As president, he was responsible for maintaining peace, order and the rule of law in Mari El.

His father was killed during a World War II attack in 1943, leaving Zotin completely dependent on his mother.

Zotin was educated in Moscow, and spent much of his life as a chief engineer of industrial development.

[1] In 1996, a criminal case was initiated against Zotin's main opponent in an upcoming election, Vyacheslav Kislitsyn, who was removed from the post of head of Medvedevsky District.

Later, the president tried to remove Kislitsyn and Leonid Markelov from the ballot, referring to their ignorance of the Mari language.