A record 16 people entered the competition to elect the head of Dimitrovgrad

To participate in the competition for the post of mayor of the second largest city in the Ulyanovsk region – Dimitrovgrad – 16 people showed up at once, with very different biographies and statuses: deputies, officials and even a prosecutor. The previous mayor, Andrei Bolshakov, whose appointment in 2022 was supported by both the communist governor Alexei Russkikh and United Russia (UR), is in jail on a bribery case. After the September elections, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation lost its former position in the Dimitrovgrad City Duma, so now United Russia will actually determine the mayor themselves. But who they will choose as the favorite is still unknown.

The acceptance of applications and documents for the competition to select candidates for the post of head of the city of nuclear workers of Dimitrovgrad ended on the evening of January 19. According to the commission, 16 applicants applied for him – this is the highest level of interest in the position of the head of the city for the entire period of his elections under the current scheme.

The mayor will be elected by City Duma deputies from among candidates selected by a competition commission, four members of which were nominated by the City Duma and four by the administration of Governor Alexei Russkikh (Communist Party of the Russian Federation). The previous mayor of United Russia, Andrei Bolshakov, was elected in January 2022 with 20 votes of deputies out of 29. The United Russia faction supported him with all six of its votes, four were added by non-factional deputies, and another ten were added by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (out of 15 members of the faction). Now Mr. Bolshakov is in a pre-trial detention center: on August 8 last year he was detained along with the former first deputy governor Igor Edel on suspicion of receiving a particularly large bribe (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code).

The competition was announced on December 14, 2023 by the new composition of the City Duma, in which, based on the results of the September elections, out of 30 deputy seats, 23 seats were won by United Russia, three by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, two by New People, and one each by SRZP and LDPR.

Among the 16 people who submitted applications for the competition are people of very different professions and experience. Among them, for example, is the former judge of the Dimitrovgrad City Court, Moscow legal consultant Oleg Osipenko; current prosecutor of the Melekessky district of the region Nikolai Mullin; owner of Rostagro LLC, supplier of vegetable oil with the peculiar name “Novichok”, head of the association of large families Alexey Yakushev (who promised to “introduce a ban on the sale of land in the city for commercial residential development”); acting and O. Head of Dimitrovgrad Dmitry Tsivilev; the head of the administration of the same Melekessky district Sergei Sandryukov, city Duma deputies from United Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party, employees of the mayor’s office, as well as one driver with the status of an individual entrepreneur and one security guard of a private security company.

The competition commission explained to Kommersant that all applicants have submitted the necessary documents, but checking their compliance with the competition requirements will last a week. Its results will be summed up on January 29, after which within two weeks the City Duma will have to hear candidates’ programs and elect the head of the city by secret ballot.

Deputies believe that the outcome of the vote will be as United Russia wishes. But who she will bet on is still unknown. “So far, according to unofficial information, it’s Sandryukov, but the appearance of a district prosecutor among the candidates could disrupt these plans. Most likely, it will be the person whose candidacy has been agreed upon with the governor. But it is possible that there may be disagreements within the United Russia faction, since there is no longer the same homogeneity there,” ex-speaker of the City Duma Alexander Eryshev told Kommersant.

Deputy Governor for Domestic Policy Alexander Korobko “is not yet ready to say which of the candidates the governor’s administration is interested in,” since “consultations are underway.” Secretary of the regional branch of United Russia Vladimir Kameko also did not name the party’s favorite, noting that “a good and experienced business executive is needed for this post,” and possible candidates are still being discussed.

State Duma deputy from the Ulyanovsk region, first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Alexei Kurinny believes that “all these games with a large number of participants, candidates’ programs and so on are just decoration.” In his opinion, the decision will be made by the United Russia political council and “at a higher level.” “But, as I understand it, it has not yet been finally decided on whom to bet on – either it will be Tsivilev or Sandryukov,” explained Mr. Kurinny.

Let us recall that at the end of August last year, deputies of the City Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation tried to submit for discussion at the regional legislative assembly a bill that would return direct elections of the mayor to Dimitrovgrad, but the decision was blocked by United Russia.

“I think as long as United Russia has a majority in representative bodies of power, it will not abandon such a system of selecting mayors by deputies through competition. This is beneficial for her, because in this way the party can appoint the right person in order to further carry out its policies through him,” Ulyanovsk political scientist Nikolai Vasin explained to Kommersant.

Sergey Titov, Ulyanovsk