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The governor of the gas-rich Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, Yury Neyelov, said Wednesday that he would step down after his third term ends in March.
Neyelov, 58, who has run the region in Western Siberia since 1996, told reporters Wednesday that he has already asked President Dmitry Medvedev not to submit his candidacy for another term.
“I have made a deliberate decision not to wait until my fate is decided,” Itar-Tass quoted Neyelov as saying.
“On Feb. 12, it was exactly 16 years that I have led the district. That’s more than three terms. The president of Russia made a fundamental decision to renew the governors corps, so that governors don’t lead the regions for more than three terms,” Neyelov said, Interfax reported.
Neyelov’s name was earlier included on a list, compiled by ruling party United Russia, of potential governors for the region following the end of his term next month. The list, which was submitted to Medvedev for review, includes Neyelov's deputy, Viktor Kazarin; a local district head, Dmitry Kobylkin; and the head of a partner company, Igor Fyodorov, who studied law with Medvedev at the same university in Leningrad.
Meanwhile, regional parliaments in Krasnoyarsk and the Jewish autonomous region confirmed new governors Wednesday, the regional governments reported on their respective web sites.
Lev Kuznetsov, a 44-year-old former executive at , was confirmed as the Krasnoyarsk governor, while Alexander Vinnikov, 54, was approved as the Jewish autonomous region's new governor. Vinnikov had previously served as mayor of the regional capital, Birobidzhan.
Medvedev proposed the candidacies of both men.
Kuznetsov replaces former Norilsk CEO Alexander Khloponin, whom Medvedev promoted last month to head the newly created North Caucasus Federal District, while Vinnikov replaces Nikolai Volkov, 58, who had held the post since 1991.
