Mikhail Evdokimov
Михаил Евдокимов
Mikhail Yevdokimov in 2004
4th Governor (Head) of Altai Krai
In office
14 April 2004 – 7 August 2005
Preceded byAleksandr Surikov
Succeeded byMikhail Kozlov (acting)
Alexander Karlin
Personal details
Born(1957-12-06)6 December 1957
Stalinsk, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Died7 August 2005(2005-08-07) (aged 47)
Pleshkovo, Russia
SpouseGalina Nikolayevna Yevdokimova
ChildrenAnna
Annastasia
Daniil

Mikhail Sergeyevich Yevdokimov (Russian: Михаил Сергеевич Евдокимов; 6 December 1957 – 7 August 2005) was a Russian comedian, actor and politician.[1]

Biography

Yevdokimov was born in Stalinsk (now Novokuznetsk), western Siberia. After a long career as a comedian, actor and singer, he had entered politics by 2003. In April 2004, he became governor of the Altai Krai region of Russia after defeating incumbent Aleksandr Surikov in the elections. Surikov was the candidate supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Yevdokimov became one of the few Russian governors not to have Putin's support. Later, in part because of this election, Putin supported a law which was successfully passed that governors would no longer be directly elected.

In March 2005, Yevdokimov was impeached by the local legislature in a no confidence vote which passed by a vote of 46 to 5. He remained in office, but was under increasing pressure to resign. On 7 August 2005, Yevdokimov was killed in a car accident while travelling on the Russian route M52 20 km from the city of Biysk. His car grazed another car then ran off the road and hit a tree. Yevdokimov's driver and bodyguard died along with him, while his wife, who was also in the car, survived. The driver of the car that collided with Yevdokimov's car, Oleg Scherbinsky, was convicted of breaking traffic laws with fatal result and sentenced to spend 4 years in a settlement colony.[2] Scherbinsky's conviction was followed by car drivers' protests and demonstrations all over Russia; the Russian government officials, even of the lowliest rank, have a habit of not following the traffic rules, casually driving over the speed limit, in the wrong lane or using the blinking lights on top of their car, creating a lot of problems on the road and endangering regular drivers. The traffic police usually are lenient in enforcing the rules against them, and regular drivers are often blamed in case of a collision with a government car.[3] On 23 March 2006, Scherbinsky's conviction was overturned on appeal and he was released.[4]

Yevdokimov was married (Galina) and had one daughter (Anna). He also had another daughter, Anastasia, with a woman named Nadezhda Zharkova. After Yevdokimov's death, Zharkova twice sued Galina and Anna for inheritance, but never arrived to the courthouse, and both cases were dismissed due to Zharkova's absence in court.[5]

Head of Administration of the Altai Krai

Crisis of power

Evdokimov at the first press conference after winning the elections, 6 April 2004

Most deputies elected to the Altai Krai Legislative Assembly were supporters of Aleksandr Surikov. Evdokimov, as the new head, failed to establish relations with the Krai Assembly. Most deputies argued that over a year of work, Evdokimov demonstrated an inability to form an effective management team and blamed him for the failure of economic policy. The reason for this was considered to be the "personnel" leapfrog in the governor's entourage (17 deputies were replaced during the year).

At the same time, Evdokimov's supporters (for example, the Awakening movement, which had about 30 active members and was led by Alexei Nikulin) organized rallies and collected signatures in his support.[6][7][8][9] In March-April 2005, the Awakening movement organized several rallies and pickets against the actions of the Krai Assembly to remove Evdokimov.[6][7][8][10][11]

On 23 December 2004, Altai Krai Legislative Assembly deputies accepted an appeal (interpellation) to Evdokimov, as Head of the Administration of the Altai Krai, with a request to comment on the personnel policy pursued by his administration.

At the end of February 2005, at a session of the Krai Assembly, a resolution was adopted on Evdokimov's improper performance of his duties as head of the Altai Krai. The resolution was sent to the embassy of the Siberian Federal District and the President of the Russian Federation. In March, the heads of 49 districts of the Krai and several cities of regional subordination sent a letter to the plenipotentiary representative in the Siberian Federal District, Anatoly Kvashnin, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they demanded Evdokimov's resignation as governor. Finally, Evdokimov's resignation was demanded by representatives of various regional political parties and public organizations - from United Russia to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. At the same time,[12] Evdokimov's supporters collected more than 52,000 signatures from ordinary citizens in his defense in just nine days. They sent the collected signatures to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation.

On 31 March 2005, at a session of the Krai Assembly, deputies expressed no confidence in Evdokimov. 46 out of 52 deputies voted for this. According to federal law, the governor's fate was to be decided by the President of the Russian Federation. Thus, a nationwide precedent could be created: for the first time, the removal of a governor from office could occur not only on the head of state's initiative, but also at the insistence of the region's Legislative Assembly. However, President Vladimir Putin did not intervene in this situation. At the same meeting, Evdokimov refused to read the traditional report on the region's socio-economic situation to the Krai Assembly's deputies. He explained his step by saying that the deputies were still unconstructive and could not perceive the report adequately.

On 11 May 2005, Evdokimov invited all his deputies and heads of committees and departments of the administration to resign. This was his response to the actions of the Krai Assembly, which twice recognized the administration's work as unsatisfactory. Most of his team members wrote letters of resignation.

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Россия не понимает юмора. В новом сезоне телеканал делает ставку на проверенные формы вещания
  2. ↑ Voronov, Konstantin (4 February 2006). Шофер отпущения. Kommersant (in Russian). № 20 (3351). Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Автомобилисты объединились в волне протестов против приговора водителю (in Russian). NEWSru. 13 February 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  4. ↑ Олег Щербинский оправдан (in Russian). Lenta.Ru. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "Иск о споре за наследство Михаила Евдокимова оставлен без рассмотрения". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  6. 1 2 Usov, Maxim (7 April 2005). "В Барнауле на главной площади города ожидается митинг сторонников губернатора Алтайского края Михаила Евдокимова. Организаторы акции утверждают, что выведут на площадь до 10 000 человек" [In Barnaul, a rally of supporters of the Governor of the Altai Territory, Mikhail Evdokimov, is expected on the main square of the city. The organizers of the protest claim that they will bring up to 10,000 people to the square.] (in Russian). Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Сторонники губернатора Алтайского края Михаила Евдокимова не исключают провокаций на митинге" [Supporters of Altai Territory Governor Mikhail Evdokimov do not rule out provocations at the rally] (in Russian). REGNUM News Agency. 7 April 2005. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Около 1500 человек собралось на прошедшем в Барнауле митинге в поддержку Евдокимова" [About 1,500 people gathered at a rally in Barnaul in support of Evdokimov] (in Russian). ИА Банкфакс.
  9. ↑ "По ком звонили будильники" [Who did the alarms ring for?] (in Russian). ИД Алтапресс.
  10. ↑ "В Барнауле проходит митинг в поддержку губернатора края Михаила Евдокимова" [A rally is being held in Barnaul in support of the regional governor Mikhail Evdokimov] (in Russian). ИА «Амител». Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Михаил Евдокимов собрал автографы поклонников" [Mikhail Evdokimov collected autographs from fans] (in Russian). Kommersant.
  12. ↑ "Сайт Алтайского краевого общественного движения «ПРОБУЖДЕНИЕ»" [Website of the Altai regional public movement "AWAKENING"] (in Russian).
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