Federal districts of Russia

This article is about internal presidential grouping of regions by decree of the President of Russia. For official constitutional subdivisions and the federation's constituent units, see federal subjects of Russia.

The federal districts (Russian: федера́льные округа́, federalnyye okruga) are president's groupings of federal subjects of Russia for the convenience of operation and governing by a Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. The institution of Plenipotentiary Representatives and federal districts was created in 2000 by presidential decree "in order to ensure implementation of the President of the Russian Federation of its constitutional powers". Plenipotentiary Representatives are appointed by the President and are employees of the Presidential Administration.

Federal districts are not created by the Russian constitution or any law and are not the constituent units of Russia. Each district includes several federal subjects and each federal district has a presidential envoy (whose official title is Plenipotentiary Representative). The official task of the Plenipotentiary Representative is simply to oversee the work of federal agencies in the regions, although in practice this oversight is extensive and of considerable consequence.

Federal districts' envoys serve as liaisons between the federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with federal laws.

List of federal districts

Name of district		Area (km²)	Population (2010 Russian Census)	Federal subjects	Administrative center
	Central Federal District	652,800	38,438,600	18	Moscow
	Southern Federal District	418,500	13,856,700	6	Rostov-on-Don
	Northwestern Federal District	1,677,900	13,583,800	11	Saint Petersburg
	Far Eastern Federal District	6,215,900	6,291,900	9	Khabarovsk
	Siberian Federal District	5,114,800	19,254,300	12	Novosibirsk
	Ural Federal District	1,788,900	12,082,700	6	Yekaterinburg
	Volga Federal District	1,038,000	29,900,400	14	Nizhny Novgorod
	North Caucasian Federal District	170,700	9,496,800	7	Pyatigorsk

Source:

Description

Creation

The federal districts were created in May 2000 by Vladimir Putin as a part of a wider program designed to reassert federal authority. This wider program of reform included the Federation Council becoming indirectly elected, the scrutinizing of republican constitutions and regional charters, and the President gaining the right to dissolve subjects' parliaments and dismiss subjects' governments if they disobey federal law. The federal districts have vague legal standing for they are not provided by the constitution and their creation rests only on the president's decree. According to the legislative order established post 1991, and reiterated many times by all branches of power, including the Constitutional Court, the president's decrees are only meant to temporarily fill the gaps in legislation. On January 19, 2010, new North Caucasian Federal District was split from Southern Federal District.

In June 2011, the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev mentioned that a plan exists to create the Capital Federal District which would include the territories of the federal city of Moscow and of Moscow Oblast.

Function

The Plenipotentiary Representatives and their staff ascertain the extent of a subjects' violation of federal laws and norms. They also oversee the process of correction at a closer level than can the federal institutions in Moscow. They are therefore central to Putin's reassertion of federal authority. The creation of the federal districts has assisted in restricting laws and practices of the subjects which contravene federal law, for instance, the curtailment of citizens rights, the authoritarian practices of subjects' governors (or, in case of republics, their presidents), the manipulation of police and the control of the judiciary by subjects' governments, the strict control of journalism, and the manipulation of elections.

Federal agencies, particularly in the justice system, had been "captured" by subjects' governments during the segmented federalism of the Yeltsin period. This process is being forestalled as Plenipotentiary Representatives ensure that agencies do the work for which they are intended rather than being brought under the influence of powerful local elites with vested interests.

The Plenipotentiary Representatives are overseeing a system of rotation of federal employees throughout the regions in order to avoid them becoming dependent on local leaders.

The federal districts coincide closely with the Interior Ministry forces' military regions and the Defense Ministry regions. This allows the Plenipotentiary Representatives to have direct access to the command structure of the military and security apparatus. This sends a clear message to the subjects that they must cooperate with the federal government, and is very useful for the Plenipotentiary Representatives.

Presidential plenipotentiary envoys

• Central Federal District
  • Georgy Poltavchenko (May 18, 2000, – August 31, 2011)
  • Oleg Govorun (since September 6, 2011)
• Southern Federal District
  • Viktor Kazantsev (May 18, 2000, – March 9, 2004)
  • Vladimir Yakovlev (March 9 – September 13, 2004)
  • Dmitry Kozak (September 13, 2004 - September 24, 2007)
  • Grigory Rapota (October 9, 2007 - May 12, 2008)
  • Vladimir Ustinov (since May 12, 2008)
• Northwestern Federal District
  • Viktor Cherkesov (May 18, 2000, – March 11, 2003)
  • Valentina Matviyenko (March 11, 2003, – October 15, 2003)
  • Ilya Klebanov (since November 1, 2003)
• Far Eastern Federal District
  • Konstantin Pulikovsky (May 18, 2000, – November 14, 2005)
  • Kamil Iskhakov (November 14, 2005 - October 2, 2007)
  • Oleg Safonov (November 30, 2007 - April 30, 2009)
  • Viktor Ishayev (since April 30, 2009)
• Siberian Federal District
  • Leonid Drachevskiy (May 18, 2000, – September 9, 2004)
  • Anatoly Kvashnin (since September 9, 2004)
• Urals Federal District
  • Pyotr Latyshev (May 18, 2000, – December 2, 2008)
  • Nikolay Vinnichenko (since December 8, 2008)
• Volga Federal District
  • Sergei Kiriyenko (May 18, 2000, – November 14, 2005)
  • Alexandr Konovalov (November 14, 2005 - May 12, 2008)
  • Grigory Rapota (since May 12, 2008)
• North Caucasian Federal District
  • Alexander Khloponin (since January 2010)

See also

• Economic regions of Russia, similar grouping of the federal subjects of Russia for economic and statistical purposes.

External links

• Presidential Envoys to the Federal Districts