Four candidates nominated for Moscow mayor
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The ruling United Russia party on Saturday nominated four candidates for the vacant Moscow mayorship, chairman of the party's Supreme Council Boris Gryzlov said.
The candidates were Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the government secretariat Sergei Sobyanin, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod region Valery Shantsev and First Deputy Mayor of Moscow Lyudmila Shvetsova.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said all four candidates were capable of leading the Russian capital. The final choice will be announced within 10 days in accordance with Russian law.
He said he would meet the future mayor to discuss solutions to issues the capital city faced, while listing maintaining living standards and social issues as other tasks for the new mayor.
"Moscow as a huge metropolis needs a number of decisions. We will discuss them with someone on whom I will propose to confer powers," said the president as quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency.
Kremlin spokeswoman Natalia Timakova also told reporters that Medvedev earlier met with all four candidates.
The list had been agreed with Medvedev before its official announcement, said Timakova.
After 18 years in office, former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was sacked by Medvedev on Sept. 28, citing loss of confidence. Vladimir Resin is the acting mayor.
