ST. PETERSBURG, August 23 (Itar-Tass) —— Valentina Matviyenko passed the office of governor to acting St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and introduced the St. Petersburg government to him.
“The symbolic act passed today. I was relieved from the post and he assumed it. From now on, Georgy Poltavchenko performs the duties of governor,” she told a press conference after her resignation from the post of governor.
Characterizing the acting governor Matviyenko noted that she knows Poltavchenko as “a dignified and decent person” for a long time. “He is a resident of St. Petersburg and is well aware of the city and I know that he wanted to come back here,” the former governor noted and asked the journalists “to support him and help to him in his work.”
Matviyenko filed early resignation as governor on Monday, because she was elected as a municipal deputy in the Krasnenkaya Rechka District at the municipal elections on Sunday. Her election as a municipal deputy will allow her to become a member of the Federation Council and to represent the St. Petersburg government in it. The senators earlier pledged to make Matviyenko as the speaker of the upper house of parliament.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted Matviyenko’s resignation and appointed Presidential Representative in the Central Federal District Georgy Poltavchenko as acting St. Petersburg governor.