United Russia

The party in power in the Urals has decided on candidates for mayor and for relegation

One of the veterans of the Russian gubernatorial workshop, the head of the Sverdlovsk region and, of course, a member of the United Russia party, Eduard Rossel, does not leave personnel work to chance. A number of Ural mayors will obviously have to leave their homes after October 12, when elections for the heads of 24 municipalities will take place. At the end of last week, the Presidium of the Political Council of the Sverdlovsk branch of United Russia decided to nominate its candidates for these positions. Mayors are expected to undergo a 50% rotation: in half of the municipalities, United Russia members will support the current mayors, and in other cases the emphasis will be placed on new figures.

Against this background, the fate of Nizhny Tagil Mayor Nikolai Didenko, who was expelled from United Russia a week ago for “violations of the charter and discrediting the party,” was shrouded in special drama. The uniqueness of the situation is that sanctions against Mr. Didenko were demanded by the federal presidium of the party’s General Council. The fall in United Russia's rating in Nizhny Tagil from 62 to 50% from April to July was considered to be particular evidence of the mayor's "malicious" activities. In addition, vague accusations of corruption were made against Mr. Didenko, which prompted the investigative department of the regional prosecutor's office to check the activities of the mayor. The results turned out to be unexpected at the present time: as deputy head of the department Vasily Efimenko said at yesterday’s press conference, law enforcement agencies “found no grounds for initiating a criminal case” against the mayor of Nizhny Tagil.

True, other employees of the mayor's office turned out to be dishonest. A month ago, the regional court sentenced Shamil Karymov, head of the department for financial, economic and logistical support of the education department of the city administration, to prison. The official was detained while receiving a bribe of 200 thousand rubles. The head of the housing department of Nizhny Tagil, Nadezhda Smirnova, who allegedly leased federal property, is also under investigation. Vasily Efimenko does not rule out that other city officials may also become defendants in criminal cases.

The approval of a new candidate for the post of mayor of Nizhny Tagil also did not go smoothly. The Sverdlovsk “bears” agreed with Governor Eduard Rossel on the candidacy of his dacha neighbor Alexei Chekanov, who currently holds the position of Chairman of the Board of OJSC Tagilbank. However, at the last moment, the Nizhny Tagil United Russia members were overcome with doubts. On Wednesday, at a meeting of the local branch of United Russia, party members opposed Mr. Chekanov's candidacy by 28 votes to 14 in favor. It is worth noting that the banker was represented by regional heavyweights: Deputy Prime Minister of the regional government Anatoly Gredin, head of the executive committee of the party in power Leonid Rapoport, deputy head of the governor’s administration Vadim Dubichev, as well as representatives of the largest enterprises of the city - the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant and Uralvagonzavod. Despite this, the emboldened Nizhny Tagil United Russia members preferred, instead of one candidate, to send a shortlist to the regional political council, which, in addition to Mr. Chekanov, included the first vice-mayor of the city, Vyacheslav Pogudin, and the deputy of the regional Duma, Viktor Babenko. The higher party authority did not find it difficult to make a choice, so it can be said with a high degree of probability that the chair of the mayor of Nizhny Tagil will be occupied by the chairman of the board of Tagilbank.

Of the other mayors who are candidates for relegation, only the mayor of Degtyarsk, Valery Trofimov, is showing signs of political life so far. It was decided to replace him with City Duma deputy Andrei Derbenev, who is also the general director of a company that supplies equipment for boilers. The offended Mr. Trofimov, without even waiting for the official nomination of his opponent, filed an application to suspend his membership in United Russia. Officially, the political council of the city branch of the party intends to consider it this week. Valery Trofimov, meanwhile, is seeking support from the public association “Russian Pensioners,” created on the basis of the former Russian Party of Pensioners. Last week, a meeting of the association’s activists decided to support the current mayor. Of course, “pensioners” cannot compete with United Russia in terms of financial and administrative resources.

Nevertheless, the campaign for the election of heads of municipalities in the Urals promises to be interesting: not all mayors are ready to surrender their seats to the proteges of United Russia without a fight.

Natalia ROZHKOVA