Yuri Matochkin

{{Short description|Russian politician (1931–2006)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Yuri Matochkin

| native_name_lang = ru

| image = Yuri Matochkin.jpg

| office = 1st Governor of Kaliningrad Oblast

| president =

| primeminister =

| term_start = 25 September 1991

| term_end = 20 October 1996

| predecessor =

| successor = Leonid Gorbenko

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| birth_name = Yuri Semyonovich Matochkin

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|10|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Simskoye, Iglinsky District, Bashkir ASSR, RSFSR, Soviet Union

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|07|06|1931|10|18|df=y}}

| death_place = Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia

| party = Independent

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| native_name = {{nobold|Юрий Маточкин}}

}}

Yuri Semyonovich Matochkin ({{Langx|ru|Юрий Семёнович Маточкин}}; 18 October 1931 – 6 July 2006){{Cite web

| title = Yuri Matochkin

| publisher = Council of Europe

| url = http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/AssemblyList/AL_MemberDetails.asp?MemberID=6183

| access-date = 2010-07-03}}{{Cite news

| script-title=ru:Умер первый калининградский губернатор Юрий Маточкин: воспоминания и редкие фото

| newspaper = Regnum

| language = ru

| date = 2006-07-06

| url = http://www.regnum.ru/news/669278.html

| access-date = 2010-07-11}} was a Soviet and Russian politician. He was the first post-Soviet governor of Kaliningrad Oblast, having been appointed to that position by Boris Yeltsin in September 1991.{{Cite book

| last = Krickus

| first = Richard

| title = The Kaliningrad Question

| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield

| year = 2002

| pages = 51, 68

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sDOUZEEnHFUC&dq=%22yuri+matochkin%22&pg=PA51

| isbn = 0-7425-1704-7}} Matochkin was elected to the Federation Council in 1993 and served on the International Affairs Committee. He was a Professor of Economics.{{Cite book

| last = Antonenko

| first = Oksana

|author2=Kathryn Pinnick

| title = Russia and the European Union: prospects for a new relationship

| publisher = Routledge

| year = 2005

| pages = 146

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Be3vZMyJkQcC&dq=%22yuri+matochkin%22&pg=PA146

| isbn = 0-415-35907-4}}

Just prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union, a Free Economic Zone was established in Kaliningrad and Matochkin represented it in the USSR. He continued to support a free economic zone, as well as closer cooperation with the West, particularly the European Union, and placing an emphasis on foreign investment in Kaliningrad.{{Cite web

| title = Russia's policy towards Kaliningrad

| publisher = British Helsinki Human Rights Group

| date = 2003-02-18

| url = http://bhhrg.org/russia/51-russias-policy-towards-kaliningrad.html

| access-date = 2010-07-03}} He felt it was necessary to formulate a single state policy regarding Kaliningrad.{{Cite book

| last = Waller

| first = Michael

|author2=Bruno Coppieters |author3=Alekseĭ Vsevolodovich Malashenko

| title = Conflicting loyalties and the state in post-Soviet Russia and Eurasia

| publisher = Frank Cass Publishers

| year = 1998

| location = London

| pages = 108

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J_S9xfdODDUC&dq=%22yuri+matochkin%22&pg=PA108

| isbn = 0-7146-4882-5}} He regarded Germany as especially important.{{Cite book

| last = Knudsen

| first = Olav

| title = Stability and security in the Baltic Sea region

| publisher = Frank Cass

| year = 1999

| pages = 134

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EOaEIGjslyAC&dq=%22yurii+matochkin%22&pg=PA134

| isbn = 0-7146-4492-7}} Matochkin envisioned Kaliningrad as a free-trade region with significant administrative autonomy. He also favoured upgrading the region from an Oblast to a republic of Russia.{{Cite journal

| journal = Globe

| volume = 6

| issue = 1–6

|title=Globe

| date = 1993

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-TZnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22yuri+matochkin%22

| access-date = 2010-07-03}}

In 1994 he persuaded Russia to adopt a document emphasizing foreign cooperation, especially with the European Union.{{Cite book

| last = Lieven

| first = Anatol

|author2=Dmitriĭ Trenin

| title = Ambivalent neighbors: the EU, NATO and the price of membership

| publisher = Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

| year = 2003

| pages = 151

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0h394P8cRDUC&dq=yuri+matochkin&pg=PA180

| isbn = 0-87003-200-3}} Matochkin succeeded in restoring Kaliningrad's special economic zone advantages in January 1996, and also secured the region's first major foreign investment, an agreement with the automobile manufacturer Kia.{{Cite book

| last = Hanson

| first = Philip

|author2=Michael Bradshaw

| title = Regional economic change in Russia

| publisher = Edward Elgar

| year = 2000

| pages = 247

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x-A1nWV1UosC&dq=%22yuri+matochkin%22&pg=PA247

| isbn = 1-84064-107-X}}

Yuri Matochkin contested the 1996 elections for regional governor in 1996, and was defeated in the second round of voting by Leonid Gorbenko.{{cite news |first=Sander|last=Huisman|title=A new European Union policy for Kalinigrad

|url=http://www.ppl.nl/ebooks/files/occ33.pdf|work=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 2002 |access-date=2010-08-10}} After the election, Gorbenko was subjected to hounding by supporters of Matochkin.