St. Petersburg’s legislative assembly on Wednesday confirmed President Dmitry Medvedev’s nominee Georgy Poltavchenko for the post of governor.
Lawmakers voted 37 out of 42 for Poltavchenko, a former KGB officer and staunch ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev named Poltavchenko, 58, his envoy to the Central Federal District, as acting head of St. Petersburg on August 22 after a municipal vote paved the way for Valentina Matviyenko, the outgoing governor, to lead the upper house of parliament, or Federation Council.
Poltavchenko said the St. Petersburg city council would very soon delegate Matviyenko’s candidacy into the Federation Council.
Matvienko’s popularity sank in recent years because of her unpopular support of construction projects in the city, and anger over sluggish snow removal last winter in St. Petersburg.