Penza, 10 June 2014. PenzaNews. Vladimir Podobed has been elected secretary of the Public Chamber of the Penza region of the fourth convocation.

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The first plenary meeting of the advisory body was held in the regional government on Tuesday, June 10. It was attended by 30 of the 33 members of the Public Chamber of the region.

In the beginning of the event Elena Blashchuk, who was the secretary of the Public Chamber of the region of three previous convocations, addressed the audience.

“It was difficult since our chamber was organized one of the first. We had no example to follow. We drove across different regions, but there was no Public Chambers, or they were just starting their work,” she said.

Elena Blashchuk added that, despite the difficulties previous team achieved some success.

“I can assure you that I, as a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and also a member of the Public Chamber of the Penza region, will share easily, first of all, with our achievements at the Russian level to promote initiatives, and at the same time learn from the experience of other regions, to help our people and the newly elected colleagues,” she said.

In an open election, the candidacy of Vladimir Podobed as secretary of the Public Chamber of the Penza region was supported unanimously.

As noted by those present, he is well known to residents of the region as the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of the region, and his experience will enable him to cope with the tasks.

“Thank you for your trust. This does not mean that I have to work instead of everyone. I hold a different opinion — I think that it is important to provide everyone the opportunity to express themselves,” Vladimir Podobed said.

Then the new team outlined the main directions of their work, and then the acting vice-governor of the Penza region Viktor Rubtsov gave the members of the Public Chamber of the region their certificates.

11 members of the Public Chamber of the Penza region of the fourth convocation were approved by the governor, 11 other members were elected from the structural units of national and regional associations, and the same number of people came from local NGOs.

New members of the Chamber represent culture, science, health, education, religious groups, business and other fields.

The new team will stay for three years.