MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that people should not look for any "behind-the-scenes" strategies in the recent wave of resignations by Russian governors that he called an ordinary rotation.
"I would not consider it appropriate to look for any behind-the-scenes activities, this is an ordinary rotation process," Peskov told reporters.
"Why is this happening in a synchronized manner? I will repeat it once again - this is a rotation process, there is an electoral calendar and everyone has been calibrating their plans according to this calendar at their own discretion," he said, stressing that "the Kremlin has no electoral calendar so far."
Peskov noted that all the governors, who announced plans to step down, said that the decision was taken upon their own initiative. "All of them have led their regions not for just one year or even five years, all of them were and are in constant contact with the president, the president has met with them several times and positively assessed their work," he stated.
Earlier in the day, Governor of Ryazan Region (to the southeast of Moscow) Oleg Kovalyov announced his early resignation. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of Sergey Mitin, Governor of the Novgorod Region (in Russia’s northwest).
A wave of resignations among Russian governors touched off last week, with Governor of the Perm Region (in western Russia) Viktor Basargin announcing his decision to step down on February 6. The next day the head of Buryatia, in eastern Siberia, Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, put forward his resignation.
Maxim Reshetnikov, who until recently served as the head of the Department of Economic Policy and Development of Moscow, was appointed Acting Governor of the Perm Region. Russian Deputy Transport Minister Alexei Tsydenov was appointed as the acting head of Buryatia.