Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MOSCOW6547
2006-06-20 15:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:  

YURIY CHAYKA NOMINATED AS RUSSIA'S PROCURATOR

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PINR KCRM RS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5136
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHMO #6547 1711519
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 201519Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7862
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 006547 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INL/PRAHAR
DOJ FOR OPDAT (LEHMANN) AND OIA (BURKE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KCRM RS
SUBJECT: YURIY CHAYKA NOMINATED AS RUSSIA'S PROCURATOR
GENERAL

REF: A. MOSCOW 6268


B. MOSCOW 5934

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons 1.4 (B/D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 006547

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INL/PRAHAR
DOJ FOR OPDAT (LEHMANN) AND OIA (BURKE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KCRM RS
SUBJECT: YURIY CHAYKA NOMINATED AS RUSSIA'S PROCURATOR
GENERAL

REF: A. MOSCOW 6268


B. MOSCOW 5934

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons 1.4 (B/D).


1. (SBU) President Putin nominated current Minister of
Justice, Yuriy Chayka, as the next Procurator General to
replace Vladimir Ustinov, who resigned June 2. The
Federation Council's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs
supported the nomination June 19; it will go before the full
Federation Council June 23, where it is expected to win
approval, and Chayka can then legally assume his duties. In
his first public statement after his nomination, Chayka noted
that the office of the Procurator General could be effective
in fighting corruption, but he spoke against setting up
special offices within the Procurator General to address
corruption among senior officials. Instead, he hinted that
pressing for revision of the legal education system in Russia
might be among his early priorities.


2. (SBU) A professional lawyer by training, Chayka has
worked as a prosecutor since his graduation from the
Sverdlovsk Juridical Institute in 1976. He is one of the few
senior holdovers from the Yeltsin era where, among other
positions, he served as the acting Procurator General in

1999. Appointed Minister of Justice in 2000, Chayka has
cultivated a reputation as being among the relatively few
cabinet officers who have made themselves accessible to the
public, including human rights organizations that have worked
with him and other officials in the Justice Ministry to
improve conditions in the country's prison system. Lyudmila
Alekseyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, was among
those who reportedly characterized Chayka's nomination as a
good choice.


3. (C) COMMENT: Although Chayka had been mentioned as one
of the candidates for Ustinov's job (ref A),his nomination
still came somewhat as a surprise. While Chayka has built a
solid reputation as a professional prosecutor and effective
manager, his unquestioned loyalty to Putin was probably the
most important factor in his choice. Under Ustinov, the
procuracy had become a stronghold for the "siloviki" wing of
the Kremlin. Observers claim Chayka's appointment should be
seen as a reflection of Putin's desire to maintain a balance
of power between competing Kremlin factions in important
government posts. Attention will now turn to Chayka's
replacement at the Justice Ministry. PolPred Dmitiry Kozak
is being mentioned as one of the top candidates. Kozak's
appointment as Justice Minister would bring him back to the
capital, but it is unclear how he -- or anybody as Justice
Minister -- could advance his political fortunes in that
traditionally weak position.
BURNS