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Former Tula rgn governor Starodubtsev dies of heart attack

Former governor of the Tula region Vasily Starodubtsev has died at the age of 80 from a heart attack

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, December 30 (Itar-Tass) — Former governor of the Tula region, deputy of the sixth State Duma from the Communist Party (CPRF) Vasily Starodubtsev has died at the age of 80 from a heart attack, Secretary of the CPRF Central Committee Sergei Obukhov told Itar-Tass on Friday.

According to him, Starodubtsev died “at 04:30 in the Novomoskovsk hospital.” “He died of a heart attack,” Obukhov said.

Earlier, current head of the Tula region Vladimir Gruzdev wrote about the lawmaker’s death in his Twitter social network micro blog: “Deputy of the State Duma from the Tula region, an honorary citizen of the Tula region Vasily Starodubtsev died this night. My sincere condolences to the family and friends.”

Vasily Alexandrovich Starodubtsev was born in the Tula region, he graduated from the USSR Agricultural Institute of Distance Learning (1966). He began his career in a collective farm, from 1955 he worked in the mines of the Novomoskovsk district as a loader-timberman and as a mechanic and cutter-loader operator. He served in the army in the Air Force as a flight mechanic. In 1964 he was elected chairman of the Lenin collective farm (since 1977 - Lenin collective breed livestock farm). For the development and introduction of science-based technology of milk production on an industrial type complex with loose cubicle system he was awarded the USSR State Prize (1979). He had a Candidate’s degree in agricultural sciences. Corresponding Member of the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. In April 1990 he was elected chairman of the Union of Agrarians of Russia, in June - chairman of the Farmers’ Union of the USSR. Since 1989 he was USSR People’s Deputy.

In August 1991, member of the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP) Vasily Starodubtsev was arrested; he was released in June 1992. The GKChP was a group of eight high-level officials within the Soviet government, the Communist party and the KGB who attempted a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev on 18 August 1991. Within two days, by 20 August 1991, the attempted coup collapsed.

Starodubtsev had been elected Russian people’s deputy, member of the Federation Council lower house of parliament, he worked as governor of the Tula region for two terms (1997-2005). He was a deputy of the two last State Dumas from the Communist Party.

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