Save the ordinary Serov

There are tectonic shifts in the Legislative Assembly: the head of the commission on social policy, Lyudmila Kostkina, is leaving for the Federation Council. And the head of the Nevsky district, Konstantin Serov, is expected to replace the representative of the governor Mikhail Brodsky.

Such a reshuffle could significantly weaken the position of Legislative Assembly Speaker Vyacheslav Makarov. Serov is known as an old friend of Georgy Poltavchenko, and he has been at loggerheads with Makarov for several years. For the last six months, Makarov, making up for lost time, tried his best to love Poltavchenko, but the re-elected governor is not yet going to pay off his debts.

How it was

Two years ago, ex-governor Valentina Matvienko and the newly appointed Poltavchenko were figuring out who was boss in the city, pushing their people into the post of secretary of the St. Petersburg United Russia. Matvienko bet on Makarov. The new mayor had almost no people of his own, so he actively pushed through Legislative Assembly deputy Konstantin Serov.

Makarov's supporters accused Smolny of actually raiding the party. Allegedly, in the city administration, the heads of United Russia's district cells were secretly dictated who to vote for in the internal party elections: namely, Serov. Also intriguing at that time was Vadim Tyulpanov, a member of the Federation Council, who, together with Makarov, entered a secret meeting and ruined Smolny’s plans. Then there were rumors that some security officials called party members, offering to vote “in an amicable way” for Serov.

They argued meaningfully and deliberately, but at the party conference Serov withdrew his candidacy, talking about “a group of businessmen and politicians who dream of revenge.” Makarov's supporters countered: they say that Serov "covered his mediocrity and lack of support with the reputation of the governor."

Having lost the battle to Matvienko’s team, Serov left as head of the administration of the Nevsky district, even by doing so, putting a pig on the deputies: instead he was replaced by the flamboyant Evgeniy Marchenko, whom few wanted to see in the Mariinsky Palace.

A safe haven for Serov

In 2014, Makarov rushed to help Poltavchenko get elected - he accompanied the acting governor everywhere, telling everyone about the Western threat, which we all must repel by electing the man Putin as mayor. Previously unnoticed to be particularly religious, he went to the religious procession with Poltavchenko.

The governor did not seem to appreciate Makarov’s efforts - two weeks after the elections, rumors spread around the Mariinsky Palace about the possible resignation of Mikhail Brodsky. The head of the city parliament should have been especially unpleasantly surprised by the candidacy of Poltavchenko’s likely representative, Konstantin Serov.

The head of the city parliament himself limits himself to reasoning that the representative must be “a man of honor, professionally trained and enjoying enormous authority among all factions.”

“This is very hard work. The governor’s representative, Mikhail Naumovich Brodsky, meets all these criteria and, I believe, fulfills his duties with dignity,” he said, assuring that he knew nothing about possible reshuffles.

Why did Georgy Poltavchenko need to move Serov from place to place, especially since Brodsky until recently seemed unsinkable. It is unlikely that Serov will be able to convey the governor’s position to parliamentarians as brilliantly as his possible predecessor does. Rather, the head of the Nevsky district, which was particularly disgraced in the last elections, needs to find a safe haven. Moscow is dissatisfied with the elections held in St. Petersburg, which means that the heads of the districts where fraud was most obvious are under attack.

It is clear that in Russia the maximum punishment for a loyal official is transfer to another position. Thus, the head of the Moscow region, Vladimir Rublevsky, has already been transferred to the Improvement Committee. Although the position is a firing squad, it is not dismissal.

There is no "think" option

All this time, Tyulpanov languished in oblivion in the Federation Council. Several times he allowed himself to attack Poltavchenko: after the “redneck” story, he offered to apologize to the townspeople, and he ridiculed the past gubernatorial elections on Twitter. Having laughed it off, he felt in time that he would no longer be a senator from St. Petersburg, and changed his registration, becoming a member of the Federation Council from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug - out of friendship with the governor of the region, Igor Koshin.

Now the prospect of senatorial office has loomed before Matvienko’s longtime ally, former vice-governor of St. Petersburg for social issues, head of the Social Affairs Commission of the Legislative Assembly Lyudmila Kostkina. Kostkina is respected in the Legislative Assembly; they say she worked well. However, her likely departure threatens Makarov with insomnia, who does not understand who to put in charge of the commission in her place. Among the options of current deputies there is no “think” function, there is only one button – “for”. It is known that three candidates are being considered - Svetlana Nesterova, Elena Rakhova and Elena Kiseleva.

Nesterova already headed the commission on social policy, but few people will remember what she was remembered for in this position. Rakhova was responsible for the social sphere of the Kalinin region for almost ten years, but people remembered her with the phrase about “non-blockade survivors” - about those who lived in besieged Leningrad for less than 120 days.

Kiseleva, according to Novaya, has already gone to the speaker of the Legislative Assembly and asked for the position - her candidacy is so far considered the most compromise.