Governor Fall: Vasily Golubev
Three regional leaders announced their resignations on November 4 and 5. NeMoskva looked back on the departing leaders and attempted to outline the circumstances of their departures and paint a brief portrait of them.
So, we say goodbye to the Governor of the Rostov Region, Vasily Golubev. He was a long-serving figure: he led the region for 14 years. He didn't overdo the Nazi salute, but he didn't go looking for trouble either. A local native, he made his career in the Moscow region.
We have compiled a short profile of him.
"The events you describe did not happen."
On the afternoon of November 4, Golubev announced his resignation "due to a transfer to another position." That evening, news emerged that his office had been searched on November 2. This was reported by the Rostov-based publication 161.ru, citing its own sources in law enforcement agencies and the regional government.
"The purge is underway. They've arrived from Moscow. FSB officers are planning a thorough investigation of government agencies in the region. Criminal cases will be opened. Among those suspected of large-scale fraud are several of City Manager Alexey Logvinenko's deputies. After the searches, so far, everything has ended with a conversation in the office. So far, warnings have been issued."- рассказал publication's interlocutor.
TASS on this responded with a message that “information about searches conducted by security forces at Vasily Golubev’s home is not true” – citing the press service of the governor (now former).
But the inquisitive journalists at 161.ru weren't satisfied with that and asked Irina Chetvertakova, Golubev's press secretary, to explain why, as proof that no searches had taken place at her boss's place, she cited his schedule for November 4, which—surprise!—didn't mention any searches. Even though 161.ru was reporting on a completely different day—November 2. "None of the events you describe took place," they said. responded Chetvertakova.
On the same day, November 4, Yuri Slyusar, who had served as CEO of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation in recent years, was appointed acting governor of the Rostov Region. His father, Boris Slyusar, was well known in Rostov: he was CEO and then chairman of the board of directors of Rostvertol, a major aircraft manufacturer.
"Thank you, we were waiting for this"
The governor's resignation announcement, published on his Telegram channel, garnered nearly 1,500 responses within a few hours, after which comments were closed.
The news seemed to catch the governor's press service off guard, and initially, they couldn't think of anything better to do than issue two vague, lyrical comments, one after the other. Both begin with the words, "How quickly time flies! The departure of a governor is always an important moment for a region..." and speak (in slightly different terms) of a "sense of unity," the need for "engagement with the population," and so on.
Some commenters express their gratitude and support to Golubev. It's hard to say how many of them are bots. (Judging by the abundance of official language, it seems like a lot.)
Most people, however, don't remember the outgoing governor with the kindest words. Here's just one typical comment:
"Thank you very much, we've been waiting for this. We've been waiting like the 170 bus to Temernitsky, the only one in a village of several thousand, which runs every two hours. We've been waiting like we waited for the streets and sidewalks to be cleared after every snowfall in winter. We've been waiting like the residents of Zapadny for months for hot water. We've been waiting for the endless water and sewer failures to be fixed. We've been waiting for storm drains, when people were dying in floodwaters. We've been waiting for a pay raise for public sector workers, who are the only ones in our region who are so downtrodden that cleaners are paid more. Thank you for leaving, now there's a glimmer of hope for something better."
What was he like and what was he remembered for?
Vasily Golubev succeeded Vladimir Chub as Governor of the Rostov Region in 2010. He was appointed to the position by President Dmitry Medvedev. Golubev was subsequently elected twice, in 2015 and 2020.
Golubev is 67 years old. He was born in the Rostov region, but went to Moscow for school. After graduating, he was assigned to the city of Vidnoye, near Moscow, where he subsequently built his career. Consequently, he was perceived as an outsider in Rostov.
Golubev holds two higher education degrees: from the Ordzhonikidze Moscow Institute of Management in 1980 and from the Russian Academy of Public Administration in 1997. He holds a PhD in Law and a Doctor of Economics.
In 1999, he became vice-governor of the Moscow region and, according to the memoirs of politician Boris Nadezhdin, “effectively governed the region.”
Golubev's years in power were quite prosperous for the Rostov region's economy, but were also marked by a number of major scandals.
One of them was the devastating fire on Teatralny Spusk (popularly known as "Govnyarka") on August 21, 2017, which left approximately 700 Rostov residents homeless. No one was held accountable, and the affected residents spent years unsuccessfully seeking compensation.
The fire is also linked to one of the largest political cases of the pre-war era—the "Rostov boys' case." On November 5, 2017, 22-year-old Vladislav Mordasov and 18-year-old Yan Sidorov marched to the Rostov regional government building, holding placards reading "Return the land to the Rostov fire victims" and "Resign the government." They were detained almost immediately by police and charged with "actions aimed at changing the current government in Russia, seizing the Rostov-on-Don city administration building, the police station..." Both were sentenced to six and a half years in maximum-security prisons, but the Supreme Court later reduced their sentences to four years.
On October 20, 2020, 13 patients died at once at the COVID-19 hospital of City Hospital No. 20. That day, the hospital ran out of oxygen. An investigation uncovered numerous violations in the medical equipment procurement system, but the criminal case was closed two years later due to the statute of limitations.
With the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the Rostov region became a frontline region. Even before February 24, a flood of refugees from Donbas began pouring in, and the wounded began arriving there as well. The region became a constant target for Ukrainian shelling. In August and September of this year, major fires broke out at oil depots in the Proletarsky and Kamensky districts of the region.
Unlike some other regional leaders, Golubev hasn't made any bold "patriotic" statements. Nor has he been known for any particular obscurantism—at least not regarding installation of monuments to Stalin it is not heard in the region, and in buffoonish initiatives like fight against quad bikes.
During the Prigozhin mutiny, the Rostov region found itself at the very center of events. Rostov security forces offered no resistance to the Wagner mercenaries. Rostov residents chanted "Shame" at the police, who returned to the city center only after the Wagner PMC units had left. However, the city's residents themselves were eager to interact with the mercenaries and take selfies with them.
