Dmitry Litvinovich: St.Petersburg to become capital of Russia?

The new speaker of the Russian Federation Council, Sergey Mironov, pleased society with another projection of his. He used to set out his opinion pertaining to the extension of the presidential term, but after the angry rebuke on the subject from the president himself, he reversed his motion. However, the wild temperament of the new speaker could not remain held back for long.

Being in St.Petersburg, Mironov could not help but dwell on the extension of the presidential authorities from four to five years again. He said that the country was in a very difficult position and holding new elections would be a very tough problem to solve. Oh God, when are these difficult times are going to be over for Russia?

Mironov did not forget the president’s reaction to his similar initiative and added that the extension of the presidential authorities would not cover the incumbent president. Mironov said it was not going to be in the picture in the coming ten or fifteen years. Well, at least we now have a certain time period. Fifteen years, this is a piece of cake for Russia. But that was not all Sergey Mironov intended to put forward. In particular, stated to the press that there had been a draft law elaborated (by Mironov and St.Petersburg governor, Vladimir Yakovlev) about handing over a part of Moscow’s functions as the capital of Russia to St.Petersburg.

The chairman of the Federation Council said the bill was soon going to be submitted to the State Duma for consideration. It is currently undergoing legal expertise, and then it will be sent to the government for a decision. Mironov asserted that St.Petersburg was originally built as the capital of the country, saying the city was currently implementing a part of the functions of Russia’s capital. There are top meetings conducted in St.Petersburg; the Inter-parliamentarian assembly of the CIS countries works there too. The present budget of the city does not allow one to take requisite care of historic and cultural values. The authors of the bill offer to give official status to St.Petersburg as Russia’s capital and to provide adequate funding.

This idea is not new. It was first mentioned during the beginning of the new Russian era, when Vladimir Putin became the president of Russia. However, at that time the idea did not gain any development, only talk. The subject came up again during Putin's live communication with the Russian people at the end of the past year. The question was asked to the president directly, and Putin had to answer it. The president said St.Petersburg will never become the capital of Russia, but certain ministries and departments could possibly move there.

This answer was like a signal for the adequate work to start. Vladimir Yakovlev’s (the governor of St.Petersburg) idea is understandable: he certainly needs more money for his city from the federal budget.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov