Vyacheslav Volodin turns 62: birthplace and projects
Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin turned 62 today; he has led the lower house of the Russian parliament for nearly ten of those years.
164.RU decided to revisit the State Duma deputy«s biography, the landmark places for him in the Saratov region, and see how they look today. We also highlighted Volodin»s key priorities and the projects for which he most actively seeks federal funding for the Saratov region.
Decent roads
Vyacheslav Volodin was born in the village of Alexeyevka (Khvalynsky District, Saratov Oblast) on 4 February 1964. The village lies on the Volga River 25 kilometers south of Khvalynsk. Its population began declining in the 1960s: from 6,000–7,000 residents then to less than 2,000 according to the 2010 census. After 2010, population figures were no longer published.
Founded in the 17th century, the village once belonged to various noble families: the Golitsyns, Karachinskys, and Vorontsov-Dashkovs. The latter«s estate and park remain. There is also the Convent of St. John (Ioannovsky Convent) and the Church of St. John of Kronstadt, who visited in 1894.
Besides Volodin, other notable natives include Olympic track and field athlete Dmitry Kazantsev, Soviet ambassador to Zaire Valentin Soldatov, Soviet industrialist Ivan Isaev, and shipbuilding academician Valentin Pashin. According to «mirrors» on Yandex Maps, the village roads are in relatively decent condition. There is also a boarding school, a nursing home, the Pashin School, and two small hills west of the village.
Mother«s homeland
Volodin«s father, a river fleet captain, died at age 51. Until the age of three or four, Vyacheslav lived in his native village raised by his grandparents. His mother Lidiya Petrovna, who graduated from a pedagogical college in Saratov, moved to work as a kindergarten teacher in her native village of Belogornoye (Volsky District). Once Lidiya Barabanova settled there, she brought her daughter and son with her.
The village of Belogornoye is a century older than Alexeyevka. In 1666, Old Believers fleeing the reforms of Patriarch Nikon founded it in a ravine. The settlement was named Samodurovka, after the residents« independent attitude toward official orders. By 1914, Samodurovka»s population reached 7,600. In 1961, it was renamed Belogornoye. By 2011, the population had fallen to 655, after which figures were no longer published.
Notable natives of the village include Pomor Church figure Terenty Khudoshin and three World War II participants who were Heroes of the Soviet Union. Today the village has the Church of the Intercession (Pokrovskaya Church), a secondary school, a cultural center, and a boarding home. There are almost no attractions, and the roads are simpler than in Alexeyevka. At age 14, as some Saratov biographers of Volodin wrote, he went to work as a combine harvester operator on a state farm. Nothing is known about his success there, and the next stage of his life begins in Saratov.
Wore a mustache
In 1981, at age 17, Vyacheslav Volodin entered the Saratov Institute of Mechanization of Agriculture (Saratovsky institut mekhanizatsii selskogo khozyaystva), which later became the Agrarian University. In 1986, the future State Duma speaker enrolled in graduate school and defended his candidate«s dissertation in 1989. At the institute, Volodin simultaneously pursued a career in the Komsomol.
A year later, he began his political career by winning election to the Saratov city council, and in 1992 to the regional council. That same year, Saratov mayor Yuri Kitov invited Vyacheslav Volodin to the city administration as head of its affairs. In those years, Volodin wore a mustache.
From 1993 to 1996, Volodin was a political technologist on the team of future governor Dmitry Ayatskov, and later was appointed his deputy. According to his official biography, as vice-governor he was responsible for gasification, construction of social and residential facilities, and the government«s financial block. However, on 23 February 1999, Volodin left for Moscow, where a new, federal stage of his career began.
Saratov lobbyist
Today, Vyacheslav Volodin can be confidently called a lobbyist for projects including the construction of the Saratov light rail, a new southern bridge across the Volga, and a number of large social facilities such as medical centers and schools. He also initiated the reconstruction of the new embankment and pedestrian zone in Saratov, free school meals in the region, development of the Territory of Childhood park in the Leninsky district, Slavyanskaya Square near the old bridge, the purchase of hydrofoil river vessels, and others.
However, recently some of the State Duma speaker«s initiatives have met fierce resistance from the public, as the project executors on the ground do not always show understanding and tolerance for the opinions of local residents.
