Valentin Tsvetkov is a well-known domestic statesman and political figure. For six years he was the governor of the Magadan region. In 2002, he became a victim of a contract killing, which was only solved a few years later.
Biography of the politician
Valentin Tsvetkov was born in August 1948. Nationality Russian. After school, he entered the Engineering Institute in Zaporozhye, which he successfully graduated in 1974.
Valentin Ivanovich Tsvetkov began his career in Magadan, which for many years turned into his homeland. He entered the local repair and mechanical plant. First there was a foreman, then he was promoted to a senior foreman, a shop manager, and finally a department head.
In 1980, Valentin Tsvetkov was appointed deputy director of a woodworking plant in Magadan. Three years later, he moved to an enterprise called "Magadannerud" as a deputy director, and soon headed the plant. In 1986, he was already the general director of the joint-stock company of the same name.
BIn 1990, Valentin Tsvetkov had problems with the law. In the Central Office of the KGB, a criminal case was initiated on the facts of industrial smuggling against the Spark company, of which he was also the director at that time. Only in April 1991, the case was closed, establishing the absence of corpus delicti.
Political career
Tsvetkov remained the General Director of "Magadannerud" until 1994. Shortly before the end of this period, he decided to start building a political career.
In 1993, he won the election of deputies to the Federation Council. Two years later, he took part in the elections to the State Duma. He was elected to the lower house of the federal parliament in a single-mandate constituency from the Magadan region. There he chaired the subcommittee on precious stones and precious metals.
Governor elections
In 1996, the first gubernatorial elections in the history of the Magadan region took place. In total, four candidates were registered, among which was Tsvetkov.
The current head of the regional administration Viktor Mikhailov, the chairman of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Producers "North-East" Vyacheslav Kobets and the head of the glass factory in Magadan Vasily Miroshnichenko became his rivals.
In the midst of the election campaign, just a few days before the vote, Kobets withdrew his candidacy in favor of Tsvetkov. Many experts and political scientists believe that thisand became one of the defining moments of this election.
As a result, the hero of our article won the first round, 33,651 voters voted for him. Already in January 1997, Governor Valentin Tsvetkov, like all heads of regions at that time, received the powers of a member of the Federation Council.
For a second term
Tsvetkov's first term in office was quite successful, as a result, he decided to re-nominate his candidacy in 2000. This time, he had an order of magnitude more rivals. Seven more candidates applied for the chair of the head of the region.
Turnout in the elections was just over 42 percent, the governor at that time was elected by a simple majority.
According to the results of counting ballots, the number of voters who voted against all candidates turned out to be prohibitively high. These turned out to be almost 9%. This is the third indicator in the final ranking. Yury Akopov, the head of the Sinegorye village, Konstantin Potoroka, chairman of the Rescue Service public organization, Nikolay Dmitriev, general director of the Germesneft closed joint-stock company, and Rafael Usmanov, a human rights activist, failed to gain even one percent of the vote.
General Director of the Firs Limited Liability Company Gennady Dorofeev earned a little more than two percent of the vote, 8.7% of the residents of the Magadan Region voted for the Executive Director of the Gold Industry Corporation Vladimir Markov.
Tsvetkov's main rival turned out to beState Duma deputy Vladimir Butkeev, but he was able to gain only 14.13%. The hero of our article enlisted the support of almost 63% of the inhabitants of the region. Valentin Tsvetkov became the governor of the Magadan region for the second time in a row.
Murder on Novy Arbat
However, he only managed to work in his new position for about two years. On October 18, 2002, the governor of the Magadan region, Valentin Ivanovich Tsvetkov, was killed in Moscow on Novy Arbat. The killer attacked him right outside the regional office in the capital.
The hired killer, who was waiting for him near the entrance to the building, shot Tsvetkov in the head. He died on the spot from his wound without regaining consciousness. The shot was fired in the back of the head, almost point-blank. At the time of his death, Magadan Governor Valentin Tsvetkov was 54 years old. The head of the Magadan region was buried in the Russian capital at the Vagankovsky cemetery.
It is worth noting that he had many opponents in his work as head of the region. Local media noted that he pursued an independent economic policy. For his purposefulness and authority, he received the nickname "Bulldozer" from colleagues and supporters.
Almost immediately, the main version of his murder became conflicts over the distribution of fishing quotas in the Magadan region for marine bioresources. As well as attempts by organized criminal groups, among which were the so-called ethnic groups, to weaken state control in gold mining,thanks to which the region flourished.
Evaluation of Tsvetkov's work
As governor, Valentin Ivanovich Tsvetkov was distinguished by the fact that he always stood for the independence of his region, which was extremely rich in valuable resources. Lobbying these interests, he often visited Moscow, had access to the highest offices. People from his inner circle often rated Tsvetkov as a tough person who often clashed with local businesses.
The results of Tsvetkov's work were impressive. Under him, gold mining in Kolyma increased by about a third, new mines "Shkolnoe", "Kubaka" and "Juliet" were introduced. In 1998, a refinery was put into operation.
In 2002 and 2003 it was planned to complete the construction of several mining complexes discovered at the deposits "Vetrenskoye", "Dukat", "Tidit", "Arylakh", "Goltsovoe". They often talked about the so-called Tsvetkov clan, which penetrated all kinds of industries, actively attracting investments from the United States.
Tsvetkov's main conflicts were connected with the Berelekhsky and Susumansky GOKs, which at that time played a key role in gold mining. Together with about 20 influential artels, they opposed with all their might the policy pursued by the regional administration to restructure the entire industry.
Contradictions with local businesses
Key contradictions with local businesses were associated with attempts by the authorities to introduce licensedpolitics. At that time, 260 enterprises with interests in the gold mining industry had more than a thousand licenses. The emergence of additional capacities has led to a revision of ownership of most of the gold fields, and also became the reason for the so-called licensed pressure, which the authorities began to carry out.
Besides, at that time Tsvetkov also had conflicts with the fishermen. It was the distribution of fishing quotas for biological resources that became the main version of the murder.
Suspects
Citizens of the Russian Federation Martin Babakekhyan and Alexander Zakharov were suspected in the murder of the Magadan governor. They were arrested only a few years later - in July 2006, when they were in the Spanish resort town of Marbella.
A year later, the Spanish courts decided to extradite Zakharov to Russia. Babakekhyan was extradited only at the beginning of 2008.
Sentencing
Also, two more suspects were in the dock - Artur Anisimov and Masis Akhuntsa. The litigation turned out to be lengthy, stretching over several years. The decision was made by jurors.
In 2011, they considered proven guilt of all four suspects who were in the dock. They were given real terms. The Moscow City Court sentenced Akhunts to 13.5 years in prison, Zakharov received 17 years in prison, and Anisimov and Babakekhyan received 19 years each. For all of them, the term of punishment is calculated from the moment of detention.
At the same time, the court found that they were all accomplices in the murder. The suspects in the direct execution of the crime were previously found dead. The investigation failed to establish the customers.
The prosecutor's office said it was satisfied with the decision taken by the court. The defense of the accused tried to appeal the verdict, but to no avail.
