Sobyanin decided to take the most difficult path to the Moscow mayoral elections

Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin officially announced that he will participate in the elections as a self-nominated candidate.

“The simplest option is to be nominated from the party. But we must follow the most difficult, complex path, enlisting the support of voters,” said the acting deputy. mayor of the capital during a meeting with veterans of the Great Patriotic War in Catherine Park in Moscow.

Sobyanin said that he intends to collect more than 70 thousand signatures. “There is simply no other candidate besides you. We don’t need billionaires for mayor. We need a mayor of good health and deep intelligence,” said one of the veterans.

On June 4 , Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that he was ready to resign and participate in early elections for the head of the city. Now Sobyanin and his colleagues will work as acting officials until the elections, which will take place on September 8.

President Putin accepted Sobyanin's resignation on June 5. “In general, you are working successfully, so I ask you to continue this work,” Putin told Sobyanin . “Despite internal political events, social order must be ensured in such a large city as Moscow, I hope that you can cope with this.”

A source close to the acting mayor told Interfax that Sobyanin wanted to run in the elections as a self-nominated candidate on Thursday, June 6 . Since 2002, Sobyanin has been a member of United Russia. Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Sergei Neverov has already promised that the party is ready to support Sobyanin in the early elections for the mayor of Moscow.

Sobyanin became mayor of Moscow in 2010 by decree of Dmitry Medvedev, who was president at that time. Sobyanin's powers expire in 2015.