Igor Kobzev Appoints Acting Agriculture Minister for Irkutsk Region

Governor of Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev has appointed Marina Kozharina as acting Minister of Agriculture, the regional government announced on 22 January via its Telegram channel.

The Ministry of Agriculture has lacked a permanent head since the end of September 2025. At that time, Kobzev reshuffled the regional government following his re-election victory.

The last full-fledged minister was Ilya Sumarokov Jr., a scion of a prominent family linked to the Usolsky Pig Complex, one of the largest agricultural producers in the Angara region. His grandfather Ilya Sumarokov Sr. was the company«s founder, and his father Pavel Sumarokov managed the pig complex for many years. Ilya Sumarokov Jr. had headed the Ministry of Agriculture since 2015.

Work in agriculture is not new for Kozharina; she has served as first deputy of the regional department since 2021.

The official holds a degree in «Mathematical Methods in Economics.» She began her career in 2002 as an operator at the East Siberian Heavy Machinery Plant. She subsequently held various positions, from lead specialist in the budget department of the Russian Pension Fund for Irkutsk Region and the Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug, to director of the control department for the apparatus of the governor and government of Sakhalin Region.

It is noted that several positions in the Angara region«s cabinet are currently filled by acting officials. They include Deputy Chairman of the Government Andrey Anchugin, acting Minister of Health Andrey Modestov (whose candidacy requires approval from the Russian Ministry of Health), and officials exercising the powers of the heads of the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Property Relations, Vladimir Udovenko and Kirill Prosvirin, respectively.