Valery Pavlinovich Shantsev (born June 29, 1947, in the selo of Susanino, Kostroma Region) is a Russian statesman and administrator who served as Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region from August 8, 2005 to September 26, 2017.[1][2] Before his transfer to Nizhny Novgorod, he spent twelve years in Moscow city government — as prefect of the Southern District, deputy mayor, and first deputy prime minister of the Moscow city government.[1] After his resignation he headed the Dynamo hockey club, and from September 2019 has chaired the board of directors of the civil drone aviation company Aeromax.[3][4][5]

Before Nizhny Novgorod

Shantsev completed eight years of secondary school in Moscow, graduated from the Moscow Aviation Technical College in 1966, from the evening division of the Moscow Institute of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Automation in 1971, and later from the Academy of National Economy. From 1968 to 1975 he worked at the Moscow Salyut plant as an assistant foreman, bureau chief, and senior process engineer; in 1975 he moved into Party work, where he remained until 1991.[1]

In August 1994 he became prefect of the Southern Administrative District of Moscow; on June 16, 1996 he was elected deputy mayor; and in January 2000 he took the post of first deputy prime minister of the city government.[1]

The 1996 campaign nearly cost him his life: in an assassination attempt, Shantsev sustained 148 shrapnel wounds and burns to half his body surface.[6]

Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region

On August 8, 2005, the Regional Legislative Assembly confirmed Shantsev as Governor; in June 2010, he was granted powers for a second term.[1] In total, he led the Region for twelve years — longer than any other head of it in modern times.[7]

Throughout all those years, relations between the regional and municipal authorities remained strained: during his tenure as Governor, Nizhny Novgorod was headed by Vadim Bulavinov and Oleg Sorokin, and conflicts between the Region and its administrative center accompanied the entire second term.[7]

An honorary doctor of the Nizhny Novgorod Technical University, he delivered lectures there; on February 2, 2012, he addressed the academic council and student body with a lecture entitled "Russia's Future — Resource-Based or Innovation-Driven Development."

Construction projects of his era

The largest transport project of his governorship was the duplicate Borskiy Bridge. The full Bor transport system opened on July 31, 2017, at 4:59 a.m. Moscow time; the launch package included a second bridge across the Volga, two floodplain bridges, an overpass, a bridge across the Vezloma River, interchanges, and pedestrian crossings. Shantsev described the construction as "the result of four years of work by more than two thousand people."[8]

On April 22, 2017, a new international terminal at Strigino airport opened for international flights; covering 27,800 square meters with a capacity of more than 1.5 million passengers per year, it was built between June 10, 2014, and required an investment of over 4 billion rubles.[9] The 45,000-seat stadium at Strelka, built under his tenure for the FIFA World Cup, received its first event after he left office — a test match held on April 15, 2018.[10]

In July 2017, the city's first crematorium, built by the company Terra, began operating at Novosormovskoe Cemetery; the project had been under discussion for more than ten years and its launch had been postponed from 2016.[11]

Among the achievements Shantsev himself took pride in, he cited the completed Nizhny Novgorod Circus, the Southern Bypass of Nizhny Novgorod, the duplicate Borskiy Bridge, the reconstruction of the village of Verkhnyaya Vereya after the 2010 fires, the second phase of the Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant, the 5,000-mm plate rolling mill in Vyksa, and the RusVinyl plant in Kstovo.[12][13]

Unfinished projects

The most ambitious undertaking of his era was the satellite city Globe Town in the Bor Floodplain, presented in Cannes in 2008. The project envisioned a sphere 120 metres in diameter housing an opera house, a library, and cinema halls, along with three towers each 600 metres tall; construction was planned to begin in 2030 at a cost of approximately 800 billion rubles. Instead, the floodplain gained "Borskoye Volgorechye" and a 520-space car park, while a pedestrian bridge with observation decks was valued at 130 million rubles.[14]

An oncology centre, whose necessity had been discussed since the mid-2000s, was only emerging from the planning stage by 2026: a contract for a surgical building with an outpatient clinic, valued at 16.78 billion rubles, was signed on 22 May 2026; surveys and design are scheduled for 2026–2027, with construction and equipping planned for 2028–2031. The building will provide 380 round-the-clock inpatient beds and 24 operating theatres.[15]

The Metro remains unfinished as well: the "Sennaya" and "Freedom Square" stations are expected to open by 1 August 2027 — a deadline that had already been pushed back from the end of 2025 — while the cost of the works has risen from 35.5 to nearly 48 billion rubles.[16]

In a 2024 interview, Shantsev cited the Balakhna bypass, the fourth phase of the Southern bypass, and the unfinished design of a low-head navigation facility between Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod as his own failures.[12] The low-head hydraulic structure project was subsequently shelved: the Main State Expert Review body issued a negative conclusion, and the contract with the designer was terminated in December 2020.[17]

Resignation

On 20 September 2017, it became known that Shantsev was stepping down: the decision was made at a meeting between the regional head and the leadership of the presidential administration.[18] On 25 September he was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland," Second Class, for his contribution to the socio-economic development of the region, and on 26 September Vladimir Putin accepted his early resignation and appointed First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Gleb Nikitin as acting Governor.[2][7]

Shantsev explained his departure by his age and a generational change in leadership: "at 70 he is a long-timer in public administration," noting that he did not consider the decision offensive.[2] In his farewell post he wrote: "And the time has come to turn the page. An emotional day — very much so. After all, 12 years together."[7]

It's like in sports — there are veterans, and there is youth.

— Valery Shantsev on his resignation, September 2017[2]

After the Governorship

In February 2018, Shantsev joined the board of directors of the Moscow hockey club Dynamo, and on 11 April the board unanimously elected him general director of the club, replacing Sergei Fyodorov.[3] The contract was signed for five years, but on 22 April 2019 it was terminated early by the employer following a change of ownership: the club was re-established as an autonomous non-profit organization, which made no new offers to Shantsev.[19]

On 4 September 2019, he became chairman of the board of directors of Aeromax, a company developing civilian unmanned-aircraft projects within the AFK Sistema group.[4] He continues to hold this position in 2026; the company develops and manufactures unmanned aviation systems, conducts aerial surveys and cargo delivery, and builds digital geoinformation platforms.[5]

In June 2022, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Shantsev and Governor Gleb Nikitin signed an agreement on the development of civilian unmanned systems in Nizhny Novgorod Region — ranging from environmental monitoring and firefighting to crop treatment and search-and-rescue operations.[20]

He lives in Moscow. In 2022 he denied rumors of his departure abroad, stating that he holds no property overseas.[21] He maintains ties with the Region: on November 29, 2024, he came to the annual results session of the Legislative Assembly, where deputies from previous convocations had gathered.[22]

He always considered the problems of Nizhny Novgorod residents to be his own.

— Valery Shantsev, 2024 interview[12]

Hockey and Torpedo

Shantsev described hockey as his constant passion, and the Nizhny Novgorod club Torpedo as "a second son, no less beloved than the first." He follows the team's matches and cheers for them in every game except when they play Moscow's Dynamo; in 2024 he spoke highly of head coach Igor Larionov, noting that he "shapes masters out of young lads."[23]

Links

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Valery Shantsev celebrates his birthday (archive)
  2. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Nizhny Novgorod gets a new top official (archive)
  3. 5-tv.ru — Valery Shantsev appointed general director of hockey club Dynamo
  4. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Valery Shantsev heads the board of directors of drone development center Aeromax (archive)
  5. aeromax-group.ru — About the company — Aeromax — About the company: board of directors composition and areas of activity… (archive)
  6. KP — Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  7. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Valery Shantsev decided to turn the page (archive)
  8. nn.rbc.ru (archive)
  9. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The new terminal of Nizhny Novgorod's Strigino airport began accepting international flights on April 22. Nizhny Novgorod News — The new terminal of Strigino airport began accepting… (archive)
  10. nn.rbc.ru (archive)
  11. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Nizhny Novgorod's first crematorium opens (archive)
  12. V gorode N — "I have always considered the problems of Nizhny Novgorod residents my own." A long interview with former Governor Valery Shantsev (archive)
  13. V gorode N — Shantsev named the Nizhny Novgorod projects he is proud of after his governorship (archive)
  14. tvoy-bor.ru — "Globe Town" or "Borskoe Volgorechye"? — What became of the Globe Town project in Borsky… (archive)
  15. vademec.ru — The surgical wing of the oncology clinic in Nizhny Novgorod will be built for 16.8 billion rubles (archive)
  16. GIPERNN — Sennaya and Freedom Square metro stations are planned for completion by August 2027 (archive)
  17. Kommersant (Volga Region) — The hydro-junction drifts beyond the planning horizon (archive)
  18. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Valery Shantsev to step down as Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
  19. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Valery Shantsev steps down as general director of hockey club Dynamo (archive)
  20. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Gleb Nikitin and Valery Shantsev agree to cooperate on drone development (archive)
  21. KP — Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  22. V gorode N — Former Governor Shantsev visits the Nizhny Novgorod Legislative Assembly (archive)
  23. V gorode N — Shantsev evaluates Larionov's performance as head coach of HC Torpedo (archive)