Mark Samuilovich Feldman (Gorky) is a Nizhny Novgorod banker and deputy of the City Council. He has been elected to the City Duma since 2010: first from constituency No. 24 in Sovetsky District, and since 2015 from constituency No. 32 [1][2][3][4]. He has consistently chaired the Duma's standing commission on budgetary, financial, and tax policy and serves on the standing commission on ecology [1][2]. He is Vice President and manager of the "Nizhegorodsky" additional office of TKB Bank PJSC [1]. He holds a Candidate of Biological Sciences degree and is an associate professor [2].

Biography and Education

He was born on October 15, 1954, in Gorky [1][11]. He graduated from the biology faculty of Gorky State University and the finance faculty of Lobachevsky University; he holds a Candidate of Biological Sciences degree and is an associate professor [1][2].

After university he remained to teach, and for seventeen years worked in biochemistry — in particular, studying mold fungi and protection against biological damage at military and space facilities; he wrote monographs and presented a paper at a scientific congress in the United States [10]. Reflecting on his transition from science to banking in the 1990s, he recalled: "I had everything: a laboratory, staff, achievements, papers, books… I had something to leave behind" [10].

Career in Banking

In 1994 he entered the banking sector as deputy chairman of the board of the Nizhny Novgorod joint-stock People's Bank for Business Development, which he soon headed [10][11]. A year later, at Sergey Kirienko's invitation, he became head of the Garantiya Bank branch in Kstovo, and in 2000 moved to Uralsib — the former Bashkreditbank [10]. The Nizhny Novgorod branch of Uralsib under his leadership weathered the 2008 financial crisis [11].

In 2014 he became head of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of Transkapitalbank [10]; subsequently he became Vice President of the bank and manager of the "Nizhegorodsky" additional office of TKB Bank PJSC [1]. In a 2015 interview he said that within the first year of operations the portfolio of the Nizhny Novgorod division in mid-sized corporate business alone exceeded 5 billion rubles [10].

Election to the City Duma

In the elections of October 10, 2010, he was elected as a deputy of the fifth-convocation City Duma from single-member constituency No. 24, defeating the incumbent deputy Olga Shumakova [9]. He ran as an independent candidate and immediately after his election announced that he would remain an independent deputy and would not join any faction; he named Sovetsky District as his priority — from polyclinics to heating in social institutions [9]. He later joined the United Russia faction in the City Duma [2][11].

In the sixth (2015–2020) and seventh (2020–2025) convocations he was elected from constituency No. 32 [3][4]. The elections of September 12–14, 2025, were held under a new system of 39 single-member constituencies: Nizhny Novgorod merged with the Kstovsky Municipal District, the number of mandates grew from 35 to 39, and the new composition of the Duma was designated the first convocation. Feldman was re-elected from constituency No. 32 and was among seven of the nine standing commission chairs from the previous convocation who retained their mandates [5].

Budget Commission

Feldman has chaired the commission on budgetary, financial, and tax policy since the fifth convocation [2][12]. In addition to this, he serves on the standing commission on ecology (as deputy chair in the fifth convocation), the commission on ensuring full collection of tax payments to the city budget, the expert council of a social advertising project, and the committees for conferring the titles "Honorary Citizen Honorary Citizen of Nizhny Novgorod" and "Honorary Veteran of the City of Nizhny Novgorod" [1][2][7].

In a 2023 interview he described the commission's work as ongoing consultations with the City Hall finance department and the coordination of budget parameters, calling the city budget "maximally transparent and open"; transfers from the regional budget in 2022, he said, amounted to 48 billion rubles against total city revenues of 70 billion rubles [12]. He also noted at the time that compared with 2010 the Duma's membership had become noticeably younger and contained fewer businesspeople pursuing personal interests [12].

Commenting in May 2025 on the Duma's annual report for 2024, Feldman stated that over five years — spanning the pandemic, the city's 800th anniversary, and the period of sanctions — the main parameters of the city budget had doubled, from 36 to 77 billion rubles; all 23 municipal programs were being funded on schedule, and approximately 39 billion rubles had been directed to the social sector in 2024 [8].

Constituency Work

The deputy holds personal reception hours monthly at Vysokovsky Proyezd, 1, and also at the regional public reception office of the United Russia chairman at Rozhdestvenskaya, 38; his aide receives residents four days a week [1][7]. In 2024, the reception office received 453 inquiries, in response to which 362 written requests were sent to the city administration and various organizations [7]. The main subjects of inquiries were housing and utilities, landscaping and road repairs, and social issues [6][7].

According to the 2025 report, 2 million rubles in budget funds were allocated to the constituency following the deputy's requests: 500,000 rubles to kindergarten No. 423 "Luchik" for room renovations, 595,500 rubles to kindergarten No. 434 "Rodnichok" for laundry room repairs, 100,000 rubles to kindergarten No. 30 "Zorenka" for kitchen equipment, and 800,000 rubles to Markin [6].

  • playgrounds and small architectural structures on Nadezhdy Suslovoy Street and in Vysokovsky Proyezd [6]
  • lighting for the sports ground in Vysokovsky Proyezd and a play complex for School No. 151 [6]
  • road repairs on Vasyunina and Garazhnaya Streets, and pavement repairs from Elkhovskaya Street to Nadezhdy Suslovoy Street [6]
  • renovation of the assembly hall of School No. 46 and asphalting of the grounds of School No. 44 [6]
  • five participatory budgeting projects "Vam Reshat!" ("It's Your Call!") in the constituency for 2025 [6]

Positions and Statements

In 2025, Feldman publicly supported Kstovo District and advocated for the introduction of a tourist tax from 2026; in December he reported a 20 percent increase in city budget revenues — to 79 billion rubles [6]. In March 2026, commenting on changes to the structure of the Nizhny Novgorod Region government, he said that Nizhny Novgorod residents care about "every ruble spent correctly and honestly," especially in education, healthcare, and social support programs [1].

On the work of the representative body he has expressed a consistent view: "The Duma is no place for political jousting. People are elected to it on the principle that their constituents have trusted them and they must justify that trust" [10]. He described constituents' inquiries as taking precedence over budget work: "I can talk about the budget for a long time, but what matters to a voter is that there's a bench by the entrance to their building and a sports court in their yard" [12].

Sources

  1. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — Feldman Mark Samuilovich — deputy of the City Duma, 1st convocation, constituency No. 32 (archive)
  2. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — Feldman Mark Samuilovich — deputy of the City Duma, 5th convocation, constituency No. 24 (archive)
  3. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — List of deputies of the City Duma, 6th convocation (archive)
  4. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — Deputies of the City Duma, 7th convocation (2020–2025) (archive)
  5. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — Elections to the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, 1st convocation, declared valid
  6. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — Report of the deputy from single-member constituency No. 32, M. S. Feldman, on the results of his activities for 2025
  7. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — Report on the work of deputy Mark Feldman in 2024
  8. gordumannov.ru — City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — "The City Duma played a key role in building a balanced budget" (archive)
  9. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Manager of the OAO Uralsib Bank branch Mark Feldman does not plan to join any faction in the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma
  10. Vzglyad-NN — "First Person": Mark Feldman (archive)
  11. BankNN — BankNN — Mark Feldman: the main quality of a professional is a presumption of responsibility (archive)
  12. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — Mark Feldman: "The Duma is no place for political jousting" (archive)