Federalism and Local Politics in Russia

Unification as a political project 97the gaining of ‘special status’ was a major political gain of the merger. Theybelieved that this would allow them to maintain their political power or evenincrease it. There was also a belief that the Okrug political elite wouldimprove its public image by supporting the merger.To conclude, the negotiations were successful for the Okrug and theOblast, as both parties managed to gain significant benefits from their supportof unification. A former Perm Oblast governor, Yuri Trutnev, whopushed the merger, was appointed the federal Minister of Natural resourcesat the time when the unification process had become irreversible.Ethnic and cultural dimension of the unificationHowever, the merger has not led to the adoption of legislation which wouldguarantee the protection of the Komi-Permyak ethnic identity, language andculture, which was one of the reasons why the Okrug was created in the firstplace. A series of interviews with members of the Okrug administration andthose working in education, including the Okrug institute for the retrainingof schoolteachers, conducted by the author in December 2004 andNovember 2005, demonstrates a serious concern on their behalf about thefuture of the Komi-Permyak language, the development of ethnic cultureand the practical substance of the Okrug’s special status within the region.The existing programme on the development of inter-ethnic relations in thePerm region supports a number of initiatives to promote ethnic culture, suchas: the regular monitoring of ethno-social problems; the carrying out ofethnological, linguistic, and folklore research in the Okrug; and the creationof the ‘Institute of Language, Culture and History of Komi-PermyakPeople’, in Perm. However, such a list of activities tends to demonstrate thatthe Komi-Permyak people are now considered to be just one of the manyethnic groups that live on the territory of Perm Krai, and that they do notenjoy any special treatment compared with the other minorities (Tatars,Bashkirs and others).It is too early to say what the implications of the merger may be forKomi-Permyaks in the spheres of language, culture and education. However,neither Federal Constitutional Law nor regional acts (including the Krai’sdraft Charter) and agreements pertaining to the merger contain any concretereferences to the Komi-Permyak language and culture – nor do they establishany guarantees for the Okrug’s educational and cultural institutions,which used to receive their funding from the Okrug budget. However, inKudymkar there is an ethnic publisher, an ethnic theatre and an Institute forthe Retraining of School Teachers.Moreover, the Okrug has four branches of higher education institutions(one should stress that only one of them represents the Perm Oblast highereducation institutions, while others came from Udmurtiya andYekaterinburg), two technical schools and five vocational schools. It isunclear what support those educational institutions would receive after the