Tomsk City Duma has elected its mayor Dmitry Makhinya

In Tomsk, almost three years after the arrest of Ivan Klein, a new mayor appeared. On Tuesday, the City Duma approved Dmitry Makhinya, Vice Mayor of Omsk, in this position. He was supported by deputies from United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the LDPR and New People, as well as individual representatives of other factions. Tomsk Governor Vladimir Mazur stated that the plans of the new mayor “coincide with his personal ones.”

The discussion began with a speech by Governor Mazur, who attended a meeting of the City Duma specifically for this purpose. “We need consolidation, clear executive discipline, clear actions of the executive and legislative authorities in one team – in the team of the region, the team of the president,” he addressed the deputies, asking them to “make a responsible choice in favor of the residents of Tomsk and our entire region” .

The City Duma included three candidates selected by the competition commission on August 22 out of eight applicants. But Dmitry Makhinya was considered the favorite from the very beginning, who was publicly supported by Vladimir Mazur at the end of July.

“Today we need just such a mayor – independent, strong-willed, able not only to preserve our gains, but also to give a new impetus to development,” the governor emphasized at the time.

Recall, the last elected mayor of Tomsk was Ivan Klein, who was arrested in November 2020 on suspicion of abuse of power. While he was under investigation, the city in the status of and. O. led by Vice Mayor Mikhail Ratner. In July 2022, the sentence against Mr. Klein came into force, and his powers were terminated, and in October of the same year, direct mayoral elections were also canceled. In April 2023, the first competition for this post broke down, in which Mr. Ratner took part. He did not nominate himself again.

Dmitry Makhinya outlined to the deputies the directions of his future work: ensuring the safety of citizens, improving the road and transport network, solving the problems of improvement and social infrastructure, building interaction with investors, and involving citizens in decision-making. “The activity of the mayor should be built on the principles of teamwork, which is organized by the governor,” he added.

Then representatives of factions and groups spoke. Igor Lyutaev from the “Clean Tomsk” group (two deputies) expressed regret that now not all citizens can take part in the mayoral elections, but he did not specify how exactly he intends to vote. The Yabloko faction (four deputies) abandoned the idea of ​​a consolidated vote. “We came to the conclusion that all candidates represent one bloc of the pro-government direction. Therefore, it was decided that everyone determines the candidate that is preferable to him, ”explained the head of the faction Vasily Eremin.

The head of the faction “Fair Russia – For the Truth” (three people) Konstantin Ushakov, unfortunately about the lack of direct elections, added criticism to the competition commission. “We wish there were more candidates. And we are unpleasantly surprised that a certain number of candidates did not reach today’s vote (including a member of the faction Inga Pervushina.— “b”),” said the Socialist-Revolutionary, but he also kept silent about the choice of faction.

Definitely in support of Dmitry Makhini, representatives of the Communist Party (eight people) and United Russia (11) factions spoke out.

“Of course, we can still choose a mayor with you for two more years before the end of the convocation, but I doubt that Tomsk residents will benefit from this,” Vice Speaker Andrei Petrov explained the position of the Communist Party. As it turned out, the communists, Mr. Makhinya, in person, seemed to be “a literate and versed in urban economy person.” And United Russia Maxim Reznikov reported that his faction decided to support Dmitry Makhinya unanimously. “I will not lie, it is necessary to put an end to this process and elect a mayor,” he said. Recall that Vladimir Mazur is the secretary of the regional branch of the United Russia.

To be elected, a candidate had to win at least 25 votes (two-thirds of the payroll of the City Duma). 26 deputies voted for Dmitry Makhinya, two more supported the director of Proftrans LLC Igor Olkhovsky.

“Our two votes were given to Dmitry Makhina. The decision was difficult, there were long disputes, consultations with the supervising State Duma deputy Alexei Didenko, there were proposals to cast only one vote or not to support the “gubernatorial candidate” at all. But we came to the conclusion that we need to stabilize the situation in our city and make a decision, albeit unpopular, but necessary for the development of the city, ”Yuri Voroshilin, leader of the LDPR faction, told Kommersant. The “New People” faction (two people) also supported the “gubernatorial candidate”, said its leader Alexander Qing-De-Shan. Thus, Mr. Makhinya received the remaining votes from individual members of Yabloko, A Just Russia, or independent deputies.

The winning candidate called the lack of unanimity a consequence of “normal political dialogue” and promised to work in the interests of all Tomsk residents.

Vladimir Mazur, in turn, noted that the mayor’s plans “coincide with my personal plans, with the regional executive power.”

Dmitry Makhinya will take over as mayor in September. He himself, in a freshly launched Telegram channel, said that he would soon move to Tomsk with his family.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk