Murtaza Rakhimov, the first president of Bashkiria, died at the age of 88

Murtaza Rakhimov, the first president of Bashkiria, died at the age of 88

Former head of Bashkiria Murtaza Rakhimov has died at the age of 88, media reported.

He was the head of the republic from 1990 to 2010 (first as head of the supreme council of the republic, since 1993 – its president). Rakhimov became the second regional heavyweight after Mintimer Shaimiev, the leader of Tatarstan, who retired in 2010 under President Dmitry Medvedev, who started a serious rotation in the gubernatorial corps.

Decisions were arranged as honorably as possible. Shaimiev, who still holds the post of state adviser to the republic, in January asked Medvedev not to consider his candidacy when deciding on the next president of the republic. His Bashkir colleague resigned later, albeit a year before the end of his term of office (in 2011). Rakhimov finally announced his resignation during a conversation with the president at the Bocharov Ruchey residence, and before that he consulted with the head of the Kremlin administration on the candidacy of a successor. Not every leader of the region was awarded such a set of honors: for example, the mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov, was dismissed by decree in October of the same 2010 due to loss of confidence (he died in December 2019).

And although then Medvedev expressed the hope that Rakhimov would continue to work for the good of Russia, he rather distanced himself from the federal center long ago. Shortly before his resignation, in 2009, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper published an interview with Rakhimov under the heading “Dissident of the Republic of Bashkortostan”, in which he criticized Moscow for “excessive centralization” and “United Russia” (it is “trying to be controlled by people who and did not command three hens”).

Such words of a member of the supreme council of the party caused serious dissatisfaction among its own officials. Of course, harsh statements were due to the fact that Rakhimov feared for the loss of power: for example, Radiy Khabirov, who was expelled by him at that moment from the regional administration, having worked on Staraya Square, has now returned to his homeland (the new head of the republic today expressed condolences in connection with the death Rakhimov).

After leaving the post of president of Bashkiria, Rakhimov was chairman of the board of the URAL charitable foundation, which controlled the proceeds from the sale of OAO ANK Bashneft, and from 2010 to 2012 he was a member of the board of directors of this oil company. He also criticized the center later. “I think that now we are moving away from federalism. In such a large country, it is impossible to manage everything from one office,” he told Interfax in 2011. “Regions are different in development, and people live in them differently, and without understanding, without taking this into account, we will not be able to move forward.”

Bashkiria, following the call of Chechnya, after Rakhimov’s departure from office, like other regions, also abandoned the “symbols of power”, for example, the title of “president” for the head of the republic. So far, only Kazan insists on its preservation.