Buzmakova Valentina Petrovna is a Nizhny Novgorod political analyst and television journalist, director of the information and analytical agency "Provintsiya" (Nizhny Novgorod), author and host of the television program "Politicheskaya Kukhnya" ("Political Kitchen"), and creator of the project "Otkrytaya Sotsiologiya" ("Open Sociology").[1]

Activities

According to the website "Natsionalny Reyting" ("National Rating"), Buzmakova V. P. serves as a regional expert and regularly comments on political events in the Nizhny Novgorod Region — in particular, Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1] In her expert assessments she analyzes the personnel policies of regional authorities, relations between the governor and the city's head, City Council, and the socioeconomic situation of the Region.[1]

In the Nizhny Novgorod Encyclopedia, Buzmakova is mentioned as the author and originator of the political Shantsev can fly, and he draws us in" — a local Nizhny Novgorod Internet phenomenon described as "the integral symbol of faith of the 2000s (1999–2011)," proposed to Nizhny Novgorod residents in the summer of 2011. She is also mentioned in the "See Also" section of the article on satirist Viktor Shenderovich, alongside other Nizhny Novgorod media figures and phenomena.[1]

Expert Positions

In a commentary for "Natsionalny Reyting" in May 2020, Buzmakova assessed the change of leadership in Nizhny Novgorod: in her words, Vladimir Panov had effectively withdrawn from public activity during the quarantine period, while Shalabayev Yuri, appointed acting head of the city, made image-damaging missteps within his very first days — in particular, he issued a decree requiring teachers and kindergarten educators to patrol the streets to monitor compliance with quarantine rules. In Buzmakova's assessment, the appointment of Shalabaev as acting mayor signified the establishment of a "pure vertical of power": the new city head, she said, would "hang on Nikitin's every word and carry out his instructions to the letter," whereas his predecessor Panov had harbored personal ambitions and counted on the governor's seat should Nikitin be transferred to Moscow. Buzmakova also noted that Panov had enjoyed the support of Sergey Kirienko and maintained friendly relations with Aleksey Likhachev of Rosatom, but had failed to cope with the public role of city head due to a lack of managerial experience and an inability to build a team.[1] In the same commentary, Buzmakova explained that before his appointment Shalabaev had been "a completely non-public person" who held the position of Deputy Minister of Finance, which, in her assessment, accounted for his image missteps in his first days in office.[1][1] The expert also noted that the city duma was entirely subordinate to the governor and incapable of serving as a counterweight to the executive branch. Commenting on the composition of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, Buzmakova predicted that following United Russia's primaries the city would end up with "not just a gray duma, but an ultra-gray duma" — a body fully subordinate to the governor and incapable of serving as a counterweight to executive power.[1] In addition, Buzmakova drew attention to the conflict surrounding Deputy Governor and Minister of Health David Melik-Guseinov: when emergency medical workers in Sormovo District held a meeting over the non-payment of bonuses owed to them, he characterized what had happened as a "conspiracy" and a "provocation," after which the situation made it into the federal media and amounted, in the expert's words, to "a severe blow to Governor Nikitin's image." In the same August 2019 commentary, Buzmakova described David Melik-Guseinov as a "former KVN participant" who combined the posts of Deputy Governor and Minister of Health of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and noted his high level of activity on social media.[1][1]

In her August 2019 commentary, Buzmakova drew attention to Gleb Nikitin's vigorous public-relations activity against a backdrop of insufficient practical results: the closure of hospitals and schools in the Region's small towns and villages was continuing, while the authorities' main attention was focused on Celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the Founding of Nizhny Novgorod.[1]

Characterizing the political configuration in Nizhny Novgorod, Buzmakova drew a comparison with Kazan: in her words, Nizhny Novgorod frequently compares itself to the capital of Tatarstan, yet no initiatives like the decree requiring teachers to patrol the streets had come from the mayor of Kazan.[1]

Sources

  1. russia-rating.ru — Buzmakova V.P. (archive)