The St. Petersburg vice-governor was fired after Putin’s criticism of the growth of housing and communal services

The vice-governor of St. Petersburg Sergey Kozyrev was dismissed following the results of a meeting in the Kremlin, who had passed on Monday, at which Putin criticized the excessive growth of utility bills in the country. As stated on the website of the city administration, "the resignation was adopted in connection with improper control of the activities of subordinate committees and management companies in the housing sector."

RIA Novosti also reports the dismissal of the Minister of Regional Development of the Altai Republic Yuri Sorokin. The regional authorities have not yet been made official statements on this subject, but Sorokin himself confirmed his resignation to the agency. He, however, found it difficult to call her reason. “Well, there are any actions for no reason. This is the case,” he said.

On Monday evening, the Minister of Energy and Housing and Public Utilities of the Murmansk Region Gennady Mikichura was sent. According to the regional authorities, the reason for the resignation was "miscalculations admitted during the preparation of the procedure for introducing new standards for housing and communal services in the region." At the same time, a message appeared on the website of the regional government that the resolution of the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities on the introduction of new tariffs for utilities has been canceled. The governor of the Murmansk region Marina Kovtun said that "for overpayment for January, citizens will recalculate."

On the morning of February 25, Putin sharply criticized excessive tariff growth. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Regional Development, Igor Slyunyaev, told the president that the most - by 225% - payments increased in the Murmansk region and in the Altai Republic.

The cost of utilities in the country should grow no more than 6 percent a year, Putin said, and demanded to reduce tariffs in those regions where they have "seriously and unreasonably" have grown recently. “Everything needs to be done in order to correct the situation and not force people to pay such completely unreasonable amounts. The economic approach cannot be considered separately from issues of a social nature,” Putin said.