Speaker of the Tomsk City Duma, United Russia member Chingis Akataev, complained about an attempt to remove him from office

Chairman of the Tomsk City Duma Chingis Akataev (United Russia) complained of pressure from the regional administration, which allegedly forced him to resign. United Russia called the demands of the regional authorities “shocking,” recalling how much he did in the fight against supporters of oppositionist Alexei Navalny. Mr. Akataev is not going to leave his post voluntarily. The regional administration and the United Russia branch do not comment on the speaker’s words.

Chingis Akataev made a resonant statement during the city conference of United Russia (UR) on November 27. He recalled that in 2020 he was elected to the City Duma in a difficult struggle. “Smart voting, Navalny’s arrival, dirty technologies – you all remember this,” he addressed fellow party members. Mr. Akataev, according to him, did not intend to head the “most complex” parliament, but at the request of the regional authorities and the presidential administration he agreed. The election of the speaker took place in an equally difficult situation: “If it had not been possible to come to an agreement with three people, then Fadeeva would have been elected chairman (Ksenia Fadeeva, the former leader of Tomsk supporters of Alexei Navalny, was arrested on charges of organizing an extremist community.— “Kommersant”). This would be a huge black spot in the history of Tomsk.” Next, Chingis Akataev listed the achievements of the United Russia faction over the past three years, including “disabling the videoconferencing” (introducing a ban on deputies speaking via video conferencing.— “Kommersant”): “A number of comrades who left our country, using a microphone, criticized the president, the government, the regional authorities, and our party in any number of epithets. And we were the first in the country to expel two relocants (Artem Kanarev and Andrey Fateev.— “Kommersant”)”.

The “incomprehensible” story for Chingis Akataev began, according to him, after the renewal of the internal political bloc of the regional administration: “Already after we elected (the mayor of Tomsk Dmitry.— “Kommersant”) Mahinya, I was told that I’m walking around the city, saying that I’m twisting and turning Mahinya… That I’m arranging shots – I haven’t placed a single shot at the mayor’s office – and that I’m lobbying for the interests of builders.” According to the speaker, it was a “shocking conversation with the deputy governor”: “I was directly asked to voluntarily resign from the post of chairman of the Duma and generally resign,” said the United Russia member.

Chingis Akataev is one of the most experienced Tomsk politicians. Since 2002, he was elected to the regional Duma three times, then worked as vice-governor for five years, and in 2020 he was elected as a deputy and speaker of the City Duma. In May 2023, Mr. Akataev announced his readiness to participate in the competition for the post of mayor if there was “the political will of the governor.” After the head of the Tomsk region, Vladimir Mazur, supported the candidacy of the then Omsk vice-mayor Dmitry Makhini, Mr. Akataev abandoned these plans.

According to Chingis Akatayev, regional authorities began negotiations “with all deputies without exception” to express no confidence in him, but parliamentarians refused to sign the corresponding appeal. Then the “yellow media” came into play, where Mr. Akataev was accused of dislike for Russians, and threats. Finally, now, according to the chairman, the tax authorities are checking it. The speaker ended his speech with the statement that he “always considered and still considers himself a member of the governor’s team”: “Voluntarily (resignation letter.— “Kommersant”) I will not sign,” he said and left the podium to prolonged applause.

The speaker did not name the name of the vice-governor with whom the conversation took place. In May, Vladimir Mazur appointed Moscow lawyer Andrei Dunaev as his first deputy, whose main task was called “rebooting the socio-political sphere.” “Kommersant” sent a request to Mr. Dunaev asking him to comment on the words of Chingis Akataev, but at the time of preparation of publication he did not receive a response. The regional branch of United Russia did not comment on the speaker’s speech.

“I myself was the initiator of Akataev’s resignation for violations of regulations. Therefore, neither the Yabloko members nor the independents were approached for signatures. I know that they turned to Andrei Petrov (vice speaker of the City Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.— “Kommersant”),” Vasily Eremin, head of the Yabloko faction, told Kommersant. Mr. Petrov refused to comment on the situation. “No consultations were held with us regarding the signatures for resignation,” said the leader of the LDPR faction, Yuri Voroshilin. Deputy Igor Lyutaev (Clean Tomsk group) did not receive such proposals either. “No one offered me to sign any letters. The situation is dirty, I don’t want to get into it and I don’t advise you,” said deputy Maxim Zabelin (“Local Government Group”). The next session of the City Duma is scheduled for December 5.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk; Andrey Prah