KhMAO authorities stepped up the search for candidates to replace the mayor of Nizhnevartovsk. insider

KhMAO authorities have stepped up the search for candidates to replace Nizhnevartovsk Mayor Dmitry Koshchenko. An URA.RU insider from the political establishment reports that consultations have resumed in Ugra on possible candidates that would suit both the district, local elites and residents.

“While there are polls: who would they like to see in the post, proposals for candidates, calling those who resigned from the mayor’s office. Several opinion leaders have already confirmed that they were asked about the replacement, ”says the agency’s interlocutor.

According to another URA.RU source, Koshchenko remains the head of the city only because of the lack of an alternative. “Not a single municipality of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug has such assistance and support from the district as Nizhnevartovsk, and the result is almost zero. In the summer of 2022, the question of Koshchenko’s resignation was already raised, but then everything calmed down. However, now all consultations have resumed – it’s just a matter of finding a suitable replacement. The difficulty is that the Nizhnevartovsk elites can take the Varangians with hostility – then even the opposing factions will unite against the protege from the outside, so someone from the locals should be a replacement. True, if such a candidate is not found, all consultations will remain consultations, ”the insider believes.

The URA.RU journalist sent a request to the Department of Public, External Relations and Youth Policy of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, but at the time of publication of the news did not receive a response. In response to a question from a URA.RU correspondent, the press service of the mayor’s office said that “they do not have information about holding such consultations.”

Earlier, URA.RU wrote that the vice-mayor of Nizhnevartovsk, Irina Volikovskaya, was threatened with resignation. An insider said that Volikovskaya will not return to the administration after her vacation due to a series of scandals in the social bloc, which she oversees.