Leader of Komi Republic, Vladimir Uiba, resigns

The Russian Federation is undergoing major changes in personnel policy. On 4 November, Maksim Yegorov, Governor of Tambov Oblast, and Vassily Golubev, Governor of Rostov Oblast, resigned. On 5 November, Vladimir Uiba, the leader of the Komi Republic with Estonian roots, announced his resignation. He had been appointed acting head of the region by Vladimir Putin in April 2020. In September of the same year, he officially became head of the republic, having won local elections with 73.2% of the vote. Vladimir Uiba (b. 1958) is a doctor by training, with a doctorate in medicine. He served as Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation before being appointed President of the Republic.

Commenting on his resignation, he said he had been offered a job at federal level. Analysts and experts have generally praised Vladimir Uiba’s leadership, noting his achievements in the development of the region, particularly in the areas of family policy and health. They also point to his good relations with the central authorities, which have led to an increase in subsidies and investment in the republic from the Russian state budget. Critics, however, have noted his overly sharp tongue and conflicts with local elites, which have led to a fluidity of cadres in the republic’s power structure.

The new leader: Rostislav Goldstein

Vladimir Uiba was replaced as acting head of the Komi Republic by Rostislav Goldstein. He previously headed the Jewish Autonomous District in the Far East. Goldstein had previously worked in the Komi Republic, making a career in the town of Ukhta, where he held various posts from driver to general director of the Goldstein department store. In 2007, however, he was elected to the State Council of the Komi Republic as deputy chairman of the State Council (deputy speaker).

In 2012, Goldstein was elected to the Russian State Duma. In 2015, he was appointed Senator of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation by the executive power of the Jewish Autonomous District. In September 2020, he was elected Governor of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast with 82.5% of the vote. Rostislav Goldstein was born in 1969 in Kalinin oblast. He graduated from secondary school in Sakhalin and from higher education in Rostov, where he studied economics and law.

Personnel changes in Russia

Over the past month, there has been an upsurge in the number of people involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine rising to high positions in the state apparatus of the Russian Federation. Former officials or military officers who took part in the war against Ukraine are taking the place of resigned governors. Those who took part in the war are being appointed as members, senators, of Russia’s Federal Council, the upper house of parliament. It could be said that the Russia-Ukraine war is shaping a new elite. However, the new head of the Komi Republic, Rostislav Goldstein, has not been directly involved in the hostilities. Rather, he is a businessman who was placed on the list of sanctioned persons by the President of Ukraine in 2018.