After years of doping scandal to remove Mutko was necessary so that this decision is not looked held under pressure. So he was given to finalize a couple of months after the Olympics, and then “raised”
Vitaly Mutko, going to the post of Deputy Prime Minister, has reached the highest power point in his career, but in fact the past is already finished and is on the decline. He became a bright embodiment of the indispensability of “St. Petersburg” cadres in Putin’s rule of the middle period, but today Mutko already disappearing nature. Time (and Putin) choose new heroes.
The path of our hero began in a distant Kuban village. Provincial teenager who dreamed of bigger and better than a tractor or a combine, earlier tried to become independent, after eighth grade, going to enroll in a vocational school in Leningrad region to learn from the minder. Many boys from the heartland “naval school” was then presented with a window to the world.
But the sailors Mutko did not stay. He enrolled at the river school in Leningrad, where active kid noticed and was elected Secretary of the Komsomol. Sailor Mutko did not work and immediately upon completion of the education went to the Soviet work, and are not moved by Komsomol, which is quite surprising. From 1983 to 1991 he worked in the Executive Committee. This choice turned out to be promising — restructuring Mutko met a politically neutral bureaucracy. His career developed rapidly until the advent of the “Democrats,” thirty-two years, he was Chairman of the Executive Committee.
We will never know the reasons why Anatoly Sobchak, collecting around themselves the young cadres, decided to bet on young apparatchik Vitaly Mutko, but in 1992, at the age of thirty-four years, he became Deputy mayor of St. Petersburg in the social sphere. So today’s Deputy Prime Minister was in the inner circle, which left eight years later as many of the great statesmen of modern Russia. Sobchak (unlike Luzhkov, gathered around him the old bureaucrats of the breed) who put forward unknown people like Kudrin, Putin, Mutko, lost tactically, because they are unable to provide him victory in the 1996 elections. However, his team won strategically because the defeat of the chief was for its members start climbing up.
If Putin and Kudrin immediately went to Moscow, Mutko was delayed in St. Petersburg, having been engaged in the football club “Zenit” — again, a decision which proved very promising. He dropped out of high politics, but are deeply immersed in the sports issues, explored the world of football has acquired important managerial skills that helped him later.
His hour had struck in 2003, after winning the gubernatorial election of Valentina Matvienko, which delegated Mutko (at the request of the Kremlin) in the Federation Council. As a Senator in 2005, he headed the Russian football Union. To work Mutko in the Scenarios is my recollection of meeting him. I sat in the waiting room of another resident of St Petersburg, Anatoly Vaskov, sharing it with Mutko, waiting for the master. No one else was. Entered Mutko and suspiciously stared at me. “Why are you here and who are you?” — he asked incredulously. Such coyness, the a priori expectation of some kind of trick cut, for the building of the Federation Council went imposingly senators who did not pay any attention to the swarms of some little thing in their foster.
Football in Russia, of course, plays the role that in Brazil or even in Europe. However, there is no doubt that this is the “main” sport, and “home” football will inevitably one of the first people in Russian sports. Right here spinning the big money sports, football is associated with the most significant branding expectations – how will make the national team. For the Kremlin, therefore it is important to take control of this area (do not forget also work with the fan associations, “the revolt of Spartacus” have clearly shown their value). That is the meaning of the appearance Mutko headed RFS. The third place our team at the European Championships in 2008 under the leadership of Guus Hiddink became the most important achievement of Mutko in football.
In the same year Mutko went to work in the government, Putin’s Minister of sport, tourism and youth policy, the position which he held until recently, however, losing in hardware perturbations tourism and youth.
Sport in Russia occupies a special place. Here and the continuation of Soviet traditions Olympic victories, and the PR of the country in the absence of obvious achievements, and the image of Putin as an active athlete. The share Mutko (of course not him alone) had the preparations for two major sporting events – the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and football world Cup 2018. In view of these circumstances, which the Kremlin gave special value to the sports Minister played a disproportionately large role in politics.
Vitaly Mutko has held a peculiar place in the Russian establishment, was allowed to criticize him, mock him for bad English (although in this case the cost to maintain is to learn the language after fifty years always difficult) even the representatives of the systemic opposition, Zhirinovsky, for example. He was perceived as the Junior member of the ruling clan, unlike Sechin or Sergei Ivanov, the criticism of which is taboo for the same leader of the liberal democratic party. Mutko called the media to make fun of him for the amusement of his listeners. In General, he was constantly justifies the whipping boy, which nevertheless, had worked for more than eight years Minister, becoming indispensable to their owners.
Mutko cannot be compared, for example, Shamil Tarpishev, the most influential of his predecessors: he was far more serious figure, with real coaching merits. Mutko looked like a sporty go-getter, Putin’s friend, who is unjustly pulling. The level of public criticism he was on the same level as Medina and Livanov.
It is unknown how much our hero has worked in the sports Ministry, but began to rapidly spin in the autumn of last year doping scandal has made his further stay there impossible. The culmination of shame was the situation with the suspension of our athletes from the Olympics in Rio and a total ban on participation in paralimpiade. Of course, ESPN bears the brunt of the blame for the situation, and discredited the Russian sports. The President even had several times to correct him, saying that Russia should be aimed at cooperation with the international anti-doping organizations, while Mutko initially tried to deny it.
But to remove Mutko was necessary so that this decision is not looked held under pressure. So he was given to finalize a couple of months after the Olympics, and then “raised”. The post of Deputy head of the government on sport, youth and tourism – is largely decorative. It is obvious that, despite looming in the near future, the world Cup, this post is far-fetched, redundant. The presence of such “Vice” — a typical relic of the management culture of the Soviet time. Anywhere in the world except the former sitran, there is no such number of deputies. Under normal conditions, each Minister is an independent figure responsible, has full authority in its field. Curators and would be considered an insult.
I think Mutko and he is already tired from the daily routine of thankless in the sport. But to go nowhere, he could not. He needed either a sinecure or a new interesting job. However, the head of Peter while it is occupied, and has appeared in recent appointments of regional leaders a tendency to put young people, blocking his path to the Northern capital. Therefore, the decision was made in favor of sinecures.
Vitaly Mutko is not the worst leader and certainly has the organizational qualities that made him indispensable to so many years. He played by the rules, which were adopted in the current elite, above all where is your loyalty not competence. Mutko has reached the threshold of their competence for a long time, but now he made it clear in this complementary form. There are enhancement worse than any of the resignations.
