Published on October 16, 2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday has nominated Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin as the new Moscow mayor.
“I would like to tell you that I have decided to offer your candidacy to the Moscow City Duma for investing you with the powers of Moscow mayor,” Medvedev told Sobyanin in his presidential residence outside Moscow.
“I believe you have all the ability to lead the capital of our country,” he said, adding that Sobyanin successfully led Tyumen region as a governor.
“We met on the all parts of your career as a head of Kremlin administration, as a deputy Prime Minister,” Medvedev noted.
Sobyanin, also head of the government secretariat, was the favorite candidate among the four nominated by the ruling United Russia party last Saturday.
Deputy Speaker of the City Duma, Andrei Metelsky, told reporters that an extraordinary session might be held on Oct. 19 to endorse the candidacy of Sobyanin.
Metelsky as head of the United Russia faction that possessed 32 out of 35 seats in the City Duma, said the faction would vote for the approval of the candidacy.
Previous reports said the City Duma may hold such a session the next day following the nomination.
Medvedev said Sobyanin, if approved by Moscow City Duma, will need to “focus on solving social problems and to improve the lives of Muscovites.”
He must “try to make the economic life of Moscow more open and competitive, based on existing legislation,” said Medvedev, while noting other problems such as road congestion and corruption.
Sobyanin said it was “a big responsibility and a big trust” and that he “would do his best to justify the confidence (of the president).”
The Russian president meanwhile said Moscow government needed to be fully integrated with federal government, as Moscow “should not be a separate region.”
Sobyanin agreed saying that all city’s problems would be easier to solve together with the federal authority as well as with Moscow regional government.
Medvedev sacked former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov on Sept. 28 after 18 years of office, citing loss of confidence. Vladimir Resin has been acting in the post.
Last Saturday, United Russia nominated four candidates for presidential approval, including Sobyanin, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod region Valery Shantsev, Transport Minister Igor Levitin and First Deputy Mayor of Moscow Lyudmila Shvetsova.