Penza, 9 November 2017. PenzaNews. A representative office aimed at collecting signatures during an election campaign of the TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak, who previously expressed her intention to participate in the presidential elections in Russia in 2018, can be opened in Penza. This was reported by Timur Valeev, head of the regional network of Ksenia Sobchak's headquarters.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

"Penza is a higher-priority city for us. [...] There are two gradations in the regional work: the headquarters is a large federal centre like Kazan or Ekaterinburg, which simultaneously serves neighbouring regions. Penza can probably not become headquarters but a representative office where it is possible to create a team that would canvass for Ksenia Sobchak, collect signatures, mobilize supporters on the polling day, and work with volunteers," he explained.

Timur Valeev specified that altogether it is planned to open 50 headquarters and representative offices in Russia.

"At the moment we are considering a rating of Russian cities as well as applications we received on Sobchakprotivvseh.ru. Penza, in principle, is now in top-50 cities where we would like to open a representative office," the interlocutor added.

He specified that they had already received several applications from Penza from those who would like to become coordinators of Ksenia Sobchak's electoral office.

"We will find premises. [...] A lot depends on the team. If we choose a person who is able to organize this process in Penza, if the person has really good experience in some socio-political projects, we will be pleased to open a representative office here," Timur Valeev noted.

Answering to the question of the PenzaNews correspondent whether he knows that there is an electoral office of Alexei Navalny in Penza, who also expressed his intention to take part in the presidential elections in 2018, the head of Ksenia Sobchak's regional network of representative offices answered that he is not afraid of competition.

We work as partners in one democratic field – generally speaking we have nothing to divide. But the audience is different [...]. Alexei Navalny and Ksenia Sobchak have distinct differences when it comes to agenda," he said.

The next elections of the President of Russia will be held in March 2018. The election campaign is scheduled to start in December.

Among those who have already stated their intention to participate in the elections are Alexei Navalny, Anfisa Chekhova, Ekaterina Gordon and Sergei Polonsky.

Ksenia Sobchak positions herself as a candidate "against everyone".