Yury Isakovich Lebedev (born 30 June 1951, Vetluga) is a Nizhny Novgorod politician and businessman, a deputy of the Regional Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region of the VII convocation (2021-2026) from single-member constituency No. 5, a member of the United Russia faction [1], and general director of OOO "Istoriya-NN" (History-NN) [2]. He is best known as head of Nizhny Novgorod from 1998 to 2002; in 1997 he served as acting governor of the region [1][3].

Biography

He was born on 30 June 1951 in the town of Vetluga, Gorky Region, into the family of a primary school teacher and an employee of the regional consumer union. He has higher education: he graduated from the Gorky Higher Party School (1985) and Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University (2000) [1]; "Imena52" names the faculty as history, and the institute by its former name, the Gorky Pedagogical Institute named after M. Gorky [3]. From 1972 to 1974 he served in the Soviet Army, then worked as secretary of the Komsomol committee of the Vetluga Forestry Technical College, director of the Shakhunya film network directorate, from 1977 to 1981 as first secretary of the Shakhunya district Komsomol committee, and from 1981 to 1990 as director of a vocational school in Shakhunya [1].

From 1990 to 1991 he was first secretary of the Shakhunya district Communist Party committee, in 1991 chairman of the Shakhunya district Council of People's Deputies, and from 1991 to 1994 head of the Shakhunya district administration [1]. In 1994 Governor Boris Nemtsov invited him into the regional administration: in 1994 as deputy governor, and from 1994 to 1997 as first deputy governor [1][4]. ("Imena52" dates his tenure as district head to 1991-1995, and his appointment as deputy governor to August 1995 [3].)

From 17 March to 13 July 1997 he served as acting governor of the region, from 1997 to 1998 was Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in Nizhny Novgorod Region, and from 1998 to 2002 was head of local self-government of Nizhny Novgorod [1][3]. Lebedev himself considers the main projects of his mayoralty to be the "Komediya" theatre, the sports complex in the Meshchera district, and the "Burevestnik" metro station; construction of the metro bridge began under him, and, in his words, the 2001 Nizhny Novgorod experiment helped push through the federal law on alternative civilian service [4].

He holds the rank of Active State Counselor of the Russian Federation, 3rd class, and is an Honored Worker of Public Education; he is married with two children and two granddaughters [1].

Outside parliament

After leaving the mayor's office he changed jobs several times: in 2003 he was director of development at OOO "Center for Independent Financial Research," and from 2003 to 2004 chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod regional public organization "Center for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms" [1].

He then went into the hotel business: in 2004 he joined OAO "GK Nizhegorodsky" as director of production and first deputy general director, headed this hotel complex from 2004 to 2011, and from 2012 has been general director of OOO "Reka Chaek" (River of Gulls), a countryside hotel [1][3]. At the end of the VII convocation the "Nizhny Seychas" rating listed his position as general director of OOO "Istoriya-NN" [2]; in its review of the convocation's results, the same outlet lists Lebedev among the deputy-businessmen [5].

In the Legislative Assembly

According to AiF, his election in 2021 was Lebedev's fourth election to the region's legislative power [6]. In the elections of 17-19 September 2021 he won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of the VII convocation from single-member constituency No. 5 (part of the Sormovsky district of Nizhny Novgorod), receiving more than 16,000 votes; under the rules, the first session of the new convocation, scheduled for 5 October 2021, was to be chaired by the oldest deputy by age -- this turned out to be the 70-year-old Lebedev [6]. He sits on the committees on budget and taxes, on social affairs, and on transport and road infrastructure [1].

While a member of the United Russia faction, he has allowed himself to diverge from its line: he called the bill for a full ban on abortions in private clinics, which the Legislative Assembly sent to the State Duma (later withdrawn, having found no support at the federal level), an "ugly episode," noting that the initiative found no support among many women [5]. In the 2026 influence rating of ZSNO deputies compiled by the news agency "Nizhny Seychas," he placed 14th -- in the "medium influence" group [2].

What remains to be clarified

The sequence of his elections to previous convocations of the Legislative Assembly: the official profile lists his deputy tenure only from 2016, while AiF speaks of a fourth election to the region's legislative power. The line of business of OOO "Istoriya-NN" is also not established: the cited sources give only Lebedev's position at this company, not its field of activity.

Sources

  1. Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region -- Lebedev Yury Isakovich -- deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region (archive)
  2. Nizhny Seychas -- Influence rating of ZSNO deputies
  3. names52.ru -- Imena52 -- Lebedev Yury Isakovich (archive)
  4. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda -- "My Nizhny": former mayor of Nizhny Novgorod Yury Lebedev (archive)
  5. Nizhny Seychas -- 50 shades of not-quite-white: how the VII convocation of regional Legislative Assembly deputies will be remembered
  6. nn.aif.ru -- AiF -- Nizhny Novgorod -- First session of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Legislative Assembly to be chaired by Yury Lebedev (archive)