Amur Oblast

Table of Contents

• Candidates for September Gubernatorial Election
• Brief History
• Basic Facts
• 1996 Presidential Election
• 1995 Parliamentary Election
• 1993 Parliamentary Election
• 1993 Constitutional Referendum
• 1991 Presidential Election

Candidates for 22 September Gubernatorial Election

Head of administration Yurii Lyashko was appointed by President Yeltsin in June 1996. He became the fifth oblast governor in the last five years, replacing the previous executive head, Vladimir Dyachenko, who had been dismissed in May for misuse of budgetary funds and high wage arrears. Before being appointed governor, Lyashko was mayor of Blagoveshchensk, the oblast's capital city.

Communist Party member Pavel Shtein is one opposition candidate. In December 1993, Shtein was elected to the Federation Council, the parliament's upper house, where he was a deputy chairman of the committee on regional policy.

Another potential opposition candidate is Anatolii Belonogov, the chairman of the oblast legislative assembly since October 1994. In 1990-1993, Belonogov was a deputy of the Russian Congress of People's Deputies where he joined the Communists of Russia and Russian Unity deputy groups. At the same time, he headed the oblast soviet, which was disbanded in October 1993 after it supported the Supreme Soviet in its confrontation with the president.

Brief History

Amur Oblast is situated about 8,000 km east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers. Its capital city, Blagoveshchensk, one of the oldest settlements in the Far East, was founded in 1856. It is a traditional center of trade and gold mining.

In late September 1993, both the regional soviet and the governor, who had defeated a presidential appointee in an April 1993 election, opposed Yeltsin's decree to disband the Supreme Soviet. In early October, Yeltsin dismissed the governor. The soviet refused to reconsider its decision on Yeltsin's decree, and by the end of the month it was disbanded by the new governor.

Basic Facts

1995 Population: 1,040,800 (0.7% of Russian total)

Industrial production as percentage of all Russian production (Jan.-Aug. 1995): 0.35%

Agricultural production as percentage of all Russian production (1994): 0.88%

Average personal income index in July 1995: 107 (Russia as a whole = 100)

Price basket index in July 1995: 115 (Russia = 100)

Average back wages owed per person (September 1995): 114,500 rubles (Russian average = 37,100)

Urban population: 66.3% (Russia overall: 73.0%)

Student population (1993): 137 per 10,000 (Russia overall: 171/10,000) Pensioner population (1994): 17%

Percent of population with higher education (1989 census): 11.2% (Russia overall: 11.3%)

Percent of population working in (1993):

• Industry: 19.4% (Russian average: 29.9%)
• Agriculture: 15.3% (12.8%)
• Trade: 10.3% (9.1%)
• Culture: 11.3% (13.6%)
• Management: 2.7% (2.3%)

Number of telephones per 100 families (1993):

• in cities: 28.4 (Russian average: 41.5)
• in villages: 20.8 (17.2)

According to a survey by Bank Austria, the oblast is ranked 62nd among Russia's 89 regions in terms of investment climate.