Nenets Region Governor Steps Down Ahead of Upcoming Elections

The governor of Russia’s Nenets Autonomous District, Yury Bezdudny, announced on Tuesday that he will resign prior to the region’s upcoming indirect gubernatorial elections later this year.

Bezdudny was one of five governors anticipated to be replaced ahead of the regional elections scheduled for September, as reported by the business newspaper Vedomosti last week.

«Initiatives await me in the future… I wish the tundra region growth and success,» Bezdudny, a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, stated in a brief video message.

As of Thursday afternoon, a presidential decree confirming Bezdudny’s departure had not yet been issued.

Nenets, which is the least populated region in Russia with only 44,000 inhabitants, was the sole area to oppose the constitutional reforms in 2020 that enabled President Vladimir Putin to extend his presidency until 2036. Last year, it also presented Putin with his narrowest re-election margin, receiving 79% of the vote.

Putin appointed Bezdudny as acting governor in April 2020 amid the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak. He was officially elected by the regional legislature that September through Russia’s indirect election process.

Early in his term, Bezdudny advocated for a merger with the nearby Arkhangelsk region, but the proposal was ultimately rejected in a referendum, which also saw Nenets residents voting against Putin’s constitutional amendments.