Crimea ceases to be under-Russia

Many commentators perceive the inclusion of Crimea in the Southern Federal District almost as an early completion of the Kerch Bridge. The peninsula is deprived of its special status with special mechanisms for the operation of all-Russian laws. Crimea ceases to be under-Russia and turns into the same region as the Rostov region or Adygea, with which it will now have to live in the same federal district.

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This reorganization certainly has a certain international meaning. It will be more difficult to challenge the status of Crimea as an ordinary region of the country, part of a large federal district. However, the Kremlin has not demonstrated weakness in matters of new territories before, so perhaps the foreign policy context has nothing to do with it.

It is also appropriate to consider the likely internal political reasons for the restructuring. The large-scale reorganization of the districts, oddly enough, could be designed to solve the problem of the graceful departure of one single person - Oleg Belaventsev.

The Plenipotentiary Representative in the Crimean Federal District, in addition to being a former diplomat and admiral, is also a Hero of Russia. This title was awarded to him by secret decree in the spring of 2014 You Know Why. Unlike most Russian plenipotentiaries, he had a strong influence on the governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo and relative influence on the head of the Republic of Crimea Sergei Aksenov. The authority of the plenipotentiary representative on the peninsula was usually explained by his closeness to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

It is clear that it was difficult to simply “put aside” such a person. The merger of districts gives Belaventsev the opportunity to leave gracefully. He has already made a corresponding comment. "Wonderful! The tasks set by the president have been completed. Now I am faced with new tasks. This speaks of high trust on the part of the president,” Belaventsev said, commenting on his transfer to the Caucasus.

Over the past two years, there has been talk in Crimea that the peninsula was informally given to the Ministry of Defense as a trophy of the brilliant rescue operation of March 2014. Belaventsev acted as the conductor of the will of the military department.

If this is the case, then we can state that the military failed to cope with the task. Despite the active assistance of the federal center, Crimea did not become, as planned, a “showcase for Russia.” Citizens regularly expressed dissatisfaction with poor roads and the work of housing and communal services. The Government of the Russian Federation – the failure to utilize budget funds and the lag behind the implementation schedule of the federal target program for the development of Crimea and Sevastopol. Plus periodic corruption scandals with the initiation of criminal cases.

In any other Russian region, resignations would have followed much faster. But in Crimea the leader is the hero of the Russian Spring, and in Sevastopol the leader has a conflict with the hero of the Russian Spring. Therefore, the Kremlin did not make sudden movements, but looked for a beautiful way out of the situation. Perhaps they showed it to us today.

The main voice of dissatisfaction with Crimean mismanagement in Moscow is believed to have been Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. It is his creature that is considered the acting governor of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsyannikov. In addition to public service, his career was connected with work at strategic industrial enterprises.

Simferopol NTV journalist Oleg Kryuchkov, whose forecasts usually come true, predicts a major bureaucratic purge on the peninsula in August. And in September, Sergei Aksenov will also have the opportunity to leave gracefully, because he heads the regional list of United Russia.

Thus, in the fall, Crimea and Sevastopol will be led by people who are in no way connected with the romantic legend of the Russian Spring, and, therefore, more manageable and disciplined. Moscow will have hope that money from the federal budget, which Crimea receives more than other regions, will spent on time, wisely, purposefully and without corruption scandals.

There is one thing. Rumor has it that the liquidation of the KFO will entail a serious sequestration of many expenditures on public administration systems, as well as activities of the federal target program. Thus, Crimea will actually become a full-fledged region of Russia and will tighten its belt, like everyone else.