Translated material
And I'll ask you to stay
Vladimir Putin suggested that Yuri Luzhkov not rush to leave
The Kremlin does not intend to immediately change the leadership of the Russian capital and shake up the Moscow electorate on the eve of parliamentary and presidential elections. This was made very clear yesterday by Vladimir Putin, who said that it was too early for Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to think about changing his occupation, and proposed to discuss this issue “a little later.” At the same time, through joint efforts, the president and the mayor managed to maintain intrigue regarding Mr. Luzhkov’s not-so-distant future: the mayor did not publicly raise the question of the head of state’s trust in himself ahead of schedule, just as Mr. Putin did not voice his intentions to make his candidacy for consideration by deputies of the Moscow City Duma.All this indicates that the authority of Yuri Luzhkov, whose third term as mayor expires in December 2007, will be used to the maximum in the December elections to the State Duma. First of all, representatives of the ruling party do not hide their intention to “exploit” the mayor. It was no coincidence that the speaker of the lower house of parliament and the leader of United Russia, Boris Gryzlov, recently remembered that residents of the multimillion-dollar capital make up 7% of the country's voters. And it is the capital’s mayor, according to Mr. Gryzlov, who should head the Moscow list of United Russia in the upcoming elections . It is clear that in the role of the “locomotive” it is preferable to present the current head of the capital, rather than a retired beekeeper, even if he has recognized services to the fatherland of almost all degrees.
And at the same time, the streamlined formulations that Vladimir Putin used yesterday do not exclude the possibility for the federal government “a little later” to take into account the age of the 70-year-old mayor and gently end in Moscow the “era of Luzhkov,” who really took 15 years ago “ as much sovereignty as possible." Those around the mayor expected clearer articulation from the president back in April, when one of the rare meetings between the head of state and the head of the capital took place . However, Mr. Putin did not dot the i's either in his office in April or yesterday at one of Moscow's largest construction sites, in the experimental residential area of Kurkino.
This area in the north-west of the capital, the construction of which began in 2000, is distinguished by an individual approach to the planning of microdistricts, developed engineering and social infrastructure and a low building area for the capital. If the average building area in the city is 15 thousand square meters per hectare, then in Kurkin this figure is two times lower - about 7.5 thousand square meters. meters per hectare. In addition, most houses are built according to individual projects, which, in addition to the increased comfort of the housing itself, also provide each apartment with a parking space in order to avoid the typical Moscow problem of “flooding” courtyards with “shell” garages and roadways with cars. Designed for more than 40 thousand residents, this experimental complex will soon grow to 18 microdistricts. Today, more than 1 million square meters of housing have already been built here and more than 20 thousand Muscovites live here.
True, the very fact of the president’s visit to Kurkin can be considered not only as a demonstration of the achievements of the Moscow construction complex, but also as a presentation of one of Mr. Luzhkov’s potential (as is believed) successors as mayor - prefect of the North-Western Administrative District Viktor Kozlov.
The prefect, who is part of the current mayor’s team and largely shares the principles of his work, and who also closely interacts with the leading companies of the capital’s construction complex and United Russia, would certainly be able to continue the urban development policy of the last decade and thereby would suit many of Mr. Luzhkov. However, for now, Mr. Kozlov was forced to content himself with the modest role of a tour guide for the presidential retinue around Kurkin.
Perhaps Vladimir Putin was impressed by the achievements of Moscow architects - the head of state noted that the results of the integrated development of Kurkin surpassed European analogues and took into account environmental, energy-saving and social aspects of the lives of citizens. However, the president still decided to remind Mr. Luzhkov that “besides successes, there are also problems in the city.” “You know about them. I mean defrauded shareholders. There are other problems around that we need to focus on,” Mr. Putin expressed the hope that Yuri Luzhkov’s attention will be focused on them. And only after these problems were resolved, the president suggested returning to the discussion of the mayor’s future plans.
Nevertheless, Moscow United Russia members considered this statement to be an unequivocal recognition by Vladimir Putin of “the merits of the Moscow government and the personality of the mayor as a leader.” “The metropolis cannot but have problems,” Andrei Metelsky, deputy chairman of the Moscow City Duma and head of the United Russia faction, told Vremya Novostey. “However, in my opinion, it follows from the president’s words that no one except Yuri Luzhkov is currently able to cope with them.” Mr. Metelsky has no doubt that Mr. Luzhkov will soon be presented by the president as a candidate for the post of head of the city, as well as the desire of the mayor himself to continue his career as a strong business executive. “It is clear that if a conversation in this vein took place between the mayor and the president, Yuri Mikhailovich’s desire to remain in office is obvious,” the deputy suggested.
The opinion that the capital's parliament will soon have to consider Mr. Luzhkov's candidacy is shared by the opposition in the Moscow City Duma. “Despite the fact that the majority of Moscow prefects have enough experience and personal qualities to take the mayor’s chair, the political situation is not conducive to changing the candidate,” says Communist Party deputy Vladimir Lakeev. President Putin, according to Mr. Lakeev, even without the command of the Moscow mayor, “has a lot of personnel from the shores of the Baltic in reserve.” But as long as United Russia needs Yuri Luzhkov, the choice of the federal authorities is obvious, the deputy is convinced.
But if the capital's communists have not yet decided whether they will support Mr. Luzhkov, whose qualities as a business executive they rate quite highly, then the United Democrats in the Moscow City Duma are already declaring that they will not take part in the vote. “We have a negative attitude towards the very procedure for appointing the mayor of Moscow, we support the election of the mayor of the capital and thus emphasize our position,” Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the Yabloko-United Democrats faction, told Vremya Novostey.