Valentina Matviyenko
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| Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 07, 1949 (age 57) Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine |
| Occupation | The governor of Saint Petersburg |
| Spouse | Vladimir Vasilyevich Matvienko |
Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko (Russian: Валенти́на Ива́новна Матвие́нко, b. April 7, 1949) is a Russian politician. She has been the governor of Saint Petersburg since 2003.
Valentina Matviyenko was born in Shepetivka in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast of Western Ukraine. In 1972 she graduated from Leningrad Institute of Chemistry and Pharmaceutics and until 1984 held various leadership positions within the Komsomol organization. In 1985 she graduated from Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Academy and became a party official in Leningrad's municipal government. In 1984 - 1986 she was the First Secretary of the Krasnogvardeysky District Committee of the Party.
In 1989 Valentina Matviyenko was elected as a people's deputy to the Supreme Soviet and headed the committee on women, family and children affairs.
Between 1991 and 1998 Valentina Matviyenko served in the diplomatic service and held several diplomatic positions including posts of Russian ambassador to Malta (1991-1995) and Greece (1997-1998).
On September 24, 1998, Matviyenko was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Welfare and occupied this position until 2003.
In June 1999 she entered the Board of Directors of the ORT TV channel.
On November 20, 1999, she got into a life-threatening car accident.
On February 3, 2000 she was nominated by some group of people for the presidency, but refused to contest. On February 29, 2000, she announced that she considered to take part as a contestant in the St. Petersburg governor elections to be held on May 14, and on March 10 announced that she launched her campaign. However, on April 4 she claimed that Vladimir Putin asked her to withdraw from the elections, and she did so on April 5.
On March 11, 2003 she left the Deputy PM position and was appointed presidential envoy to the Northwestern Federal District by Vladimir Putin.
On June 24, 2003, as Saint Petersburg governor Vladimir Yakovlev had resigned ahead of schedule, she announced that she is ready to run for the governor position. Her nomination was supported by the United Russia political party. Vladimir Putin also wished her victory publicly on September 2. In the electionson September 21, 2003, she came first with 48.61% of the vote, followed by Anna Markova, a former member of Yakovlev staff, with 15.89%. 10.97 percent voted against all nine nominees. On October 5, 2003 Matviyenko won the second round with 63 percent (vs. 24% for Anna Markova) and hence was elected governor of Saint Petersburg, head of the Saint Petersburg City Administration.
She pledged her support for the controversial idea of transferring some part of the capital functions from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.[citation needed]
She also supported the construction project of the Gazprom City business center including a 300 meters high skyscraper with headquarters of some Gazprom subsidiaries on the right bank of the Neva River in front of Smolny Cathedral, despite current regulations forbade construction of a building of more than 42 (48 with expertise approval) meters high there (see Gazprom City).
In 2005 a new Russian federal law came into force whereby governors are proposed by the President of Russia and approved or disapproved by regional legislative assemblies rather than elected by direct popular vote. On December 6, 2006, one year before her term as an elected governor would expire, Matviyenko asked Vladimir Putin to nominate her for approval according to the new legislation, and he agreed. She was approved by the Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly on December 22, 2006.
On March 3, 2007, scores of participants of Saint Petersburg Dissenters' March rallied down the city's main avenue, Nevsky Prospekt, calling for Matviyenko's dismissal, while she accused them of stirring turmoil ahead of the elections to the Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly scheduled on March 11, being discontent with the city perceived dynamic development and receiving financial support from dubious sources. [1]
She has a son, Sergei Matviyenko (b. 1973). In May 2003 he was appointed Vice-President of the Saint Petersburg Bank. Later he also became Vice-President and First Vice-President (2005) of Vneshtorgbank. On April 30, 2004 he married Zara Mgoyan (b. 1983), a Russian pop singer of Kurdish origin, but they divorced in a year.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Portal of the City Government: The Governor of St. Petersburg - Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko - in English
| Preceded by Viktor Cherkesov |
Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District March 11, 2003, – October 15, 2003 |
Succeeded by Ilya Klebanov |
| Preceded by Alexander Beglov |
Governor of Saint Petersburg 2003 – present |
Incumbent |
