Press Release, 6.07.2020

Photo: Oleg Mandrykin

On June 21, the conference of the Arkhangelsk regional branch of Yabloko nominated Oleg Mandrykin, representative of the STOP-SHIES coalition, as a candidate for Governor of the Arkhangelsk region in the forthcoming election.

The activists of the regional branch of the party emphasise that the nomination of Oleg Mandrykin is unique for Russia, since not only a political party, but also a broad public coalition consisting of more than 36 associations and movements throughout the territory of the Arkhangelsk region, Komi and Northwest Russia, spoke in favour of his nomination.

The STOP-SHIES coalition was formed as a result of joining together of protest movements against the construction of landfills in the swampy territory of the Arkhangelsk Region and the dumping of Moscow garbage on them. When activists of the coalition realised the importance of its work for the safety of residents and the natural complex of the region as a whole, they understood that the goals set can be achieved only by removing the party in power and its representatives from managing the region. That is why in January 2020, the coalition proposed the People’s Governor campaign and announced its intention to nominate a candidate from the coalition for the gubernatorial elections in September 2020.

Activists of the Arkhangelsk regional branch of the party note that democratic procedures  (proposal of candidates, open rating voting, approval of candidates by the coalition congress) resulted in preliminary nomination in February 2020 of three people: Svetlana Babenko, Sergey Ilyukhin and Oleg Mandrykin, as they earned the greatest confidence of the protesters during 18 months of their work. Further work of this team with opposition parties allowed to determine Oleg Mandrykin as a representative of the protest movement for further participation in the gubernatorial elections.

“Participation of Yabloko’s activists in the protest movement and the decision to nominate a representative of the STOP-SHIES coalition as a candidate in the gubernatorial elections paved the way for a new political phenomenon, so much needed by our Russian society, when a classic civic initiative enters into a political channel, and ordinary people begin to defend their interests not only with the help of rallies and pickets, but also with the promotion of their real representatives in the executive and the legislative authorities. Residents of the Arkhangelsk region are waiting for your support from all regions of our country,” activists of the regional branch of Yabloko add.

It should be noted that the election of the Governor of the Arkhangelsk region is scheduled for September 13, 2020.