The commission did not admit New People and the LDPR to the contest for the position of mayor of Yekaterinburg.

      The commission for reviewing candidates for the post of head of Yekaterinburg, following the second stage of the competition, recommended that the governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Denis Pasler, submit four candidacies for discussion to the Yekaterinburg City Duma and did not give the “green light” to two.

      The second stage of reviewing candidates for the post of head of Yekaterinburg took place on Wednesday, January 14. Six candidates were admitted to the interview and presented their development programs:

      — Alexey Orlov, the current head of Yekaterinburg;

      — Dmitry Niskovskikh, head of Sysert;

      — Vladimir Kuznetsov, a participant in the special military operation, nominated by LDPR;

      — Yulia Lavrikova, director of the Institute of Economics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, nominated by the Public Chamber of Sverdlovsk Oblast;

      — Ekaterina Yesina, nominated by the A Just Russia party;

      — Irina Vinogradova, nominated by the New People party.

      As a result of today’s meeting, the commission recommended four candidates to the governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast for further consideration by the Yekaterinburg City Duma: Alexey Orlov, Dmitry Niskovskikh, Yulia Lavrikova, Ekaterina Yesina, the Department of Information Policy of Sverdlovsk Oblast reported.

      The next stage will be consideration of the submitted candidates by the governor.

      The commission is chaired by the Deputy Governor — Head of the Governor’s and Government’s Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Sergey Nikonov. The commission includes: Deputy Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast Vasily Kozlov; First Deputy Head of the Governor’s and Government’s Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast — Director of the Department for Local Self-Government Vadim Dubichev; Chair of the Yekaterinburg City Duma Anna Gurariy; Director of the Department for Combating Corruption of Sverdlovsk Oblast Andrey Oborok; First Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk Oblast Arkady Chernetsky; and Chair of the Public Chamber of Yekaterinburg Yakov Silin.

      The Communist Party of the Russian Federation refused to participate in the mayoral election, immediately deciding not to nominate its candidate.

      For the first time, the mayoral election in Yekaterinburg will be held under a new procedure. City Duma deputies will have to choose the head of the city from several candidates proposed by Governor Denis Pasler.