New Governor of Magadan Region Inaugurated

The formal ceremony of inauguration of new governor of the Magadan Region (the Far East) Nikolai Dudov took place in Magadan on Friday.

The Plenipotentiary representative of the president of Russia in the Far-Eastern federal district, Konstantin Pulikovsky, was present at the inauguration.

According to the new edition of the statute of the Magadan Region, the governor of Kolyma is now elected for a term of five but not four years as was the case before.

The inauguration procedure has also been changed in the new statute. While earlier, the governor took oath at an enlarged meeting of the Regional Duma, now he does it at a meeting of the Regional election commission.

Nikolai Dudov, 55, won the gubernatorial elections only in the second round which took place on February 16. Just over 50 per cent of the voters backed him.

The Magadan Region is the Far-Eastern "outskirt" of the country, a land of permafrost and severe climate, where prisoners of all regimes were traditionally ousted. But the area is rich in natural resources, minerals, and today these resources are being developed.

Mayor of Magadan Nikolai Karpenko won the first round by far but gained only 42 per cent of the votes in the second round.

The early elections were held in the Magadan Region in connection with the assassination of its governor Valentin Tsvetkov in Moscow in October 2002.