Long-term chairman of the legislature of the Vladimir region may become a senator

The speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Region, Vladimir Kiselev (United Russia), may move to the Federation Council (SF) after the September elections. This was reported to Vedomosti by two sources: in the Legislative Assembly and the regional administration. A final decision has not yet been made, but, according to the interlocutors, this option suits both Kiselyov himself and the new governor of the Vladimir region, Alexander Avdeev.

“Vladimir Kiselev this [перехода в СФ] wants it very much,” says the interlocutor in the administration of the Vladimir region. Another interlocutor notes that the decision will depend on the result of the elections, the decision of the governor, United Russia, and the position of the presidential administration (AP). “The Governor’s Legislative Assembly Speaker Kiselyov [на посту сенатора], most likely, would arrange. And the speaker himself will not want to enter the same river for the fourth season, ”the interlocutor in the Legislative Assembly argues.

64-year-old Kiselev is one of the most influential politicians in the Vladimir region. He was born in the regional capital, from 1989 to 2002 he worked at local enterprises and organizations, after which he moved to the municipal service – he was the first vice-mayor of Vladimir, deputy chairman of the city council, and headed the board of the city mortgage fund. Since 2005, he has been sitting in the Legislative Assembly, where he first served as deputy chairman, and from 2009 to this day – chairman. The Vladimir regional branch of United Russia is headed by Avdeev, Kiselev is his first deputy.

Vedomosti sent inquiries to the Legislative Assembly and the regional branch of United Russia.

Since 2018, the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir Region has been represented in the Federation Council by Olga Khokhlova (United Russia). She was delegated to the upper house of parliament in the year when Vladimir Sipyagin, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (now a member of the State Duma), won the election of the governor of the Vladimir region in the second round. Khokhlova is a member of the Federation Council committee on social policy. She did not answer the call of Vedomosti.

Neither the current senator nor the chairman of the legislature of the Vladimir region participate in the United Russia primaries for the selection of candidates for deputies. The regulation on the procedure for conducting preliminary voting in elections to legislative assemblies, approved by the Presidium of the General Council of United Russia on January 25, 2023, allows the nomination of candidates for deputies in the general part of the party list, bypassing the primaries stage. Kiselyov will go to the elections to the Legislative Assembly in the top three candidates, a source close to the regional administration knows.

Governor Avdeev seeks to transfer the most influential people of the former elite to the Federation Council, says political analyst Rostislav Turovsky. “The first was the mayor of Vladimir Andrei Shokhin (Avdeev delegated him to the upper house of parliament after his victory in the elections in 2022 – Vedomosti), followed by the speaker of the legislative assembly, Kiselev, who is considered to be one of the most influential politicians in the region.”

One of Vedomosti’s sources recalls that during the governorship of the LDPR representative Sipyagin, the regional parliament, for example, received the authority to approve all members of the regional government: this seriously strengthened Kiselev’s political weight. With the advent of Avdeev, this scheme was abandoned.

Turovsky believes that the steps taken “make it easier for Avdeev to take the region under control, and without conflicts.” However, as the interlocutor of Vedomosti, who is close to the regional administration, notes, the governor and Kiselev have the same interests: the speaker of the legislative assembly has long wanted to do quiet and high-status work, without leaving the region.