Governor Fall: Vladimir Uyba
NeMoscow looks back at the departing Komi governor and recalls what he was remembered for.
Vladimir Uyba, originally from the Omsk region, made his career in Moscow at the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA), with a medical degree. In 2020, he became the head of the Komi Republic. He was one of the most prolific leaders: he wore a military uniform with the Wagner PMC insignia, traveled with humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian town of Rovenki, which the Komi Republic sponsored, and regularly posted patriotic obituaries for the region's residents who died in the war. He served only a short term as governor—only four years.
On his resignation, Uyba рассказал On November 5, he recorded a video message for the residents of Komi on his Telegram channel, in which he announced that "the president has entrusted me with a new frontier of work at the federal level." He then listed all his accomplishments.
"We've done everything we can to make your lives better and more comfortable. <..> The Komi Republic and all its people have become family to me and will forever remain in my heart," Uyba told residents.
Vladimir Putin has proposed Rostislav Goldstein to head the region instead of Uyba. Unlike Uyba, Goldstein will work for a time in Ukhta, a city in Komi, before his appointment.
"Uyba, it's time to go home!"
Uyba's resignation had long been anticipated by many. Ksenia Sobchak wrote on her Telegram channel after the Tambov Region governor's resignation: "We're waiting for Uyba to leave." Local public groups didn't hide their joy at his departure.
"Maybe we should launch a fireworks display for this occasion?" "Now I know what simple human happiness looks like!!!" "Isn't there an emoji like 'ripping accordions'???" "Vladimir Uyba has resigned. In a good half of the Yellow House offices (This is what the residents of Komi call the Government House – editor's note."They're opening champagne," local residents write. And Komi political scientist Alexander Kynev wrote on Telegram: "In my humble opinion, the Komi Republic will go on a drinking binge today in its joy."
"What Putin? You call me Putin."
Vladimir Uyba intended to lead the region longer than he did. At his first press conference in April 2020, when asked about running in the September elections for the head of Komi, Uyba replied, He said he planned to stay in the republic for 10 years: "Don't expect me to be here for a short time. Get used to it." Ultimately, he served as leader for only four years.
Over the past four years, Vladimir Uyba has been involved in several scandals. In 2021, while meeting with residents of the village of Mutny Materik, who had announced their intention to file a complaint with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the oil spill at the Osh oil field, said: "For you, I'm Putin." He then asked residents to create a "list of questions" about the village, adding that they shouldn't be linked "to the current oil situation."
In response to the governor's suggestion, those gathered stated that they do this every year, and some expressed the opinion that this time they should appeal "directly to Putin." "What Putin? For you, I'm Putin. What Putin do you think?" Uyba asked. A local resident asked, "Are you our Putin?" To which the governor confirmed, "Yes, of course. For you, I'm Putin, of course!"
Another time, the Uyba scandal was also linked to ecology. Then, in January 2023, the head of Komi call Local activists opposed the construction of a new landfill and a plant for "environmental waste." The protesters were residents of the Ezhvinsky District, who were collecting signatures against the construction of a waste sorting facility. Then-Komi State Council deputy Viktor Vorobyov demanded that Uyba be charged with insulting residents, but the prosecutor's office found no offense.
Vladimir Uyba was once again embroiled in a scandal in April 2023, when he reprimanded a police officer who asked him to move his illegally parked car. I refuse and said that he was currently holding a meeting.
"The chief is holding a meeting. I've temporarily cordoned off the area for myself. You need to stand here with your flashing lights and say 'The area is cordoned off,'" Uyba says in a video that was widely shared on social media. Uyba also called himself the "guarantor of the Constitution" and said that law enforcement officers "must stand and stand until he leaves." Later, another video appeared on social media in which Uyba berates the police and says he'll "take [them] with him to the front lines" so they can show what kind of fighters they are. The Ministry of Internal Affairs later has established the fact of rude communication between Governor Vladimir Uyba and a traffic inspector.
Vladimir Uyba's arguments included not only with ordinary Komi residents but also with members of parliament. In April 2021, a conversation between Vladimir Uyba and State Council deputy Oleg Mikhailov was widely publicized. In it, Uyba promises "Dig a deputy." "Let's go f***ing, I'll give you a beating right now. Let's go, f***ing, let's go outside. I'll f***ing bury you, let's go outside, if you're a man," Uyba told Mikhailov. The Komi government itself claimed that Mikhailov was the one who first insulted the regional governor.
One of the reasons cited for Vladimir Uyba's resignation is a conflict with one of the republic's main sponsors, Lukoil owner Vagit Alekperov. It got so bad that Alekperov decided to close one of Lukoil's offices in Usinsk and move it to Perm. This threatens to cost the republic tens of billions of rubles in lost budget funds.
"Come to Inta and Vorkuta and go skiing."
Despite leading a wealthy region with a high tax burden, Vladimir Uyba failed to address infrastructure problems. Under his leadership, buildings collapsed, trains derailed due to faulty rails, and healthcare and public utility facilities fell into disrepair.
In May 2024 in Pechora collapsed A dormitory that was deemed unsafe and unfit for major repairs, but residents were not relocated. The building regularly experienced heating and hot water problems: in January 2021, ice "stalactites" formed in the dormitory's entryway.
In another city, Vorkuta, environmentalists even required A state of emergency was declared due to an accident at the city's wastewater treatment plant and the discharge of untreated sewage into the local Vorkuta River. Uyba promised to restore the plant by January 12. In the end, it wasn't restored until January 18, and during the entire accident, approximately 900 cubic meters of sewage entered the river. Later, environmentalists fixed faecal pollution of the river has exceeded the limit by three times.
In principle, sometimes residents of Komi despaired of turning to Vladimir Uyba and recorded an appeal directly to Mikhail Mishutin, as this done Mothers from the village of Nizhny Odes in the Sosnogorsk district wanted information from the country's leadership "about the catastrophic situation surrounding healthcare in the village." The village was short of medical specialists, and the bacteriological laboratory had recently been closed.
According to Komi residents, the only place Uyba helped build houses, hospitals, and even roads was his sponsored town of Rovenky. Uyba regularly reported on his visits to his sponsored town of Rovenky in the Luhansk region. During his tenure as sponsored town, according to him, specialists from Komi have already renovated 45 social facilities. Moreover, Uyba published a video on his Telegram channel in which he... steering wheel Another car or truck, heading to Donbas with humanitarian aid. Under the post, locals were always amazed at such smooth roads and recalled the Chikshino-Kozhva section of the road, which people had already dubbed not a road, but a defense line, because it was so impossible to drive there. Even large trucks got stuck there; laying stones didn't even help; they simply sank into the mud. Furthermore, commentators advised Uybe didn't drive on the roads of Donbas, but took the Ukhta-Syktyvkar highway, where in some places the potholes were up to one and a half meters. Because of the poor roads, scolded and State Duma Speaker Valentina Matviyenko at the next meeting of the Federation Council.
"Some Neo on amphetamines"
Vladimir Uyba is remembered for his PR. The local TV channel "Yurgan" produced a documentary about him, covering his four-year reign. At every emergency or event, be it a fire or the opening of a long-awaited school, he recorded a video from the scene for his Telegram channel.
For example, he wrote down A video was shot against the backdrop of a burning school in the village of Griva in Komi. Uyba commented on the fire, but locals didn't appreciate it, asking if the school had been deliberately left unextinguished until the governor had recorded his video. Another time, Uyba decided to show off his basketball skills at the opening of a school in the village of Emval in the Ezhvinsky District. For two minutes, Uyba tried hit The ball went into the hoop, but to no avail. His subordinates began to help him. Ultimately, the governor managed to score a two-pointer and leave to applause. But the peak of Uyba's PR, and the source of various memes on social media, was an incident in November 2022, when he revealed that during one of his trips to Donbas, his convoy was hit six times. fired HIMARS multiple launch rocket system missiles. But they didn't hit a single target.
