Penza, 21 July 2016. PenzaNews. The chairman of the Penza regional election commission Nikolai Taktarov paid a reference visit to the news agency PenzaNews on Thursday, July 21.

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Greeting the agency team, he said that it is his first meeting with media representatives in such format of those he plans to have in the run-up to the election to the State Duma of Russia of the seventh convocation.

Explaining why it is PenzaNews that was awarded such honor, Nikolai Taktarov said that he is impressed by the agency’s work, in particular, the objectivity of the information published and accuracy of facts when covering events.

During a short excursion, he drew attention to comfortable conditions created for the employees.

“I have visited offices of different companies, including abroad. What I see here is very close or even the same,” the chairman of the regional election commission said.

In turn, the PenzaNews editor-in-chief Pavel Polosin said that the agency orients itself to best domestic and foreign experiences of colleagues, including when it comes to providing modern equipment to the employees.

The communication with the team continued in the press center, where Nikolai Taktarov was shown main sections of the website on a big screen, including the one specially designed in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Commenting on what he saw, the chairman of the regional election commission  noted that he had already read most of the articles related to political issues. He also praised the website of the news agency PenzaNews, which was updated in February, 2016.

“It is very convenient. To be honest, I scan it every day. The pictures are really great,” Nikolai Taktarov remarked, adding that, as far as possible, he watches photo-reports to be fully aware of the events taking place in the region.

Speaking of the substance of the information provided, including in the section “Election -2016,” the chairman of the Penza regional election commission emphasized that he cannot remember a case when only certain parties’ activities were covered on the PenzaNews website while representatives of other political forces were not given a chance to speak out.

While communicating with journalists, Nikolai Taktarov said that the main purpose of his visit is to explain the peculiarities of the 2016 election campaign.

In particular, he reminded that, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the 2016 election to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the seventh convocation will be held on the single voting day, September 18, with mixed member proportional representation. In addition, Nikolai Taktarov explained how the mandates will be distributed and what function the regional election commission performs at each stage.

Then, he gave answers to the questions of the journalists of the news agency PenzaNews.