Boris Gromov
Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov is a Russian politician and former military officer. He was the Governor of Moscow Oblast between January 2000 and May 2012. Deployed thrice to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War, Gromov was the last Soviet soldier in Afghanistan on 15 February 1989; he commanded the 40th Army and oversaw the Soviet withdrawal as the last personnel retreated.
Early life and education
Born 7 November 1943 in Saratov, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, he graduated from a Suvorov military cadet school, the Leningrad Military Commanders School and later from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, as well as the General Staff Academy.Military career
During the Soviet–Afghan War, Gromov did three tours of duty, and was best known for the two years as the last Commander of the 40th Army in Afghanistan. Gromov was the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan, crossing on foot the Friendship Bridge spanning the Amu-Daria river on 15 February 1989, the day the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan was completed. He received the highest military award – the golden star of the Hero of the Soviet Union after Operation Magistral had lifted the siege of the city of Khost in eastern Afghanistan.During the Red Army withdrawal in February 1989, 30 to 40 military trucks crammed with Afghan historical treasures crossed into the Soviet Union, under orders from General Boris Gromov. He cut an antique Tekke carpet stolen from Darul Aman Palace into several pieces, and gave it to his acquaintances.
Early political career
After the Afghan War, he was chosen as a candidate for vice president by the Communist Party in the Russian presidential election of 1991.He served as First Deputy Defence Minister of the Russian Federation. In 1994, Gromov retired from the Russian Armed Forces, and was soon appointed deputy Interior Minister. Also in 1994, Gromov publicly warned against Russian military intervention in Chechnya, arguing that the army was unprepared for such a conflict, which was a bold stance against the Defense Ministry. He was elected, in 1995, to the State Duma, lower house of the Russian parliament.
Governor of Moscow Oblast
First term (2000–2003)
In January 2000, he was elected governor of the Moscow Oblast and re-elected in December 2003.Second term (2003–2007)
In June 2003, Boris Gromov announced his intention to run for a second term as governor of the Moscow Oblast.On 28 August, at a conference of the Moscow Oblast branch of the United Russia party, Gromov was invited to head the party's regional list in the State Duma elections. In September, he was included in the federal list of the United Russia party No. 1 in the Moscow Oblast regional group to participate in the elections to the 4th State Duma.
On 17 September 2003, deputies of the Moscow Oblast Duma granted Gromov's request to shorten his term of office and scheduled elections for the governor of the Moscow Oblast for 7 December 2003 and combine them with parliamentary ones. On 2 October, Gromov announced that he intended to run for governor again as an independent candidate. By 6 November, Gromov had collected the 80 thousand voter signatures required by law to register as a candidate.
On 7 December 2003, the legislative and gubernatorial elections took place on the same day. Gromov was elected as a deputy in the legislative election but again refused the mandate. He also won the gubernatorial elections with 83% of the votes; in second place was "against everyone" ; in third place was Aleksey Mitrofanov.
From 19 December 2003 to 19 July 2004, Gromov was a member of the Presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation.
On 27 November 2004, at the United Russia party congress, Gromov was elected to the party's Supreme Council.
On 22 November 2005, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko awarded Gromov the Order of Friendship of Peoples.
At the end of November 2005, Gromov officially joined the United Russia party at the party congress in Krasnoyarsk. He received his party card in December.
One of the largest road projects that Gromov supported was the construction of the toll Central Ring Road, which was supposed to significantly relieve congestion on many highways in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast, as well as the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg expressway. The decision on the expressway was made by the Russian authorities in 2004. On 28 April 2006, Gromov signed a decree of the Moscow Oblast government regulating its construction in the Moscow Oblast. According to the project, the construction of the highway was supposed to lead to the deforestation of 1000 hectares of the Khimki Forest Park, which caused a strong public outcry and a protracted conflict. In August 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev suspended construction through the Khimki Forest, but Gromov continued to insist on building a road according to the previously approved project. In December 2010, a special commission of the Russian government supported the road construction project.
Third term (2007–2012)
According to the law, the powers of Gromov's second five-year term as governor expired only in 2008. On 18 April 2007, reporting to President Putin on the situation in the Moscow Oblast, Gromov turned to Putin with a question of trust. On 2 May, Putin submitted to the Moscow Oblast Duma the candidacy of Boris Gromov for approval as head of the government of the Moscow Oblast. On 4 May, Putin appointed Gromov governor of the Moscow Oblast for a third term with the wording "in connection with successes in the development of the region." Gromov's candidacy for the post of governor was unanimously supported by deputies of the 4th Moscow Oblast Duma, with all 50 members voting for him.At the beginning of 2009, the Moscow Oblast faced a financial emergency. By 1 June, the debt of the Moscow Oblast amounted to 155.2 billion rubles, exceeding the maximum permissible amount by 1%. At the same time, Gromov was forced to dismiss his first deputy, Vice-Governor Alexei Panteleyev.
Subsequently, Governor Gromov continued to recruit a team of senior officials in the region. In May, the Moscow Oblast Duma adopted amendments to the oblast's charter, allowing the appointment of two instead of one vice-governor. Nikolai Sedov, previously deputy head of the Federal Taxation Service, was appointed to the new position. Sedov's sphere of authority included supervising the financial and economic block. Deputies also approved two new deputy prime ministers of the Moscow Oblast - Vladimir Zhidkin, who had previously served as deputy chairman, and Roman Agapov, the former head of the government apparatus.
In June 2010, due to planned track repairs, Russian Railways reduced the number of commuter trains departing from the Moscow Kursky railway station, which led to a significant increase in the load on the transport network of the Moscow Oblast. The greatest problems arose on the Leningradskoye Highway and the Gorkovsky suburban railway line. On 2 July, Boris Gromov commented on the logistical collapse on the Leningradskoye Highway: "I fly in a helicopter. You must also buy helicopters instead of cars - you don't need roads."
On 1 September 2010, Gromov announced that he insisted on the construction of the Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway through the Khimki Forest, declaring his intention to send letters to President Dmitry Medvedev and the Chairman of the Russian Government Vladimir Putin.
On 9 February 2011, the newspaper Vek reported with reference to representatives of the public movement "NO to Gromov": "Governor Gromov demanded that in the elections on 4 March, 75% of the votes be secured for presidential candidate Vladimir Putin. Thus, he intends to make amends for the failure of the United Russia party in the last State Duma elections: the party of power received less than 33% of the votes, which is almost 2 times less votes compared to 2007 The current governor and his entourage," activists say, "count that Vladimir Putin's resounding success in the Moscow Oblast on 4 March will give hope for the reappointment of Boris Gromov."
2011 Russian legislative election and alleged electoral fraud
In September 2011, Boris Gromov was included in the lists of the United Russia party, which were then nominated in the federal and Moscow Oblast Duma legislative elections in December 2011 on the single voting day. In State Duma elections, Gromov was number one in the Moscow Oblast regional group. In Moscow Oblast Duma elections, Gromov headed United Russia's list.According to the results of the State Duma elections, United Russia won 33.5% of the votes in the Moscow Oblast and the corresponding regional group received 7 mandates. On 10 December, a list of elected deputies was published, including Gromov. According to the results of the elections to the Moscow Oblast Duma, United Russia gained 33.18% and received 9 mandates. At these elections, Gromov also received a deputy mandate.
However, Gromov, who did not hide his participation in the elections as a "parovoz," refused both mandates. As a result, on 15 December, the mandate of the State Duma deputy was transferred to Vladimir Kononov, and the mandate of the Moscow Oblast Duma deputy was transferred to the Minister of Ecology of the Moscow Oblast, Alla Kachan.
On 24 October 2011, State Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov published the abstracts of a report from 6 October from the Odintsovsky District for Governor Gromov with a plan to prepare for election fraud in the Moscow Oblast. According to Gudkov, the violations are not limited to one report: "On 15 September, the regional Minister of Press and Information Sergei Moiseev "instructed" 56 editors-in-chief of regional and municipal media in approximately the same style. As a result, in the Moscow Oblast, the multi-party system has been de facto abolished, the activities of opposition parties and social movements "inconvenient" for the governor are prohibited, and preparations for rigged "elections" are in full swing."
On 25 November, Nezavisimaya Gazeta published a retelling of Gromov's speech at a meeting of representatives of the sphere of vocational education of the Moscow Oblast with Gromov and the oblast's Minister of Education, L. N. Antonova, at the Government House of the Moscow Oblast in Krasnogorsk on 23 November. Gromov said that United Russia's rating in the Moscow Oblast is about 30% and that he sees no objective reasons for such a decline in indicators.