The head of Novosibirsk, Anatoly Lokot, resigned

The mayor of Novosibirsk, communist Anatoly Lokot, will resign in January next year after taking another vacation. United Russia Governor Andrei Travnikov was the first to announce this, according to whom the head of the municipality took advantage of the offer to switch to work at the federal level. Anatoly Lokot headed the city for almost 10 years; his activities as a business executive were criticized by representatives of various political forces. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is confident that its leadership has benefited both the general state of affairs in the city and the relationship between the representative and executive powers of the municipality.

Novosibirsk United Russia governor Andrei Travnikov announced the upcoming departure of the communist mayor Anatoly Lokot in an interview published on the TV channel OTS on the evening of December 28. “Anatoly Evgenievich received an offer to move to a job that involves performing national tasks. He decided to use his political and life experience in order to benefit the entire country. He made this decision. He is now going on another vacation with subsequent dismissal. I supported this decision. I hope that together we will ensure that the city’s economy functions sustainably during the holiday weekend and the following days,” said the head of the region. According to him, with his approval and… O. Deputy Mayor Oleg Klemeshov became the head of the city.

The mayor’s press secretary, Gleb Cherepanov, confirmed this information, adding that the official leave of the city head will last until January 24. He did not comment on the upcoming employment of Anatoly Lokot. Mr. Travnikov’s television performance found Anatoly Lokot on a business trip in Moscow.

According to the source RBC in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, an option is being considered in which Mr. Lokot “can get a job in the field of Russian-Belarusian relations.” Anatoly Lokot has developed good relations with representatives of the Belarusian leadership. At the beginning of December this year, the ambassador of this country to Russia, Dmitry Krutoy, visited Novosibirsk on a working visit.

However, a Kommersant source who worked with Anatoly Lokot claims that in the future the ex-mayor of Novosibirsk will be able to count on the mandate of a State Duma deputy: “I don’t know when, but there is a decision that he will be a deputy.”

During the State Duma elections in 2021, Mr. Lokot headed one of the regional groups on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. This gives him the opportunity to apply for a deputy seat if one of the communist representatives releases him early, but the decision on this matter will be made by the governing bodies of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

The first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Lokot, has headed the largest municipality in Russia since April 2014. Then he won the direct elections for the head of the city, which he entered as a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, gaining 43.75% of the votes. Anatoly Lokot managed to unite around himself a significant part of the protest-minded electorate. In 2018, Mr. Lokot abandoned the fight for the post of governor, concluding an agreement with a newly appointed native of the Vologda region – the acting head of the region, United Russia member Andrei Travnikov. As part of the pact concluded in 2019, United Russia did not interfere with the re-election of Anatoly Lokot for a second term. As a result, the mayor received 50.25% of the votes. His renewed term expired in September 2024.

Throughout the entire period of his work as mayor, Anatoly Lokot’s economic activities were criticized by representatives of various political forces. First of all, for cleaning the city, the condition of roads and storm drains, the state of affairs with outdoor advertising and the placement of non-stationary objects. However, the United Russia faction, which continued to control the city council, annually accepted the report of the head of Novosibirsk.

Political scientist Alexey Osipov considers management and economic problems to be the main reason for the resignation: “The problems that the city needs to solve are beyond its capabilities. This is a different kind of person: a good speaker, a good propagandist, knows how to work with the masses. The person himself is not bad. But this is not enough to be mayor of the city.” Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, second secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Renat Suleymanov noted that during Mr. Lokot’s tenure in office, the population of Novosibirsk grew by 115 thousand people, 12 million square meters were built. m of housing (the housing stock has increased by one and a half times), 50 kindergartens and 26 schools. “A new political culture of interaction between the mayor’s office and the city council has been formed, equality between deputies and the mayor’s office, regardless of what faction you are,” says Anton Tyrtyshny, vice speaker of the city council from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

“In any case, thank him very much. Throwing clods of dirt is always easy. There were a lot of problems and complaints. But nevertheless, the person held this position for two terms,” Sergei Panferov, first deputy secretary of the regional branch of United Russia, head of the faction in the regional legislative assembly, told Kommersant.

“The mayor of Novosibirsk Anatoly Lokot spent nine years in the right direction, but could not advance far. I voted against the approval of his report every year. The city is governed very poorly,” says Anton Kartavin, a member of the Novosibirsk-2020 Coalition.

As Kommersant reported, the next head of the city should be determined by competition. The regional parliament adopted the corresponding law in February 2023, and later changes were made to the city charter. In case of early resignation of the mayor, the city council must make a decision on holding a competition within 30 days. As Kommersant previously reported, Governor Andrei Travnikov has already stated that he intends to “influence” the election of the head of Novosibirsk through a competition. The outcome of the competition depends on the position of the United Russia faction in the City Council. Let us note that Governor Travnikov also heads the region’s party organization.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk