The agreement might end a period of troubled relations between the two neighboring regions. The Nenets AO, which according to federal law is formally part of the bigger Arkhangelsk Oblast, has long struggled to take back the powers it lost in 2007. Then, the two parts failed to sign an agreement regulating relation, something which resulted in the transfer of powers from the Nenets AO to Arkhangelsk.
Read more: Arkhangelsk taking over Nenets powers
Since his appointment as Nenets governor early 2009, Igor Fyodorov has pushed for a transfer of powers, arguing that more self-government would help his region better overcome the financial crisis.
Read more: Nenets AO wants powers back from Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk however rejected the Nenets request, saying that he “does not want a change in the system of interrelations”, newspaper Kommersant reports. Later, the position of Mikhalchuk evidently changed, and the two regions this week signed an agreement. The new agreement will return many of the formerly lost powers of the Nenets administration. However, the transfer of powers is not yet accompanied with the transfer of money, Kommersant reports.
Still, as underlined by regional Professor Rostislav Turovsky, the new agreement still means an acknowledgement of the Nenets AO’s right to an independent life.
