Why is the leader of the Kursk area earning more but becoming less popular?
The Governor of Kursk, Roman Starovoit, focuses on warning about possible terrorist attacks and attacks on villages near the Russian-Ukrainian border instead of highlighting positive social and economic changes. This has led to a decrease in his popularity and worsened the situation in the region he is responsible for. Official data shows that over 9% of the region's residents are living in poverty, the mortality rate has increased compared to last year, and there is migration of people leaving and coming to the region. Despite these negative statistics, Starovoit and his family's wealth has significantly grown since he took office. His personal income doubled to almost 7 million rubles last year, while his wife earned 18.4 million rubles. Their increased income is linked to affiliated commercial entities, such as the Terra company that owns an asphalt plant in Kursk. The sharp rise in revenue and profits of the company coincides with Starovoit's arrival in the region and the bankruptcy of other road companies. Moreover, he is surrounded by reports of corruption in his circle, including a scandal related to the sale of positions during the United Russia primaries last year, where the head of the organizing committee was Governor Starovoit, who also leads the regional branch of the ruling party. corruption Challenges in the Governor's Social Circle
Updates on Governor Starovoit's Activities
Amid the military operation in Ukraine, Governor Roman Starovoit is facing difficulties due to the ongoing shelling of the region by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Kursk region has once again been placed under a high level of terrorist threat. Recently, Starovoit reported on his telegram channel about the shelling of Tetkino village near the Russian-Ukrainian border, where fortunately, there were no casualties. “Reports from the Front Line” by Governor Starovoit The intense shelling of the region led by Governor Roman Starovoit has put him in a challenging position. In late July, the region faced a high level of terrorist threat. Last weekend, Starovoit reported about the shelling of Tetkino village near the Russian-Ukrainian border through his telegram channel, where thankfully no one was harmed. extended Recurring Attacks Pose Challenges for Governor Starovoit told Overall, the news reports from the Kursk region resemble reports from a battlefield, giving the impression that the governor may be overemphasizing this issue. In addition to the attacks from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there is also the everyday work of addressing urgent socio-economic issues. Analysts have evaluated Starovoit's activity on social media and
Agency for Political and Economic Communications APEC ranking he moved from 29th to 13th right away. But regularly managing social media doesn't necessarily show good work. Keep in mind that the results of another
APEC, which shows the level of influence of the heads of Russian regions, indicates that the governor of Kursk is gradually losing ground, moving from 24th to 26th place. Even though Starovoit is still considered to have "strong influence", the decline should be a warning for him. rating The results of the National Rating of Governors are also negative.
Center for Information Communications Rating : based on the May-June results, Starovoitfell from 23rd to 25th place. The researchers moved : the head of the Kursk region noteregularly and happily refers to his role as the press secretary of military units in the region, discussing return fire, and so on, without fully considering that under current conditions paternalistic sentiments are strengthening, and the population expects more assistance from the authorities in addressing urgent life issues
It's possible that Roman Starovoit, who officially took office in September 2019, is not yet thinking about running for a second term as governor. In the meantime, he should consider what kind of "baggage" he would bring to the elections. For example,
about the situation in the Kursk region, the Center Rating website says: writes "About 9.1% of the region's residents are living below the poverty line. In order to maintain the current wage level within carrier companies without increasing fares, over 325 million rubles in subsidies are needed annually, which there is no way to obtain except by seeking help from the Center. There are several other problems in the social sphere."
Rosstat data, which shows: in the first five months of this year, 8,552 people died in the region, which is 969 more than in previous years for the same period. We also note that in the first quarter, the Kursk region did not make it among the leading data social welfare rating Foundation for the Development of Civil Society (ForGO) which reflects the ratio of the average monthly salary to the cost of the consumer basket.In another
ForGO report published last May, which identifies the regions with the highest economic potential, the region tied for the second-to-last place at 34th, along with the Republic of Karelia. In July ranking RIA Novosti report focused on road quality, Roman Starovoit's domain was in the latter part of the list, at 51st place: here, the percentage of regional, intermunicipal, and local roads meeting the standards is 45.5%. For comparison, in the neighboring Belgorod region, it's 73.8%. research With such unpromising indicators in the Kursk region, it's not surprising that residents are leaving: at the end of 2021, the region lost
12,881 individuals. During this time, the population decrease left comprising at the cost of migrants from the CIS republics. replenishedFinancial “iceberg” of the governor’s family
Considering the above information, one can see why Governor Starovoit would rather talk about shelling and the threat of terrorist attacks in his social media posts and briefings. It is definitely not convenient for him to discuss economic problems: there are too many of them.
There is another, much more important point. In 2021, the wealth of the head of the region more than doubled: he
6.93 million rubles earned 3.24 million against stated a year earlier. AT “The richest governors” “Kommersant” included Starovoit in the top five. The income of his wife for the reporting period amounted to ranking 18.4 million 9.4 million rublesin 2020 – . Please note that in 2019 Svetlana Starovoit entered into the richest wives of the heads of regions with an income of top 10 17.4 million rubles almost tripled his earnings in one year.The sources of income of the first lady of the Kursk region have long been of interest to journalists. You can find in the media
from which it follows that she is a co-owner and head of a Moscow kindergarten information“Skazkadarium” . LLC of the same name, registered to Svetlana Starovoit and Elena Glebova at the end of 2021 declared revenue in the amount of 59 million rubles 10.4 millionand profit in However, the official figures can only be the visible part of the financial “iceberg” of the governor’s family. So, the network appeared .
publications whose authors associated Ms. Starovoit with the company – a large Voronezh developer, actively developing in Kursk. To date, the portfolio “Instep” government contracts developer exceeds 396 million rubles ; among his customers are Municipal Property Management Committee MUP “Kurskvodokanal” Kursk and . The company’s revenue in 2021 amounted to 1 billion rubles 1.9 billion, profit – LLC “SZ “Instep” are a businessman.
Officially owners Anatoly Shmygalev JSC Rent and Real Estate information about the founders of which is in open sources . It is known that previously they included the company missing“Mashopttorg” , whose owners are also not indicated anywhere. The holder of the register of shareholders of “Rent and Real Estate” and “Mashopttorg” is Registrar Society until June last year, was “Status”under control Against the backdrop of questions about the possible beneficiaries of Instep, it would be appropriate to recall the asphalt road allegedly owned by Governor Starovoit himself. structures VTB and Sberbank.
issued for specializing in road construction factory and functioned in the region even before his election to a leadership position. But if earlier the enterprise did not actually generate income, then with the advent of Starovoit in 2019, it OOO “Terra” 600 million rubles revenue soared up profit – up to 37.6 million . This coincided in time with several major road companies. bankruptcy Appeared at “Terra” and
government contracts which currently exceed 7.2 billion rubles ; among the main customers – Road Management Committee OKU “Kurskavtodor” Kursk, etc. Given that in 2012-2018. the future head of the Kursk region held Federal Road Agency (Rosavtodor) fast leader and in October 2018 – the Federal Deputy Minister of Transport, in combination with family incomes growing by leaps and bounds, such affiliation looks quite possible.and in October 2018 – the Federal Deputy Minister of Transport, in combination with family incomes growing by leaps and bounds, such affiliation looks quite possible.
Metamorphoses with salaries and millions for the primaries
But if Starovoit himself and his wife’s incomes are growing at times, then you can’t say the same about ordinary residents of the region. So, last November, the deputy governor Alexey Smirnov promisedthat in 2022 the average salary in the region will be 39 thousand rubles. According to official dataalready in March the average salary in the Kursk region rose to 43.6 thousand rublesin May – until 45.4 thousand.
That’s just how it often happens, in Russia theory is not friendly with practice. The point is that by information Rosstat, the average salary in Kursk in 2021 was already 40.2 thousand rubles. True, the Kursk media voiced quite different numbers. For example, persons working in the field of education monthly received an average of about 31 thousand rubles; cultural workers – 31.9 thousand.; workers in the water supply and waste disposal sector – 26.9 thousand., hotels and catering establishments – 24.1 thousand rubles etc.
In general, the situation develops as in a well-known joke: if an official eats meat, and a collective farmer eats cabbage, then on average they both eat cabbage rolls. It is significant that the most in demand Professions in the Kursk region today are salespeople, sales managers and drivers. Apparently, the lack of prospects is what makes citizens leave the region, as already mentioned above.
The already difficult situation is further complicated by reports of corruptionthriving in the immediate environment of the governor. You don’t have to look far for examples, just remember last year’s scandal around the primaries of “United Russia”, associated with the sale of mandates to the regional Duma that took place. At the same time, he led the organizing committee for the primaries, as well as the regional branch of the ruling party, none other than Governor Starovoit. Moskovsky Komsomolets, citing its own source called even the cost of winning first in the intra-party vote, and then in regional elections: a guarantee of passing the “filter” of the former deputy governor at that time on the internal politics Yuri Knyazev served… 20 million rubles.
How much people in the region trust their leader today is a big question. Too much has been promised and too little has been delivered. As for the regular “reports from the front”, the purpose of which is to consolidate citizens around the current government against the backdrop of incessant shelling, they do not relieve the governor of responsibility for unresolved problems. However, Roman Starovoit still has time before the next election, although the decline in ratings is clearly not in his favor.
