Sergei Sobyanin declared his intentions as mayor of Moscow at a session of the Moscow City Duma. The new mayor is far from optimistic about the current state of affairs in the city, especially its economy.
Sobyanin said that the structure of Moscow's budget resembles that of "a subsidized, depressed region." In his opinion, the municipal authorities were clearly counting on revenues to continue rising without end but their hopes did not materialize. As a result, Moscow's growth began to lag behind other foreign capitals and even other Russian regions. The solution, according to Sobyanin, is to plug the city into the larger modernization process at play in the country.
The new mayor's speech focused entirely on social and economic issues. He did not say a word about politics. However, problems like traffic collapse and corruption can turn political at a moment's notice. Sobyanin was plainspoken about these problems. He said that Muscovites are "fed up with traffic jams." He lashed out not only at "administrative barriers and extortion" but also "roadblocks and bribes."
He did not fail to mention other sore spots in Moscow life, like high-density construction, lawless markets, and repairs (especially of roads) being used as an excuse to appropriate budget resources, to put it as tactfully as possible. Naturally, the new mayor promised to fix these problems, but he didn't start patting himself on the back in advance.
Sobyanin is faced with a monumental challenge: How to streamline spending and revenues while continuing, and even increasing, the additional social welfare payments that Muscovites used to call "Luzhkov's" and will probably now call "Sobyanin's." He has already promised additional benefits for WWII veterans in December 2011, when the city will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Battle of Moscow.
Introducing Sobyanin to the deputies of the Moscow City Duma, the president's chief of Executive Office, Sergei Naryshkin, described him as an "effective organizer" and "hard-working administrator." If this is true, the mayor will surely be able to handle his new responsibilities.
But there is another important factor that bodes well for the new mayor. His predecessor, Luzhkov, was locked in constant battle with other big-league politicians. Everybody remembers the ferocity of Luzhkov's attacks on Anatoly Chubais when he was in office. Recently Luzhkov redirected his rage at Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, denouncing policy after policy that came out of his ministry. Obviously, these clashes did nothing to improve the city's economy.
Luzhkov was also at war with Boris Gromov, the governor of the Moscow Region. Their relationship turned from bad to worse this past summer when Luzhkov blamed the governor for the wildfires that were suffocating Moscow with smog. Both sides hurled accusations. It's clear that this feud with its own region could do nothing but harm to Moscow.
Sobyanin will not be burdened by political battles with federal officials. He has no reason to pick fights with them; until just recently he was one of them. There is no bad blood between him and Gromov, either. During his address to the Moscow City Duma, Sobyanin repeatedly emphasized the need for greater cooperation with the Moscow Region, and he is surely the man to achieve it. Conflict and confrontation are not his style.
Whether Sobyanin will be able to fix the bad while preserving the good in the city's recent history - only time will tell.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
