local elections

Yesterday, the Volgograd Election Commission completed the registration of candidates for the post of mayor of the city. The elections will take place on September 14. As expected, the main struggle will unfold between and. O. mayor Alexander Tyurin and State Duma deputy Evgeny Ishchenko, who is supported by United Russia and the Union of Right Forces.
The former head of Volgograd, Yuri Chekhov, resigned early in June of this year. The ex-mayor explained his decision by the need to prepare the city for winter before the “orgy” associated with the December elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation begins.
In the mayoral elections, United Russia supports 30-year-old State Duma deputy from the Volgograd region Evgeniy Ishchenko. He was one of the founders of MDM Bank and served on its board of directors until 1993. In 1995 and 1999, Mr. Ishchenko was elected to the State Duma. In recent years, he has appeared in a number of high-profile business scandals - in particular, in the conflict around the Volgograd OJSC Khimprom. In addition, last year, Deputy Ishchenko concentrated under his control about 47% of the shares of Volgograd River Port OJSC and fought for control of the enterprise with the owner of 26% of the shares of the port, local businessman Yuri Skorokhodov, one of the leaders of the Volgograd cell of the Union of Right Forces, who was supported by the Ministry of Property ( 25.5% shares). However, literally a few days after the resignation of Mayor Chekhov, Deputy Ishchenko announced that he would no longer be involved in business and would concentrate on political activities. He sold his stake in the port to Yuri Skorokhodov, which obviously resulted in the Union of Right Forces supporting Mr. Ishchenko’s candidacy in the mayoral elections. The latest scandal involving Evgeny Ishchenko, a dispute over the building of the former Agroprombank in the center of Volgograd between the administration of the Volgograd region and the Cypriot offshore company Bollening Trading Ltd., which is close to the deputy, is now being resolved in court.
Realizing that it would not be easy to win elections against such a serious competitor, acting mayor Alexander Tyurin quickly tried to demonstrate how well he governs the city. In less than two months, he practically paid off his salary debts to state employees, started a global renovation of city roads and reduced tariffs for housing and communal services by 5%. At the same time, the press service of the mayor’s office and local media called Mr. Tyurin “the head of Volgograd” or “the head of the city administration,” but not either. O. On Monday, the city election commission recognized such naming as a violation and issued an official warning to five local media outlets.
The regional administration has not yet officially supported any of the candidates. In Volgograd, it is believed that the regional authorities will side with either the chairman of the Volgograd regional trade union council, Vyacheslav Kobozev, who is supported by local communists (Governor Nikolai Maksyuta is a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation), or the president of the Rotor sports club, Vladimir Goryunov.
Among the well-known people in the regional center, Sergei Mikhailov, a former military pilot and chairman of the Volgograd City Council of People's Deputies, is also registered among the candidates. In addition, the head of the Meat Union of the Volgograd Region Stanislav Rygin (also known to Volgograd residents as an artist), the director of LLC "Production Company '2 Geyser'" Sergei Bezverkhy, the head of the board of the public organization of disabled people "Vozrozhdenie" Andrey Sirotin, as well as a participant in all local elections, chairman of the public organization "Union of the Russian People - Russian Community of the Volgograd Region", editor of the local newspaper "Kolokol" Stanislav Terentyev. The latter is famous for his fight for the rights of Russians and rallies at which his supporters perform exorcism sessions on the porch of the regional prosecutor's office.
As Kommersant was told in the city election commission, all nine candidates preferred paying an electoral deposit of 63 thousand rubles to collecting signatures.
NATALIA Kommersant-SVYATOSLAVSKAYA, Volgograd

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 143 dated 08/13/2003, p. 3

Volgograd residents choose between deputy and mayor