Mikhail Mikhaylovich Prusak (russian: Михаил Михайлович Прусак; born 23 February 1960) was the governor of

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

from 1991 to 2007.

Biography

Born and raised in

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...

, in 1979 he graduated from the

Kolomyia Kolomyia, formerly known as Kolomea ( ua, Коломия, Kolomyja, ; pl, Kołomyja; german: Kolomea; ro, Colomeea; yi, ), is a city located on the Prut River in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province), in western Ukraine. It serves as the admi ...

Pedagogical School. Then he worked for a year as a teacher of an extended day group in a rural school in Halych District. After graduating from the Higher Komsomol School he worked as the second and (since May 1987) the first secretary of

Kholmsky District Kholmsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia * Kholmsky District, Novgorod Oblast, an administrative and municipal district of Novgorod Oblast *Kholmsky District, Sakhalin Oblast, an administrative dis ...

branch of

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

. From 1988 to 1991 he headed a ''

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, abbreviated from ''советское хозяйство'', "sovetskoye khozyaystvo (sovkhoz)"; ) was a form of state-owned farm in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted wit ...

''. He was a deputy of the 12th

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

and a member of the committee on self-government. Prusak was a member of the Inter-regional Deputies Group. He supported

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

's candidacy in the

1991 Russian presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on 12 June 1991.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1642 This was the first Russian presidential election ...

. On 24 October 1991, Prusak was appointed head of

administration. In 1994, the regional law "On tax benefits for enterprises and organizations located in the region" was adopted, which allowed Prusak to attract more than $1.5 billion of foreign investments to Novgorod Oblast. In December 1995, he was elected as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, gaining 56.17% of the vote. His re-election campaigns of 1999 and 2003 were seemed as "dominant", since there were not strong opposition. In December 1993 he was elected to the first

Federation Council of Russia The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...

. After its reform in January 1996, Prusak continued his membership as governor.He was the chairman of the Federation Council's Committee on International Affairs. In 2001 he appointed

Gennady Burbulis Gennady Eduardovich Burbulis (russian: Генна́дий Эдуа́рдович Бу́рбулис; 4 August 1945 – 19 June 2022) was a Russian politician. A close associate of Boris Yeltsin, he held several high positions in the first Russi ...

as member of the Council from the executive branch. In September 2001, Prusak became chairman of the

Democratic Party of Russia The Democratic Party of Russia or DPR (russian: link=no, Демократическая Партия России, ''Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii'') is a conservative Russian political party that was founded in 1990. Under the leadership ...

, but after a year and a half he was expelled for "refusing to run the party." On 3 August 2007 he resigned, and Sergey Mitin was appointed the governor. Month before Prusak was criticized by the presidential envoy to the

Northwestern Federal District Northwestern Federal District,, ''Severo-Zapadny federalny okrug'' is one of the federal districts of Russia, eight federal districts of Russia. It covers most of Northwest Russia. Its population was 13.6 million, of which 83.5% was urban, livi ...

Ilya Klebanov Ilya Iosifovich Klebanov (russian: Илья Иосифович Клебанов; born 7 May 1951 in Leningrad) is a Russian politician. He was the Plenipotentiary Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation ...

, who stated that "the leaders of the criminal community have infiltrated all spheres of life in the region, including the government."

References

1960 births People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Living people Governors of Novgorod Oblast Members of the Federation Council of Russia (1994–1996) Members of the Federation Council of Russia (1996–2000) Party of Russian Unity and Accord politicians Our Home – Russia politicians Democratic Party of Russia politicians United Russia politicians {{Russia-politician-stub