Valentina Matviyenko
Valentina Matviyenko's voice Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. recorded October 2004 Problems playing this file? See media help. Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko (Russian: Валенти на Ива новна Матвие нко; IPA: [vəlʲɪnˈtʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə mətvʲɪˈjɛnkə], née Tyutina (Тю тина; IPA: [ˈtʲʉtʲɪnə]); born 7 April 1949), is the highest-ranking female politician in Russia, the former governor of Saint Petersburg and the current Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. Born in the Ukraine, Matviyenko started her political career in the 1980s in Leningrad (now called Saint Petersburg) and was the First Secretary of the Krasnogvardeysky District Communist Party of the city from 1984 to 1986. In the 1990s she served as Russian ambassador to Malta (1991–1995) and Greece (1997–1998). Between 1998–2003 Matviyenko was Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Welfare, and briefly the Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District in 2003. By that time she firmly allied herself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an alliance which secured her a victory in the governor elections in Saint Petersburg, Putin's native city. Matviyenko became the first female leader of Saint Petersburg. Since the start of her service as governor a significant share of taxation money was transferred from the federal budget to the local one, and along with the booming economy and improving investment climate the standard of living significantly increased in the city, making income levels much closer to Moscow and far above most other Russian federal subjects. The profile of Saint Petersburg in Russian politics has risen, marked by the transfer of the Constitutional Court of Russia from Moscow in 2008. Matviyenko developed a large number of megaprojects in housing and infrastructure, such as the construction of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road including the Big Obukhovsky Bridge (the only non-draw bridge over the Neva River in the city), completion of the Saint Petersburg Dam aimed to put an end to the infamous Saint Petersburg floods, launching Line 5 of Saint Petersburg Metro and starting land reclamation in the Neva Bay for the new Marine Facade of the city (the largest European waterfront development project) containing the New Sea Passenger port. Several major auto-producing companies were drawn to Saint Petersburg or its vicinity, including Toyota, General Motors, Nissan, Hyundai Motor, Suzuki, Magna International, Scania and MAN SE (all having plants in the Shushary industrial zone), thus turning the city into an important center of automotive industry in Russia, specializing on foreign brands. Another development of Matviyenko's governorship was tourism; by 2010 the number of tourists in Saint Petersburg doubled and reached 5.2 million, which placed the city among the top five tourist centers in Europe. Some actions and practices of governor Matviyenko have drawn significant criticisms from the Saint Petersburg public, media and opposition groups. In particular, new construction in already heavily built-up areas and several building projects were deemed to conflict with the classical architecture of the city, where the entire centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some such projects eventually were cancelled or modified, like the controversial design of a 400-metre tall Okhta Center skyscraper, planned to be built adjacent to the historical center of the city, but after a public campaign and the personal involvement of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev it was relocated from Okhta to the Lakhta suburb. Another major point of criticism was Matviyenko's handling of the city's snow removal problems during the unusually cold and snowy winters of 2009–2010 and 2010–2011. On 22 August 2011, soon after completion of the Saint Petersburg Dam, Matviyenko resigned from office. As a member of United Russia party, on 21 September 2011 she was elected the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, the country's third-highest elected office.