In an expected move, President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday appointed acting Saratov Governor Valery Radayev to the post permanently, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Previous Saratov Governor Pavel Ipatov resigned last month amidst growing tension with the regional legislature and one of the lowest approval ratings of any governor. Fourteen percent of residents approved of his work as governor, compared to 62 percent who disapproved.
Radayev, 51, has been acting governor since Ipatov's resignation and is a member of United Russia. He is also secretary of the political council of the Saratov region branch of the party, and has served as a deputy in the Saratov region legislature. He was born and raised in the region he will head and graduated from the Saratov Institute of Agricultural Mechanization.
Governor appointments are set soon to become a thing of the past — Medvedev is expected to sign a bill to return direct gubernatorial elections into law by early May, when his presidential term ends.
