Penza, 27 January 2016. PenzaNews. Victor Rubtsov, who recently was appointed deputy head of the Zheleznodorozhny Penza city area, said he was surprised to end up in the spotlight of the media.

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“Somewhat surprised to see the excitement surrounding myself, as I am a rather humble person. My phone was red hot from calls all day long. Twitter, Facebook, Skype, e-mail, all piled up with requests, questions, addresses. Did not expect that – honestly! Some people were congratulating me, some were sympathizing, some were even judging me… But most of these were questions. Usually from journalists and the media,” he wrote in his LiveJournal account in the evening of Tuesday, January 26.

Victor Rubtsov also explained that he “simply came to work […] to do good things in a certain area.”

“To help the city administration head V. Kuvaytsev who entrusted me with this area, to help the governor I. Belozertsev, to whom I express my sincere respect and gratitude for help and support,” he pointed out.

However, several experts, observers and members of the regional political elite told PenzaNews agency that the attention of the media was summoned not by Victor Rubtsov himself, but rather by the fact that the former vice-governor of the Penza region was appointed a deputy head of a city area administration.

“If the city does need him this much, they could have found a higher spot for him – with a better paycheck, too. But looks like they did not want to. It appears there is a situation where you do not care what you do, where you work, how much you earn, but that you are in the system and still feel needed,” one of the experts shared their opinion.

According to the expert, another strange situation is that many high-ranking officials on important positions, while still in the office, are mulling the ideas of themselves being cutting-edge professionals who could earn much more in the business field.

“Yet they always find some excuses: they are unable to leave the state service now, they cannot due to great devotion due to their boss, and the importance of the work they do also holds them back. But even when such officials get real opportunities to show their worth in the business, along with leaving or even losing their office, they are still trying to remain in the system – even if several levels lower, but still in the system. Maybe it is because they do realize that such ‘cutting-edge professionals,’ like some of them call themselves, are not the kind of people the business field needs?” the expert asks.