Ulyanovsk is preparing for the mayor – Newspaper Kommersant No. 55 (7500) of 03/31/2023

The commission for the selection of candidates for the post of head of Ulyanovsk has finished accepting documents from applicants. In total, there were six people who wanted to take this post, including party representatives, deputies of the regional legislative assembly and the current deputy head of the city Alexander Boldakin, who arrived in Ulyanovsk from the Moscow region at the invitation of Governor Alexei Russkikh. It is Mr. Boldakin, according to the deputies, who can become the new head of the city.

The competition commission completed the acceptance of documents from applicants for the post of head of Ulyanovsk on the evening of March 29, according to the official website of the Ulyanovsk City Duma. The city’s previous mayor, Dmitry Vavilin, resigned on November 28, 2022, saying he was offered a senior position in the military-industrial complex.

Now the competition commission at its meeting on April 7 will have to decide on the inclusion of applicants in the list of candidates based on the documents submitted by them and the evaluation criteria, including work experience and higher education, knowledge of the Constitution, moral and ethical data, etc. No later than 15 days from the date of receipt of the commission’s decision by the City Duma (that is, until April 22), deputies of the City Duma will hear the programs of the selected candidates and elect the mayor by secret ballot.

In total, as noted in the message of the City Duma, six people expressed their desire to head the city. This is Igor Efremov, who in 2010-2011 headed the OGUP, and then JSC “Middle Volga”, from 2014 to 2017, under the former governor Sergey Morozov, was the director of the OGKU “Administration of Affairs of the Ulyanovsk Region”, and from March 2022 to January 2023 th headed in Samara MP “Improvement”; Alexey Sorokvashin, a member of the regional branch of the Just Russia – For the Truth party, who previously held the posts of general director of the Sengileevsky cement plant and the Novoulyanovsk slate plant; Dmitry Grachev, leader of the LDPR faction in the regional legislature; Deputy of the Legislative Assembly from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Alexander Spitsyn; Aleksey Onishchenko, Head of Administration of Zheleznodorozhny District of Ulyanovsk; Deputy Mayor of Ulyanovsk Alexander Boldakin. Acting head of Ulyanovsk Sergey Mishin did not show up for the competition.

Mr. Boldakin was the last to apply, but, as a source close to the City Duma notes, “it is he who can become the head of the city.” In his opinion, it was for the sake of Mr. Boldakin that at the end of January 2023, the deadline for announcing the competition was excluded from the regulatory documents (previously it was two months from the day the mayor resigned): “Apparently, this was due to the fact that the final approval of the candidacy of Alexander Boldakin still did not have”.

Mr. Boldakin is the only candidate who can be directly attributed to the team of the communist governor Alexei Russkikh. As noted on the mayor’s office website, in March 2022, Alexander Boldakin “at the invitation of the governor” moved to Ulyanovsk from the Moscow region (before his appointment in the spring of 2021 to the post of acting head of the Ulyanovsk region, Mr. Russkikh was a State Duma deputy, and then a senator from the Moscow region). He has a construction education, since 2008 he has been in the municipal service, since 2014 he was the deputy head of the department for the development of the territory of the administration of the Shchelkovo urban district.

Vice-Governor Alexander Korobko, who is responsible for domestic policy, refused to comment on the interests of the governor’s administration during this competition, citing the fact that he himself is a member of the competition commission. At the same time, a source in the governor’s administration told Kommersant that “the administration will agree with who the deputies will elect.” “But the overwhelming majority of City Duma deputies are from United Russia, as they decide, so be it. And the fact that Boldakin is no longer a secret to anyone, ”he said.

Deputy Chairman of the City Duma, non-factional deputy Sergei Morgachev told Kommersant that “the majority in the commission are representatives of United Russia, there is not a single independent deputy or from another party, so the result is clear.” “And judging by the fact that Alexander Boldakin is now being actively shown in the media, he is even present at the governor’s administrative meetings, they will probably elect him,” the vice speaker suggested, noting that he himself would make a decision only after how to listen to everyone “about their team and capabilities.” At the same time, he did not rule out that he could vote for Mr. Boldakin.

Finally, another interlocutor of Kommersant in the City Duma, commenting on the results of the nomination of candidates for the post of mayor, noted that “the result was clear even before the announcement of the competition, unfortunately, this competition has become a formality.”

Sergey Titov, Ulyanovsk