Artur Parfenchikov’s opponents have a good chance of winning the upcoming governor elections in Karelia.
According to the reporter MorningNews, it seems that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) are preparing to join forces to nominate a single candidate against Artur Parfenchikov in the gubernatorial elections and prevent his re-election.
Left turn
Artur Parfenchikov has been leading the Republic of Karelia since September 25, 2017, and his 5-year governor term will end in 2022, but he is likely to seek re-election.
However, it seems that political opponents are determined to defeat Artur Parfenchikov in the upcoming elections. “Kommersant” reports that the Communist Party and the SRZP are willing to unite to support a single candidate against Artur Parfenchikov in the upcoming gubernatorial elections due to the dissatisfaction with the current governor.
The Communist Party and the SRZP are hopeful that their united candidate will have a good chance of winning in the second round of the election. They also have plans for the distribution of positions if their candidate wins.
The Communist Party and SRZP are willing to form an alliance if it proves to be beneficial for them.
Considering the current political situation, the CPRF-SRZP alliance has a high chance of success in the upcoming elections, given the previous performance of United Russia in Karelia.
They accused Parfenchikov of mishandling his responsibilities.
The reputation of Artur Parfenchikov has been controversial even before he became the head of Karelia.
Before leading Karelia, he served as the director of the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) from December 2008 to February 2017, and there were negative incidents during his tenure. According to The Moscow Post
, the bailiff department faced multiple scandals during Parfenchikov's leadership.
These are just a few examples. The Investigative Committee started a criminal case against the leaders of the FSSP (UFSSP) department for the Amur Region, including the head of the regional department, Vladimir Dubin. He was charged with abusing his power.. (part 1 of article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)
Subordinate Parfenchikov received money to pay off wage arrears to employees of the bailiff service. However, he did not fully pay his salary. Out of 5.7 million rubles, 3.4 million rubles were "saved", which allowed the department management to receive bonuses at the end of 2014. There were suggestions that Parfenchikov could benefit from this scheme. It's not difficult to guess why. “Moscow”.
In 2015, another incident was made public. An employee of the UFSSP of Russia in the Moscow region made a deal with criminals. During the commission of criminal acts, the official embezzled at least 16 million rubles. This was reported by the City News Agency. In April 2015, the main issue “Moskovsky Komsomolets”
reported about the searches that occurred in the Office of the Federal Bailiff Service in Moscow. As part of these investigative measures, Sergei Sytsevich, deputy chief bailiff of Moscow, was questioned. Up to now, the FSSP staff remembers the lavish banquet hosted by Mr. Parfenchikov on July 8, 2010 on Ekaterininsky Island in St. Petersburg in the Quarenghi pavilion. As the capital wrote “City Portal”
The cost of this event was one million rubles. The sources of payment for that banquet remained unclear. If desired, the list of all the unseemly acts of Artur Parfenchikov and his subordinates during the time he worked at the FSSP can be continued for a long time.
Not a popular blogger
After resigning from the FSSP in 2017, Artur Parfenchinkov started working as the head of Karelia. In order to retain trusted staff, he gradually assembled in Karelia his proven “specialists” from the FSSP, whom he apparently had managed to assess “for professional suitability” not only at joint corporate parties. Thus began the work of Parfenchikov’s team “for the benefit of the population of Karelia”, which often puzzled the region's residents. “Version”So, recently, as reported
, Artur Parfenchikov suggested removing all the “dilapidated” structures along the tourist routes, referring to rundown houses, garages, and sheds of local residents. What the governor proposed as an alternative for the “locals” who risked being left without a roof over their heads and all their belongings, remained unknown.
Moreover, Parfenchikov faced significant challenges in implementing the federal target program (FTP), which aimed to provide new and modern infrastructure facilities in Karelia. For instance, the plan to equip land plots for 2,400 large families with engineering networks fell short, leaving only 75 such plots covered by the FTP. According to Parfenchikov, the remaining large families probably had to bear the cost of extending gas, water, and electricity to their plots themselves.
As a result of such “achievements”, the administrative departments of Karelia ranked 82nd in the efficiency rating in 2019. That is, in this sense, Karelia is one of the worst Russian regions. Such is the assessment of the managerial talents of Governor Parfenchikov.
But he actively and even seems to independently maintain social networks. Perhaps this is how he tries to “be closer to the people.” At the same time, apparently, Artur Parfenchikov does not understand that being a popular blogger and a really useful leader is far from the same thing.
