Possible Candidates For The Governor's Office Of St. Petersburg

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-30 20:55

Valentin Alexandrovich Serov. Peter I. 1907

That is why the position of the mayor of St. Petersburg is rightfully considered one of the most prestigious, and each change of leadership causes a great resonance not only among the residents of the city, but throughout Russia as a whole.

Speaking about the history of the heads of St. Petersburg, it is worth noting that the first governor-general of the “northern capital” was Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, a well-known figure of Peter's times. Later, the posts of governors-general of St. Petersburg, and then the posts of chief of police, mayor, chairman of the executive committee of the Petrosoviet, first secretary of the Leningrad regional committee of the CPSU (this is how the post of the head of St. Petersburg was called at different times) was attended by numerous representatives of the political elite, less noticeable trace in the history of the city.

In 1991, Anatoly Sobchak became the first mayor of St. Petersburg, then in 1996 Vladimir Yakovlev took over as mayor of the city, and since 2003 Valentina Matvienko has held the post of governor of the “northern capital”.

In the near future, St. Petersburg is waiting for another change of the mayor - on June 24 Dmitry Medvedev approved the proposal of Rustem Khamitov, President of Bashkiria, to appoint Matvienko to the post of Speaker of the Federation Council. The Governor of St. Petersburg, after four days of deliberation, gave her consent to the transfer to a new position and is now preparing to move to Moscow, and the question of who will become the new governor of the city again worries not only Petersburgers, but also other residents of Russia.

Officially, candidates for the high post will be named by "United Russia" only at the end of August or even the beginning of September this year, but the likely candidates for such a high post are already widely discussed in the press.

Valentina Matvienko herself in an ironic manner commented on the excitement in the media as the division of the post that had not yet been vacated from the previous mayor and said that her post could be taken by one of the three candidates who are currently working in the government of St. Petersburg.

All three potential candidates for the governor of the “northern capital” have top-level patrons.

The current governor of the city did not give specific names, however, journalists suggested that, most likely, it was about Mikhail Oseevsky, the head of the governor's administration, as well as the deputies of Matvienko Igor Metelsky and Yuri Molchalin. It is these candidates that the governor herself can recommend to the president.

According to information that appeared in the press, Oseevsky is supported by the former St. Petersburg banker, and now the head of the department of the Ministry of Regional Development, Vladimir Kogan. Molchanov previously worked with Vladimir Putin at Smolny and St. Petersburg University. Igor Metelsky was once a classmate of German Gref, the current head of Sberbank. As you can see, all three potential candidates for the governor of the “northern capital” have patrons (or at least close friends) at the highest level, so they seem to be quite suitable candidates.

However, initially, the most likely candidates for the post of head of the "northern capital" were named in the press:

• Sergei Naryshkin, currently the head of the presidential administration;
• Vladimir Kozhin - head of state affairs manager;
• Alexander Beglov, deputy chief of staff of Dmitry Medvedev;
• Alexander Konovalov - Minister of Justice.

On the periphery of the lively debate about the candidates, the names of the speaker of the St. Petersburg parliament Vadim Tyulpanov and the head of Gazpromneft Alexander Dyukov were named.

In the past two weeks, Dmitry Kozak, who is now the deputy prime minister, has been named the most likely candidate for the post of governor of the city. The version that Kozak will become the next head of St. Petersburg arose after the Deputy Prime Minister spoke rather harshly about the activities of the city authorities in the field of cleaning icicles and snow at a regular government meeting on July 21. Such concern about the problems of the “northern capital” was taken as unequivocal proof that it was Kozak who was preparing to become the new governor of the city.

The candidacy of the deputy prime minister seems quite likely for several more reasons:

• Dmitry Kozak studied at the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University at the same time as Dmitry Medvedev;
• with Vladimir Putin, Kozak worked in the St. Petersburg administration;
• in 1999, the current deputy prime minister was considered the unofficial head of the election headquarters of the future president of Russia, and in 2004 he became the officially approved head of the election headquarters of Vladimir Putin;
• in 1998, Dmitry Kozak was Deputy Prime Minister of St. Petersburg, so he knows the city and its problems well, and his diverse experience in various managerial positions is another plus of the official;
• leaving the post of deputy prime minister for the sake of the governor's office in St. Petersburg does not at all look like a demotion - on the contrary, due to the sufficient degree of independence as the head of the region and the prestige of the post of the head of the “northern capital” itself, such a transition may become a new step in Dmitry Kozak's career;
• the deputy prime minister is called the most likely leader of the United Russia electoral list for the upcoming elections to the Duma or the city parliament in December, and in St. Petersburg there is little doubt that the head of the United Russia list and the governor of the northern capital will be the same person;
• Dmitry Kozak's positive reputation - Petersburg oppositionists still speak warmly about his activities as the city's deputy prime minister and call him the most acceptable candidate for the governor's post.

The Deputy Prime Minister himself has not yet confirmed rumors about his upcoming appointment, saying that he has "many other tasks" and has not yet thought about a new position.

Today, it is Dmitry Kozak who looks like the most likely contender for the post of governor of St. Petersburg, having the largest number of advantages and advantages over other candidates, however, other representatives of the Russian political elite have a fairly good chance of getting a new post.

So, Sergei Naryshkin also comes from the St. Petersburg mayor's office, he was repeatedly called the successor of Vladimir Putin. And the recent precedent - the appointment of Sergei Sobyanin, who previously served as head of the presidential administration to the post of mayor of Moscow, speaks in favor of Naryshkin.

Vladimir Kozhin is a close associate of Vladimir Putin and belongs to a rather narrow circle of people who are going to “drink beer and play billiards” with the Russian Prime Minister. However, as a probable candidate for the post of governor, Peter Kozhin also has drawbacks - he has repeatedly received such epithets as “closed” and “not too sociable” from journalists, and as head of the “northern capital” such character traits can become undesirable traits. And Vladimir Kozhin has no experience of working in public positions yet.

Alexander Beglov in 2002-2003 was the vice-governor of St. Petersburg, and immediately before the appointment to the high post of Valentina Matvienko, he served as the head of the city. Interestingly, the wife of the deputy head of the presidential administration, Natalya, currently holds the post of head of the registry office in the government of St. Petersburg.

Alexander Konovalov graduated from the same law faculty of the "northern capital", worked for some time in the city prosecutor's office, so it looks like a very good choice, however, according to the press, the minister is Dmitry Medvedev's man in the government, so the president is unlikely to decide to part with the necessary an official. That is why Konovalov's candidacy looks less realistic than the other candidates.

The final choice, of course, remains with the President of Russia, until the final list of candidates is announced, it remains to wait for about 2-3 weeks, so the intrigue will remain for a long time and it is possible that in the future there will be new candidates for the post of the head of St. Petersburg.