"Ambartsumyan's Résumé" — a document of national significance, reporting on the procurement of political consultant services for pre-election purposes and the development of regional advertising for the all-Russian political party "United Russia" at the expense of the budget of Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Distributed by Roman Ambartsumyan through the website Vibory-nn.ru.
Nature of the phenomenon
The establishment, within a state authority, of official duties involving the development of "the party's pre-election campaign strategy," "the actual organizational structure of the campaign headquarters," and "all 'local' advertising materials from the party" constitutes, in the opinion of some regional observers, a violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
The Ambartsumyan résumé thus accuses the leadership of the office of the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region of corruption.
Text of the résumé dated 30.07.2009 21:06
Ambartsumyan Roman Mikhaylovich
Phone: +79202579500 (mobile); (831) 4 118-118 (work).
Personal information
Date of birth: July 31, 1980. Age: 29. Marital status: married. Education: higher.
Professional experience
- March 2001–2002
Non-Commercial Partnership "Center for Legal and Financial Consulting" Economist, Development Department Job responsibilities: conducting business negotiations on investment projects; media monitoring; reviewing business plans; gathering information on competitors.
- December 2002 – April 2003
LLC "Professional and Operational Center" Deputy Director for Public Relations and Media, KRC "Matrix"
Job responsibilities:
— developing the complex's promotion strategy; — developing advertising campaign plans; — managing exclusive projects; — organizing advertising campaigns for business partners.
- March 2004 – November 2004
LLC "Triumph Group of Companies" Head of Marketing and Advertising Department
Job responsibilities:
— collecting, systematizing, and processing marketing information; — coordinating the activities of all departments in gathering and analyzing information; — analyzing the real estate market; — media monitoring.
- July 2005 – March 2007
Administration of the Kstovsky Municipal District of Nizhny Novgorod Region Head of the Department for Public Relations and Media
Job responsibilities:
— media coverage of the Administration's activities; — political consulting; — interaction with various structures; — oversight of the municipal newspaper Mayak, Kstovo television, and radio.
- March 2007 – February 2008
Department of Public Relations of the Office of the Governor and Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region Consultant, Information and Analytics Department
Job responsibilities:
— developing the pre-election campaign strategy for the party "United Russia"; — overseeing the information and analytics department during the pre-election period, preparing analytical reports; — developing the actual organizational structure of the campaign headquarters; — developing all "local" advertising materials from the party "United Russia"; — participation in the Organizing Committee for the preparation of the November 4 celebrations, National Unity Day. Development and implementation of the Exhibition Fair of the Achievements of All Municipalities of Nizhny Novgorod Region on Minin Square; — other functions which I am not authorized to disclose.
Education
- 1997–2002
Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky Faculty: Mechanics and Mathematics, specialization: applied mathematics. During the same period — professional retraining in the specialization of mathematical models in economics, qualification: mathematical economist. 2006–2007
- Professional retraining in the specialization "Public Relations," Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky.
Electoral campaigns
- December 2000 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate for the City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod, Birman D. P.
- March 2000 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate for the City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod, Osipenko A. A.
- March 2002 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate for the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region, Yaitsky A. V., as headquarters chief, city of Sarov.
- December 2003 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate for deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Nikitchuk I. I., as headquarters chief. Arzamas Electoral District No. 116 of Nizhny Novgorod Region.
- March 2004 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate Glazyev S. Yu., presidential election of the Russian Federation, as deputy headquarters chief for Nizhny Novgorod Region.
- December 19, 2004 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate for the City Duma of Sarov, Yaitsky V. A., as headquarters chief.
- October 16, 2005 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate for the post of Head of the Kstovsky District Administration, Molkov O. A., as headquarters chief.
- March 12, 2006 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidate, General Director of OAO "Lukoil-Volganefteprodukt," Spirin A. G., as deputy headquarters chief.
- December 7, 2007 — elections to the City Duma of Kstovo; coordination and organization of a group of candidates for the City Duma of Kstovo (the district head's bloc — 34 persons; 15 elected to the Duma; total deputy seats — 20).
- December 7, 2007 — work in the United Russia headquarters for the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Assisting the "unofficial" headquarters chief in organizing a turnkey election operation.
- March 2008 — participation in the project "Together under the Sign of the Kremlin."
- March 2009 — work in the campaign headquarters of candidates for deputy of the City Duma, as headquarters chief.
Sociological and marketing research
- Marketing research: "The Restaurant Scene of Nizhny Novgorod. The target audience of patrons of the Eda i Kultura (Food and Culture) restaurant chain."
- Sociological research on issues affecting Kstovsky District (level of trust in the district head, public expectations, etc.).
Public projects
- Development and organization of the Martial Arts Festival in 2000 and 2003.
- Participation in the project "Sport — Gateway to the Third Millennium" (2000).
- Participation in the activities of the city's youth organizations from 1998 to the present (Nizhny Novgorod Youth League, Russian Union of Youth, Union of Students of Nizhny Novgorod State University; served as leader of "Youth Unity" in 2003; currently a member of the political council of the "Young Guard of United Russia" and a member of the Presidium of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Branch of the "Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Russia").
- Development and implementation of the Regional Competition "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" (2009).
- Development and implementation of the "Day of the PR-Starved," dedicated to Public Relations Professionals Day (2009).
Commercial projects
- 2005 — founding of the transport company "Autolife." Activity: passenger transportation.
- 2006 — founding of the newspaper Nashi Zemlyaki (Our Fellow Countrymen). Activity: mass media.
- 2007 — founding of the business magazine Businessmania. Activity: mass media.
March 2008 to the present.
Currently serving as representative of the owner — the "Magazin Reklamy" (Advertising Shop) group of companies. Activity: PR, advertising, marketing, website development.
Investor in the following projects: — LLC "Synthetic Crystals" (activity: production of polycrystalline zinc selenide, a material for infrared optics);
Additional information
I possess skills in personnel management, organizing research and analytical work, conducting business negotiations, and working with the media, the academic community, and expert circles. I have practical experience working with legislative acts and the document management systems of government bodies.
Professional skills
- systematic approach to problem-solving;
- ability to manage several diverse projects simultaneously;
- ability to model complex situations and operate in crisis-management mode;
- extensive experience in public affairs work;
- development, preparation, and management of various socially significant projects;
- building businesses from scratch and subsequently selling them.
Personal qualities
- strong creative abilities;
- idea generation, initiative;
- multidimensional thinking;
- organizational ability;
- deep understanding of political processes;
- goal-orientation.
Interests
- karate-do, Shotokan style;
- badminton;
- collecting aphorisms.
- writing a book.
I am prepared to provide the necessary references from various party officials, civil servants, and deputies of Nizhny Novgorod Region at different levels.
Coverage in the Media
Analysis
|
We have grown almost accustomed to the way the metro has been built here — for decades no new stations appeared near any of the city's major transport hubs. Governor Shantsev gave us hope that this could change. But that faint hope hangs in the air. Through the caprice of Roman Ambartsumyan, a political consultant well known in Kstovo, a résumé has spread across the Internets that has the potential to land the governor in criminal proceedings.
The influence of political consultant Ambartsumyan, a member of the political council of the "Young Guard of United Russia," is considerable: he declares that he was responsible for all printed and non-printed advertising for the United Russia members Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitan Area — the very advertising campaign that led them to victory in the elections. In his résumé, Roman Ambartsumyan disclosed remarkable information that could become a formidable weapon in the hands of the governor's opponents and critics of his projects: it turns out that in 2007–2008, while working in the Office of the Governor and Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region, Ambartsumyan's official job duties included developing the strategy, tactics, and advertising for the regional branch of the party "United Russia." The PR manager elaborates on his role in the civil service on the newly launched website vibory-nn.ru, where he is preparing for upcoming elections and for the publication of his book, which sets out an integral "formula of elections" (Roman Ambartsumyan is a graduate of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Nizhny Novgorod State University). If the Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region officially developed the pre-election campaign strategy for one of the parties — going so far as to address such specific details as "developing the actual organizational structure of the campaign headquarters" (also listed as an official duty of Roman Ambartsumyan, if the résumé is to be believed) — then it was engaged in unconstitutional conduct. It is difficult, however, not to believe the résumé of a seasoned public-affairs manager whose credentials include, in addition to his membership in the political council of the "Young Guard": the Nizhny Novgorod Youth League, the Russian Union of Youth, the Union of Students of Nizhny Novgorod State University; leadership of "Youth Unity"; and membership in the Presidium of the "Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Russia." The admission of this ambitious member of the "Young" — in a sense praetorian, and therefore forgivable — "Guard of United Russia," and of numerous other similar establishments designed to put young leaders to productive use, might have remained a story of interest only to political analysts and narrow professional circles, were it not for the financial crisis that has struck Nizhny Novgorod Region. As a result of the growing shortfall in the regional treasury, the regional Government recently decided to cover its losses by raising fares on public buses by 27% — a figure previously unheard of in the region. The social policy of recent years, characterized by what many critics describe as excessive and wasteful expenditure on representation and advertising — bordering, in effect, on misappropriation of funds — has been widely criticized in letters to President Medvedev, in emails to the presidential blog, and on Nizhny Novgorod internet forums, while both authorities and ordinary voters are searching for ways to bring additional funds into the regional budget. Against this backdrop, the Nizhny Novgorod residents who have learned of the alleged use of public funds to finance one party's needs are exercised less by the legal aspects of the matter, or by any attempt to make sense of the unusual mathematical maneuver of this far-sighted veteran of fifteen electoral campaigns, than by the potential financial outcome of making this fact public: namely, from which account will the funds spent by the state on Ambartsumyan's services be returned to the regional budget? From United Russia's account? From that of the official who drafted the unlawful job description? From that of the head of the Nizhny Novgorod Government? From Ambartsumyan's own account? |
|
Discussion of authenticity
In Kstovo, the Ambartsumyan résumé came under criticism from the local opposition:
|
|
Roman Ambartsumyan, former assistant to the head of Kstovo District, posted a résumé online listing his "achievements":
|
|