President Putin in a decree appoints Bulavin as his new right hand in Northwest Russia, one of Russia’s eight federal districts. Bulavin takes over the post from Nikolai Vinnichenko, who has been in the job since September 2011. Vinnichenko is transferred to the post as Deputy Head of the Russian General Prosecutor’s office.
With the appointment of Vladimir Bulavin, the Northwest Russian federal district administration gets a leader who for more than 35 years has served in the Security Service. In 2006, Bulavin became Deputy Head of the FSB and leader of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee. In 2009, he took on the post as Deputy Head of the National Security Council, the body including all of Russia’s top security and law-enforcement authorities.
The Northwest Russian Federal District includes a total of eleven federal subjects, among them all the five Russian subjects in the Barents Region. The district borders on five countries, among them Norway and Finland and the Baltic states, and has a population of about 13,6 million people. Russia’s eight federal districts are all directly subjected to the President and play a role in policy harmonization, elections of new governors and more.
