July 28 will become the “Black Thursday” for Crimea and a range of Crimean and Sevastopol officials. ‘Crimean Federal District’ doesn’t exist any more – Putin included it together with Sevastopol to the South Federal District whereby he downscaled the political status of Crimea.
“In order to improve effectiveness of the federal authorities I decree: 1. To reorganize the South Federal District and the Crimean Federal District into the South Federal District,” Putin’s decree published on the Kremlin official website states.
The updated South Federal district includes the Republic of Adygea, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Republic of Crimea, the Krasnodar Krai, Astrakhan Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, Rostov Oblast and Sevastopol.
Reaction in Crimea
Sergey Tsekov
Crimean officials and political experts talk over about rectitude of such decision of the Russian President. For example, the ‘Senator’ from Crimea Sergey Tsekov reckons that the abolishment of the Crimean Federal District (CFD) evidences the end of the transition period on “integration of the peninsula into Russia”.
“The Crimean Federal District was created for duration of the transition period. Nowadays it is possible to say that this period is over and the period of adaptation has started,” Tsekov emphasized.
The pro-government Crimean political expert Andrey Nikiforov takes a favorable view at the incorporation of Crimea and Sevastopol into the SFD, considering these actions as the necessary element for improvement of the administrative system of Russia.
“In my opinion, the administrative system of the state management is developed, because the districts should be well-proportioned. This subject has been already discussed long ago among the well-informed sources. At the same time, both the Republic of Crimea and federal city of Sevastopol keep their rights,” Nikiforov said.
Russian interpretation
Russian analysts completely support their Crimean colleagues, speaking about the end of integration process of Crimea into Russia.
“The merging of South and Crimean Federal Districts indicates the stability of the situation and the fact that Crimea has been completely integrated into the Russian space and nowadays there are no extraordinary circumstances for its exclusive status neither from economical nor political points of view,” the Doctor of Political Science, Professor Vladimir Zorin emphasized.
In addition, Kremlin political experts are sure that such change of the status bears evidence of transformation of the peninsula’s authorities from the emergency, revolutionary structure into the usual one.
“There is special aspect in Crimea. Non-the less, the authorities were revolutionary in Crimea, what included particular characteristics. I believe that the change of Sevastopol Governor and the merging of districts is simply changeover of Crimea from the emergency management system to the usual one,” the executive director of the Institute of Regional Problems Dmitry Zhuravlev noted.
Reaction in Ukraine
On behalf of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Sergey Kislitsa expressed its strong protest to Russia in relation to the integration of Crimea to the SFD, and also threatened with western sanctions against the entire South Federal District.
“If someone thinks that a stolen thing can be taken to another house and it would stop being stolen, then this is a very fallacious policy. Even more, anyone who conceals the stolen thing, and we speak about Crimea, becomes a direct accomplice of the thief. It may happen so that sanctions practiced on the territory of Crimea can be extended to the very same South Federal District by the serious partners and international organizations,” Kislitsya emphasized.
Refat Chubarov
The Head of the Medjlis of Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov believes that the abolishment of the Crimean Federal District will cause further imposing of the “Russian world” ignoring the ethnical or cultural diversity.
“Main Russian leaders doomed the occupied Crimea to the very same fate as other native Russian territories, which are objects for imposing the common unified state policy, by implementing which the ethnic or historic diversity, cultural and linguistic particularities will serve only as a screen until the very moment of the total secure of this territory according to the standards of the “Russian world,” Chubarov wrote in his Facebook page.
Staff reshuffle
Oleg Belaventsev
In the context of the CFD’s reorganization, changes affected the plenipotentiary envoy of the Russian President in Crimea Oleg Belaventsev. As there is no ‘federal district’, there is no need for his position on the peninsula, because the current Putin’s representative in the SFD Vladimir Ustinov will deal with all the matters. Belantsev has been already designated as the presidential representative in the North Caucasian Federal District.
The ‘governor’ of Sevastopol Sergey Menyailo, who, according to the Kremlin’s information, has resigned, also faced with a severe blow. Putin not only complied with his request, but also rapidly assigned him as the presidential representative in the Siberian Federal District. Here it is possible to speak about banishment to Siberia after Sevastopol. At the same time, Menyailo didn’t hide astonishment with such assignment while communicating with journalists.
“I am driving right now to Sevastopol and you are asking me about something I have no idea about. I learned about my assignment from the press. I am saying honestly I didn’t know about that,” already the ex-“governor” of Sevastopol said.
Dmitry Ovsyannikov
Analysts analyze this resignation from the perspective of a number of factors. First of all, assignment of the current deputy of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Dmitry Ovsyannikov as the acting governor (actually, the new ‘governor’) can be considered as the victory of the Vice-Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak over the Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu, who was an active supporter of Menyailo. On the other hand, resignation of the odious ‘governor’ before the Duma’s election is a good pre-election step.
Citizens of the city who applied to the president, organized meetings and even started to collect signatures for resignation of Menyailo will believe in their own significance subjectivity again as it was in 2014 and vote for the presidential party “United Russia” without spoiling the picture for the authorities.
According to the General Director of the Russian International Institute of Political Expertise Evgeniy Minchenko, the federal center solved the long-standing conflict in the city by means of this resignation.
However, already in the autumn citizens of Sevastopol will understand that situation does not changes for better by rotating “outsiders” in the governor’s chair and a new appointee will use the authoritative post for his own purposes, including as the compensation for the risk to fall under the western sanctions.
Crimea didn’t become an exception in the range of the staff turnovers in Russia. Profound changes took place in many federal objects of the Russian Federation and became continuation of purges of staff in the defense and law enforcement agencies. It is quite understandable as elections to the State Duma will take place in month and a half and Putin does not need any surprises on the background of the serious socio-economic decline. Strengthening the regional positons by means of appointees from FSB and MIA demonstrates that this is the government’s model expecting Russia in the nearest years.
Mikhail Zurabov
In conclusion, the head of Russia dismissed Mikhail Zurabov from the post of Russian Ambassador to Ukraine. He had been keeping that position since August 2009 and had faced with Euromaidan and the active phase of warfare in Donbass.
According to the Russian analysts, the Kremlin will send a new Ambassador to Ukraine at the earliest in autumn, after the parliament elections. Announced in the media candidate of the acting Russian President’s envoy in the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich, who served in Air Landing Troops and the KGB most likely won’t be able to satisfy Kiev. This is why the Russian Embassy in Ukraine has all the changes to stay without the head for a long time. Although it is barely possible to aggravate the relations between Kiev and Moscow.
The territorial and staff turnovers demonstrate the desire of the Russian President to reinforce the vertical power structure. Despite the fact that no one considers the abolishment of federal status as a problem on the occupied peninsula, significant changes are about to come. Moreover, they won’t be joyful for Crimea: from now on government officials will go to Crimea not from the federal center but from the capital of the district – Rostov-on-Don. By the way, Crimeans will have to protect their rights also there and not in Simferopol. And finally, there will be no exceptions for Crimea anymore, it will become a usual Russian province.
