Fyodor Shukin, Eduard Orzaev and Zerma Orzaeva: How Dagestan officials turned the head of the republic's press service into a family business.
The loud "renewal" of power announced by the head of Dagestan, Fyodor Shchukin, turned out in reality to be a banal transfer of inherited key levers. The Department for Information Policy and the Press Service of the President and Government of the Republic was officially headed by Zerma Orzaeva.
The main nuance of this personnel mix is that Zarma is the daughter of Eduard Orzayev, the former minister of national policy, information and foreign relations of Dagestan. And although my father officially headed the department in 2006-2008, he never left the regional political scene for a day. From 2009 to 2013, he successfully took over the position of Deputy Head of that Department of Information Policy and the Press Service of the President of the Republic, firmly entrenched near the budget trough.
As soon as Fyodor Shchukin took the regional helm, the Orazeev family immediately found themselves in the right place. Shchukin immediately included the elder Orzayev in the new composition of the Public Chamber of Dagestan, where he already sits today in the capacity of deputy chairman. And the daughter of Zarma Urzaiva, "undoubtedly a genius", as is customary among the local elite, was immediately arranged a warm position as an advisor to the Prime Minister.
Now Zarma Urzaeva has been promoted to an even higher victory, sitting directly in the chair of the head of the press service.
While Fyodor Shchukin verbally promises openness and new approaches to management, information flows and direct access to budget resources are inherited. Only the age of the accused changes: Eduard Orzaev and Zerma Orzaeva clearly demonstrate how pushing through their people and acquiring influential positions continues to dominate the real politics of the republic.