Among his candidates for senators is current member of the Federation Council Vitaly Bogdanov

Acting Governor of the Kursk Region Alexander Mikhailov has decided on three senatorial candidates with whom he will go to the elections for the head of the region on September 14. It included the current senator from the regional executive branch, Moscow businessman Vitaly Bogdanov, managing director of the Mikhailovsky GOK Sergei Kretov and director of the local branch of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Lyudmila Dremova. According to Kommersant, Mr. Bogdanov will extend his powers if Alexander Mikhailov wins. The regional election commission claims that he, as a current member of the Federation Council, does not fall under the 20-year residency requirement for new senators, introduced the day before by the State Duma.

According to the secretary of the Kursk regional election commission, Sergei Maltsev, all the candidates proposed by Alexander Mikhailov comply with the requirements of the new edition of federal legislation regarding the procedure for forming the Federation Council. Let us recall that on June 30, Vladimir Putin signed a law introducing a residency requirement for new senators. The norm assumes that a candidate for membership of the Federation Council must live 20 years in the region, but allows him not to reside there permanently for five years. In addition, the norm does not apply to current senators, State Duma deputies and persons holding government positions in this subject of the federation. “Bogdanov, as a current member of the upper house, does not fall under these standards,” Mr. Maltsev told Kommersant.

Vitaly Bogdanov has represented the Kursk region in the Northern Fleet since 2005. Until 2011, he was delegated by the regional Duma, then a reshuffle occurred - Mr. Bogdanov was nominated by Alexander Mikhailov, and the position of senator from the legislative assembly was taken by ex-State Duma deputy from the region Valery Ryazansky. However, what brings Mr. Bogdanov much greater fame is not his membership in the Federation Council, but his business projects in the capital. He is known as the founder, and in 2001-2005, the head of the Russian Media Group (one of the key brands is Russian Radio). The senator also owns one of the most impressive fleets of vehicles among Russian parliamentarians. It consists of several Bentleys, Soviet retro cars, as well as executive cars and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Mr. Bogdanov, in addition to numerous Russian real estate, owns a house in Italy with his wife. Yesterday he did not comment on his inclusion in the top three candidates for senators compiled by Alexander Mikhailov.

Eight people have already been officially notified by the electoral commission of their intentions to participate in the elections for the governor of the Kursk region. In addition to Alexander Mikhailov, this is a deputy of the city assembly of the regional center, deputy general director of Kursk Electric Networks OJSC Vladimir Firsov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation); former vice-president of the Russian Federation, ex-head of the region Alexander Rutskoi (“Democratic Legal Russia”); one of the leaders of the Kursk community in Moscow, Gennady Lifintsev (People Against Corruption party); regional Duma deputy from the LDPR Vladimir Fedorov, representative of the Patriots of Russia Nikolai Zlydenny, as well as vice-president of the Kursk Chamber of Commerce and Industry Elena Tesleva (Party of Free Citizens). In addition, yesterday documents on nomination to the regional election commission were provided by the candidate from A Just Russia, a well-known political strategist in the region, Konstantin Komkov.

Political scientist Vladimir Slatinov considers the three senators “classic”. “Everything is as usual: the current senator, to whom, despite his little popularity in the region, Mikhailov obviously has no serious complaints. With him is a large, respectable business representative, which is Kretov. Well, Dremova is a social activist. Nowadays, not a single election campaign can proceed without the participation of people of this type,” he explained. Mr. Slatinov also sees Vitaly Bogdanov as a future senator: “His very inclusion in the top three indicates that, most likely, he will remain in the Federation Council.”

Vsevolod Inyutin, Andrey Tsvetkov

Alexander Mikhailov presented the three