Anatoly Artamonov
Anatoly Dmitriyevich Artamonov is Russian politician, former governor of Kaluga Oblast. In November, 1996, Artamonov was elected vice-governor of the Kaluga region. On November 12, 2000 he was elected governor of the Kaluga region with 56.72% of the vote; and re-elected on March 14, 2004 with 66.86% of the vote. On July 21, 2005, President Vladimir Putin nominated Artamonov to retain his position; the nomination was confirmed by the Kaluga duma on July 26. In 2002, Artamonov was named governor of the year by the Russian Biographical Institute.
Artamonov has been praised for managing to promote Kaluga Oblast as a destination for foreign investors, leading to the establishment of an automotive cluster in the region, and for creating a pro-business environment. Because of this, he managed to reorient the local economy away from Soviet-era military industries and promoted infrastructure spending on projects like the reconstruction of Kaluga Airport.
He is reportedly an admirer of former Singaporean president Lee Kuan Yew. In 2013 Artamonov was found guilty of defamation by a Krasnoyarsk Krai court for calling Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska "a crook".
