of the agglomeration, but again, in the recent history of the republic, this is a significant fact and event. Therefore, we would like to thank you very much for this, because thanks to this program, villages are really being transformed in Khakassia and, I am sure, in the country.

For the development of the republic's economy, we try to use different tools in addition to state support measures. This is also private investment, and, in general, today our total investment volume is growing, and there was growth in 2022 and 2023. And again, if we look at the five-year plan, these tools, of course, also allow us to move the economy forward, and again, we also focus on the non-resource sector, at least we try to do this.

I would like to thank you here for supporting the republic's inclusion in the list of subjects for which an individual development program is being developed, which will allow us to support those industries that are a priority for us.

I would like to say, Mr President, that I hold quite a lot of meetings with residents, and I have traveled in principle to all the localities of the entire republic, even to the smallest villages and villages. And of course, residents are very grateful that today there is such an opportunity in every municipality in fact--if you have properly prepared the documentation and the head of the Village Council is good—to take part in various federal programs. This is really transforming our localities.

Separately, Mr Putin, I would also like to mention a special military operation. We do not stand aside, our residents, of course, actively support. More than 500 tons of humanitarian supplies were sent to the front and residents of the newly annexed regions. And this is really a popular impulse: these are students, grandparents, and grandparents who make trench candles, sew gloves, and make camouflage nets.

And of course, we pay special attention to and support the families of our fighters. We have a separate program, which includes a whole range of measures and benefits, and we have established payments as well. It is clear that we have a difficult budget situation, but nevertheless we pay special attention to this area.

We have the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, and we also support it. We have rented a room for it and fully equipped it. They have been actively receiving citizens for a year now, receiving more than four thousand. And in reality, they actively help with all the problems, including domestic ones, that both returned fighters and their families face.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, we are also working with the territories under our supervision. We have the city of Sverdlovsk and the Sverdlovsk region [LNR]. Last year, we actively helped the city of Chervonopartyzansk, which is part of this municipality, renovated a school and kindergarten for 50 million rubles. In addition, we send children on vacation. Last year, we handed over books on the Russian language, literature, history, and musical equipment for cultural centers. In other words, we also work systematically here.

According to the program for this year, we have the city of Sverdlovsk itself, we are also repairing two schools, we are going ahead with our plans and we will do everything right.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I would like to thank you for the support provided in previous years. We felt it. The requests that were sent to you were always met, and special attention was paid to us.

Vladimir Putin: I see that your construction industry is growing, your investment is growing, and your unemployment rate has significantly decreased. This, of course, is a positive element.

Vladimir Konovalov: Our unemployment rate is indeed at a record low. According to the international methodology, 1.6% today, and according to the registered method--0.7%, there are less than two thousand unemployed people on the labor exchange.

But, frankly, this is a big problem for us today, of course, because both in the public sector, in government bodies, and in entrepreneurship, there is a struggle for employees today. If we are talking about large and medium-sized businesses, the increase in salaries begins, which accelerates the average salary in the region. That is, it seems to be pleasant worries, but it is also difficult to deal with this now.

Vladimir Putin: Such investment projects are worthy. I see that both large companies and small and medium-sized businesses are investing. It is very good.

There are questions that concern not only you, but also other regions.

We are forgetting a problem that citizens have repeatedly paid attention to. This is working with municipal solid waste. And you also have this problem. We need to work more closely with operators, of course, to help them, but also to arrange the work so that they fulfill their obligations.

Vladimir Konovalov: Today, Mr Putin, we are cooperating with the REO Production Company. In general, the task is to have a waste recycling complex available before the end of 2026. We are working in this direction, and we are now actively trying to introduce separate collection, because we understand that when waste processing enterprises start working, if there is no separate collection, it will all be for nothing.

Vladimir Putin: This is a complex problem, and we have talked about it many times.

We now have acute issues that occupy the entire public consciousness, and I mean what is happening in our field of free trade, and there are major projects, we need to develop shipbuilding and aviation. We have many global issues, but behind this globalism, we should never forget the seemingly small details of people's lives, but the quality of life of our citizens depends on them. That is why I ask you, and I hope that other colleagues in the regions, your colleagues in the regions, and our colleagues with you will hear us, and they will not forget about the issues that are really extremely important for the current life of people and have not lost their relevance. Ok?

Let's take a look at the questions that you have prepared in writing here. [My Emphasis]

Like neighboring Tuva, spectacular Siberian vistas and a similar mixture of peoples.

IMO, a very good report. Covid was well managed and the government is using well the tools provided by the federal government. It also helps that Konovalov is a native to his region. It would be good to know what else was said. Part of that chat had to include aspects of the upcoming master development plan for Khakassia and Siberia as a whole. He appears to be doing a good job and had a good reelection margin of about 64%. How well he’ll be able to grow his republic will be key to see if he gets promoted. He doesn’t have the advantage of heading a large, strategic territory like the new Minister of Trade and Industry Anton Andreyevich Alikhanov who was governor of Kaliningrad for 6.5 years. There’re several other young bucks that also deserve the spotlight. Russian’s IMO prefer steady, responsible, honest governance over a much longer period of time that that promoted by the western parliamentary model. Of course, the sample size for that assessment is very small. However, it’s hard to explain Putin’s longstanding popularity any other way. Note Putin’s remark at the end of the recorded chat to look after the peoples’ basic needs, which IMO is the hallmark of Putin’s presidency.

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