Igor Naumov, who led Irkutsk District since 2007, resigned on July 13, 2015, and the administration summed up his eight years of work. During this time, agriculture, small business, housing construction and social infrastructure grew, and unemployment fell.

The Mayor of the Irkutsk District, Igor Naumov, resigned his powers on July 13, 2015. He had been the head of the municipality since 2007. During this period, the administration notes, major changes took place in the district in agriculture, entrepreneurship, housing, and social construction. The results of eight years of work were summed up at the municipal mayor’s office.
Agriculture
The Irkutsk District is, first and foremost, agricultural land, and there have been significant results here. For example, more than 235.3 thousand centners of potatoes were grown in 2014, and 297.5 thousand centners of grain were threshed. This is 23.7% and 8.7% more than the 2013 harvest, respectively. And if we compare it with the 2007 figures, the substantial progress is immediately visible. The gross grain harvest for 2007 amounted to more than 13.7 thousand centners, and here the increase is already 94%. This is also explained by the fact that over 7 years the sown area increased by 110%. From 2007 to 2014, milk and meat production increased by 19%, and the cattle population grew by more than 2.5 times—from 571 to 1,578.
Various agricultural facilities are being repaired and opened in the Irkutsk District. For example, last year a livestock complex was opened in the Khomutovo municipal formation, a walking hall with a livestock area and feed table was built, two cowsheds and a potato storage facility were reconstructed, and reconstruction is currently underway of a calf barn, a calf barn-infirmary, and a maternity ward for cows. A grain-cleaning complex was commissioned in Mamony, buildings were reconstructed into vegetable storage facilities in Smolenshchina, and a vegetable storage facility for 1.5 thousand tons was also built in Revyakina. In 2013, four cowsheds were built in Revyakina, Khomutovo, and Lylovshchina, a calf barn was commissioned in Gorokhovo and a fattening site was built, and a grain-cleaning point with a dryer was commissioned in Shiryaeva. In total, about 35 capital agricultural facilities were commissioned over 7 years.
In addition, investment projects aimed at developing agricultural sectors are regularly implemented in the district. Over the past 2 years, more than 113 million rubles were received from the regional budget. The heads of two peasant farm enterprises received a grant from the federal and regional budgets for the creation and development of a start-up peasant farm in the amount of 2.99 million rubles. In 2007, only seven peasant farm enterprises were registered in the district; now there are 64. Thus, over 8 years their number increased by 57, 20 of them are currently receiving subsidies under various regional programs. Over 8 years, more than 852 million rubles were received from various sources for the development of agriculture.
Yury Shiryaev, deputy of the District Duma, honorary resident of the Irkutsk District:
– Under Igor Naumov, the Irkutsk District received a new impetus for development: new agricultural production facilities began to open, social facilities were built, and small and medium-sized businesses received support. More than 10 targeted municipal programs aimed at developing youth policy, sports, culture, education, and entrepreneurship are successfully operating in the district. As a deputy, I can say how difficult it is to solve urgent issues with a subsidized budget, but the Irkutsk District, despite everything, has always been exemplary and advanced in the region. And this is primarily the merit of the district leadership.
Economy
In 2014, the number of small business entities in the Irkutsk District increased by 313, and now, according to Irkutskstat, there are 3,513 of them. About 6,892 people are employed in this field of activity—that is 35% of all citizens employed in the district’s economy. This means an increase in tax revenues to the treasury and, consequently, an improvement in the standard of living. In 2014, 17 entrepreneurs took part in a competition for grants to create their own small business. Half of them received subsidies totaling 2.7 million rubles.
If we compare it with 2010: there were 3,057 small business entities then and 3,513 now; over 5 years their number increased by 456.
Overall, in 2014 the district budget received more than 1.7 billion rubles in revenue, which amounted to 98.9% of the planned target, while expenditures were more than 1.9 billion, or 95.2% of the plan. And if we compare the 2014 budget with the 2007 budget, the difference is large. In 2007, revenues amounted to about 720 million, and expenditures to about 696.6 million rubles. Over all 8 years, about 8.8 billion rubles were received into the district budget.
Housing and utilities
The housing and utilities sector is rightfully considered one of the most difficult. In 2014, according to the plan, engineering, heating, water supply, and sewer networks were repaired at 13 municipal facilities, and energy audits were conducted in 22 schools and kindergartens. In previous years, the plan was also consistently fulfilled: a boiler house and 14 water towers were built, two water intakes, 15 boiler houses, six water towers, two septic tanks, and one sewage treatment facility were reconstructed, and major repairs were carried out on 10.1 km of heating networks, 6.5 km of water supply networks, and 800 meters of sewer networks.
In addition, one of the important contributions was the expansion of the transport service network and coverage of all settlements by bus service. Currently, there are 28 suburban bus routes and 6 intercity routes operating in the district. Schoolchildren and preschool children are also transported in all municipal formations of the district.
Labor market
According to the Employment Center of the Irkutsk District, in the first half of 2015, 823 people registered with the Employment Center in the Irkutsk District, and 507 were employed. The number of unemployed citizens in the district registered with the labor office as of July 1 of this year is 267 people, which is 595 fewer than in 2007. Since that same year, the unemployment rate has decreased more than fourfold: from 2 to 0.48%.
Education
In 2014, 6,737 people moved in for permanent residence, and the population continues to grow. More than 107 thousand people now live in the district—almost twice as many as in 2007 (65.5 thousand).
As the number of residents grows, so does the need for preschool institutions. Over the past years, 10 have been built. In 2014 and early 2015, five kindergartens were already opened: in Smolenshchina, Lugovoye, “Strizhi,” and two in Granovshchina. Also this year, construction began on a kindergarten in the Berezovy microdistrict of the Markovsky municipal formation, and soon two kindergartens in Karluk and Butyrki will be commissioned. The administration plans to begin construction of kindergartens in Molodezhny and Khomutovo.
In 2007, new medical equipment was supplied for the needs of district schools, and computers were purchased for all primary schools. In the same year, about 20 kindergartens and schools were repaired, and more than 8 million rubles from the municipal budget were spent on this.
Nina Ivanova, chair of the district organization of the education workers’ trade union:
– Igor Viktorovich Naumov helped the teachers of the Irkutsk District defend their right to decently paid work, and always openly opposed cuts to their wages. During the transition to the new wage system in 2011, all guarantees for teaching and technical staff regarding pay were preserved in our district in terms of the rural allowance, increased pay for young specialists, and the increasing coefficients for qualification categories for all teaching staff. During that period (until 2010 – note from the district administration press service), when utility services were financed from the district budget, all problems were resolved promptly and in favor of the teaching staff.
In addition to preschool institutions, over eight years 10 new Houses of Culture, four feldsher-midwife stations, an ambulance substation, two outlying ambulance posts were commissioned in the district, about 50 additional groups were opened in preschool institutions, and the physical culture and health complex in Khomutovo was restored.
Housing construction
The Irkutsk District was the first in the region to adopt a territorial planning scheme, thanks to which systematic, organized development of the district became possible. Over the course of 5 years, on the basis of planning documents, master plans for settlements were adopted, which, despite their apparent insignificance, served as the basis for housing development in the settlements. Thanks to this, large areas were allocated for individual housing construction, as a result of which the queue of district residents in need of housing was reduced to a minimum.
For example, in 2011 more than 154.29 thousand square meters of housing were commissioned against a plan of 152 thousand, in 2012—172.5 thousand square meters, in 2013—216.2 thousand. Last year there was a decline in construction (137 thousand square meters of housing), which is connected with the overall situation in the country. Thus, over 5 years, 679.99 thousand square meters of housing were commissioned in the Irkutsk District, and the microdistricts “Zeleny Bereg,” “Zeleny Bereg-2,” “Berezovy,” “Lugovoye,” “Kantri,” and “Khrustalny” were built. Also, housing construction programs such as “Affordable Housing for Young Families” and “Social Development of the Countryside” operate in the territory of the Irkutsk District, thanks to which a certain number of families move into new houses or apartments every year. Over 8 years, 959.45 thousand square meters of housing were commissioned.
Together with the administration of the Irkutsk District and deputies of the Legislative Assembly from the Irkutsk District, a draft of the current eighth regional law was developed, according to which low-income and socially vulnerable categories of citizens gained the opportunity to receive land plots into ownership free of charge. A separate task of this law was to give residents of the district and other rural territories the opportunity to formalize ownership rights to the plots they already occupy. The law provides for the allocation of plots to young people who move to live in rural areas. This law is one of the main achievements of the mayor and the administration over the past 8 years. Thanks to this legal act, over the past year and a half, 1,666 plots have been allocated to preferential categories of citizens.
Tourism
At the end of 2014, an agreement on socio-economic cooperation was signed between the Irkutsk, Olkhon, and Slyudyanka districts, as well as the adjacent districts of the Republic of Buryatia, with the support of the Tourism Agency of the Irkutsk Region, after which work began on creating the “Baikal Constellation” tourist cluster in the Baikal region. This approach will make it possible to follow a unified strategy in the development of Baikal tourism, which should provide a steady influx of tourists from other regions and countries, new jobs for local residents, and the development of the territory as a tourist center. The main objective of this project is to enter the federal target program “Development of Domestic and Inbound Tourism in the Russian Federation” and attract investment.
In the Irkutsk District, high demographic, social, and economic growth is evident. The administration hopes that this trend will continue with the new mayor.
Anastasia Egorova, Igor Naumov’s wife, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region:
– It was very difficult for my husband to make the decision to resign, but due to the circumstances that had developed, it had to be done. I would like to add that the district residents should not suffer because of man-made conflicts. Igor Viktorovich is very grateful to the residents of the Irkutsk District for having twice placed their trust in him in elections and for giving him the opportunity to try to improve life in the district. I very much hope that he succeeded in doing so.