Alexander Vasilyevich Berdnikov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Бе́рдников; born April 8, 1953 in Gorno-Altaysk) is a Russian politician, current Chairman of the Government of the Altai Republic, and the head of the republic.He took office on January 20, 2006. He was a candidate in the December 2001 election for that position, receiving 9.6% of the vote and coming in sixth place. In 2004, a new law stopped direct elections for Russian administrative division leaders.