Penza, 11 December 2015. PenzaNews. The Penza city head Victor Kuvaytsev, the head of the Leninsky city area administration Yuri Chipchiu, and the deputy head of the Zheleznodorozhny city area Oleg Denisov will continue their run for the office of the Penza city mayor, announced Roman Petrukhin, deputy chairman of the City Duma, chairman of the mayor election contest committee, on Friday, December 11.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

The committee began its session shortly after 10.00. Only the committee members stayed in the room: the media representatives and the candidates who had provided the required documents were instructed to wait in the hall.

Among the candidates who awaited the decision where the head of the Leninsky city area Yuri Chipchiu; the deputy head of the Zheleznodorozhny area Oleg Denisov; the former director of “Vodokanal” Alexander Kiselev; the Penza citizen, 32, Mikhail Kozin; and the vice president of the regional civil organization for assistance to civil education and implementation of human Constitutional rights “Nashe Pravo” Ilya Antropov, 38, whose name was kept in secret until very recently.

The first candidate to be summoned to the hall was Oleg Denisov, whose discussion with the committee took about 5 minutes. After coming back outside, he explained that the questions asked to him were related to the main issues in the city management and the ways of resolving them.

Yuri Chipchiu went into the hall at about 10.13.

At that moment, Ilya Antropov and Mikhail Kozin engaged in a discussion, as they had a short argument on what people should be called liberals. Ilya Antropov offered cooperation, but Mikhail Kozin objected that cooperation is possible only if any common points between them become apparent.

At about 10.27, when Yuri Chipchiu left the hall, the committee invited in Ilya Antropov, who stayed behind the doors for approximately 14 minutes.

The next person to come in was Alexander Kiselev, who left 5 minutes later and immediately left the premises.

At 10.47, the committee summoned in the Penza city head Victor Kuvaytsev. After coming through the doors into the corridor, he saw the journalists waiting for the results in the hall, and jested that coming from the stairway would have been more appropriate, being positive and amicable towards the media. In return, they wished him luck as he proceeded inside.

Victor Kuvaytsev spent about 10 minutes in the committee room; following that, he shared with the journalists his vision on the main objectives for the Penza city administration head.

After the short interview, Ilya Antropov gave the Penza city head his address, following it with a comment that it “provokes some thought.” Victor Kuvaytsev accepted it, thanked his opponent and left.

The person to come in after the city head was Mikhail Kozin, who stayed inside longer than the rest. At 11.17, after the discussion with the committee, he told the media “everything was excellent” and the questions were mostly related to himself personally rather than the city development program.

The contest committee session ended at 11.35.

A total of three candidates have been selected, announced the committee chairman Roman Petrukhin.

“On the decision of the contest committee, we have taken the following decision: to present on the Penza city Duma session the following three candidates for approval for the office of the Penza city head – Yuri Borisovich Chipchiu, Oleg Vyacheslavovich Denisov, and Victor Nikolaevich Kuvaytsev,” he said.

All candidates are deserving people who follow the stated criteria and presented the documents in full, Roman Petrukhin added.

“The decision was made by the members of the committee, so it is a collective decision. I think each committee member followed the criteria we listed in the contest statement and, I’ll repeat, the quality and volume of information in the documents presented by the candidates,” he explained.

The final decision about the person to take over as the city mayor will be taken during the upcoming Penza city Duma session next week.