Penza, 6 February 2016. PenzaNews. Vasily Bochkarev, former governor of the Penza region, member of the Russian Federation Council committee on agrarian and food policy and natural resource management, was removed from the Supreme Council of the United Russia party as part of the internal shake-up measures.

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During the plenary session of the 15th convention of the United Russia in Moscow held on Saturday, February 6, the party decided to change the composition of its decision-making structures by at least a third.

The congregation decided to remove 27 members from the Supreme Council out of the total 91, including: Alexander Khloponin, deputy chairman of the Russian Government; Anton Siluanov, Russian Minister of Finance; Dmitry Livanov, head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science; and Tatyana Yakovleva, Assistant Minister of Health.

The list of proposed new members to the United Russia Supreme Council includes: Irina Viner-Usmanova, president of the the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation; Timur Kizyakov, TV show host; Veronika Krashennikova, general director of the Institute of Foreign Policy Research and Initiatives; and other candidates, such as Vyacheslav Gladkov, administration head of Zarechny of the Penza region. All proposed members were approved during the vote.

Moreover, the United Russia decided to remove 52 members from its General Council, including Ivan Belozertsev, the Penza region governor; Sergei Pulikovsky, former deputy chairman of the regional government; and Igor Rudensky, State Duma deputy. They were replaced by candidates approved during a close vote procedure – one of the candidates being Elena Pugacheva, secretary of the primary office No. 33 in Chemodanovka village in the Bessonovka area of the Penza region.

Moreover, the convention introduced a number of amendments to the Party Charter which allow United Russia to propose candidates in federal election in single-seat electoral districts.

“Shake-ups always benefit the work. New people come, bring in the new ideas and the new outlook on solving the issues. The Party must change to remain competitive and keep winning,” Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia party, noted during his comment on the shake-up.

The party “has a full-fledged substitutes’ bench made of qualified experts, and for any level of authority at that,” he stressed.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to those who had been working on improving the effectiveness of United Russia over that time. Thank you very much for your work. In addition, those who were removed from the decision-making bodies remain and will remain our friends, the foundation of our party. I am sure you will continue your work in the authorities, in economy, in the social field. We will continue inviting you to all key events of the Party and ask for your advice in decision-making,” the press service of the Russian Government quotes Dmitry Medvedev.