In April 2004, he became governor of the Altai Krai region of Russia after defeating incumbent Aleksandr Surikov in the elections.

On 7 August 2005, Yevdokimov was killed in a car accident while travelling on the Russian route M52 20 km from the city of Biysk.

[2] Scherbinsky's conviction was followed by car drivers' protests and demonstrations all over Russia; the Russian government officials, even of the lowliest rank, have a habit of not following the traffic rules, casually driving over the speed limit, in the wrong lane or using the blinking lights on top of their car, creating a lot of problems on the road and endangering regular drivers.

[citation needed] The traffic police usually are lenient in enforcing the rules against them, and regular drivers are often blamed in case of a collision with a government car.

Most deputies argued that over a year of work, Evdokimov demonstrated an inability to form an effective management team and blamed him for the failure of economic policy.

[6][7][8][9] In March–April 2005, the Awakening movement organized several rallies and pickets against the actions of the Krai Assembly to remove Evdokimov.

Thus, a nationwide precedent could be created: for the first time, the removal of a governor from office could occur not only on the head of state's initiative, but also at the insistence of the region's Legislative Assembly.

At the same meeting, Evdokimov refused to read the traditional report on the region's socio-economic situation to the Krai Assembly's deputies.