MOSCOW — One of Russia’s last remaining regional strongmen said Tuesday that he would retire at the end of his term next year, as the Kremlin replaces a muscular group of leaders who survived the fall of the Soviet Union and retained a share of autonomy from Moscow.

The strongman, Murtaza G. Rakhimov, 76, has led the oil-rich southwestern republic of Bashkortostan since 1990, greatly enriching his family in the process. Liberals criticized him for police crackdowns and heavy-handed control — but also delighted in his caustic criticism of Kremlin policies, which went further than most officials dared.

A year ago, Mr. Rakhimov told a Moscow newspaper that Russian politics were more centralized than they had been in Soviet days, showing “distrust and disrespect” toward regional populations. He also said the leadership of United Russia, the governing party led by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, had “never commanded three chickens.”

Though the outburst revived rumors that Mr. Rakhimov was on his way out, the global financial crisis made the Kremlin wary of changing leaders. But in recent months the Kremlin has shown increasing confidence in replacing the so-called heavyweight governors — among them Eduard Rossel of Sverdlovsk Oblast and Mintimer Shaimiyev of Tatarstan, both of whom had been in office since 1991. The last of the group is Yuri M. Luzhkov, who has been mayor of Moscow since 1992.

Before next year’s election cycle, the Kremlin is punishing regional leaders who challenged its supremacy during the financial crisis, said Nikolai Petrov, a political analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.

“They decided they could not count on these governors,” Mr. Petrov said. “They are politicians who were formed in a different era, and they were willing to use any moment to return to themselves what was taken from them.”

Mr. Rakhimov, a former factory boss, lacked the political finesse of his fellow heavyweights, and news of his retirement when his term expires in October 2011 raised some speculation that he could leave before then.

At a regional gathering a month ago, Mr. Rakhimov said the appointment of an outsider to lead the republic would be “a humiliation to all Bashkirs,” Mr. Petrov said. Soon after, state-controlled media began airing blistering exposes accusing Mr. Rakhimov and his family of corruption.

“Now we are observing the culmination, in which both sides agree what the Rakhimov clan will be able to keep in its hands, and under what conditions they will leave,” Mr. Petrov said. “It’s the last act, it seems to me.”