Whenever Anton Alikhanov looks up from his desk in the governor’s office in Kaliningrad, he sees a bright green A4 folder hanging on the wall. President Vladimir Putin brought the file, bursting with petitions he received from Kaliningrad residents, during his first visit in August to the Russian enclave since appointing Mr Alikhanov to run it.
“It hangs there, framed and under glass, as a reminder of the essence of our job,” he says. “Work — that’s the green folder.”
For Mr Alikhanov, it makes sense to project a single-minded focus on the tasks set by the president. Upon his appointment as Russia’s youngest-ever provincial chief at the age of 30 in October 2016, he joined the breed of fresh-faced new administrators Mr Putin is installing to prepare the country for an eventual political transition, when the president finally decides to stand down.