Tver Oblast

   An administrative region of the Russian Federation. Known as the Kalinin Oblast from 1931 until 1990, Tver Oblast is situated less than 100 kilometers northwest of Moscow and 50 kilometers east of Belarus on the Eastern European Plain. It borders the oblasts of Novgorod, Vologda, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Smolensk, and Pskov. The oblast is located within the Central Economic Region and Federal District.

   Tver has a population of 1.4 million and covers an area of 84,500 square kilometers. It is the source of the Volga River, upon which its regional capital Tver (pop. 408,000) sits; more than 7,000 buildings were destroyed in the World War II occupation and liberation of the city. With over 500 lakes (Seliger being the largest), the mountainous Valdai Highlands, and a number of medieval Russian settlements, the region is attractive to tourists from Russia and abroad. However, environmental degradation in the region is acute due to industrial pollution. The regional economy is divided between heavy manufacturing, including railway cars, farm machinery, and excavation equipment; chemicals; and the textile industry. Traditional industries of printing, woodworking, and glassmaking also contribute to the local economy. Dairy and cattle farming are also part of the regional economic output. The region possesses important reserves of peat, as well as mineral resources such as limestone and brown coal. It is also an important transportation hub, linking Moscow and St. Petersburg, and providing a conduit to Latvia and thus the European Union. The SurgutPolotsk and other oil pipelines also cross the region.

   Tver’s regional authorities, historically resentful of the capital’s hegemony, were highly critical of President Boris Yeltsin’s actions during the constitutional crisis of 1993. When the Tver Regional Soviet was subsequently disbanded, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) won a majority of seats in the new legislative assembly and won the governorship in a contest against a Yeltsin appointee in 1995. The new governor, Vladimir Platov, secured a power-sharing agreement with Moscow. Platov, sensing a changing political environment, allied himself with the pro-Putin Unity party and defeated a KPRF challenger in the 2000 gubernatorial elections.

   Under Platov’s rule, Tver became known for its “slothful” economic development and as a major transit zone for illegal narcotics. In the next election, Platov placed fourth after criminal proceedings were opened against him; in 2005, Platov began serving a five-year sentence at Moscow’s Matrosskaya Tishina prison for abuse of office relating to a scam in which nearly $15 million was misappropriated. The current governor is Dmitry Zelenin; he was elected in 2003 and reappointed by Putin in 2007. In 2008, Zelenin issued an invitation for settlement in Tver to all ethnic Russian “compatriots” living in the near abroad. In 2009, Zelenin was rebuked by his party, United Russia, for allowing the KPRF to win a plurality in the election for the regional legislature.