On September 25, 2026, the presidium of the regional political council of the Nizhny Novgorod regional branch of United Russia nominated candidates for leadership positions in the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region of the eighth convocation and in the party's deputy groups in the region's representative bodies.[1]

Course of the Session

The presidium session was chaired by the First Deputy Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region and First Deputy Secretary of the regional branch of United Russia, Andrey Gneushev.[1] By secret ballot, Yevgeny Lyulin was nominated for the position of Chairman of the Legislative Assembly. Lyulin is a native of Lyskovsky District of Gorky Oblast; he previously headed the Legislative Assembly in 2002–2007, resumed leadership of the parliament in October 2020 — first of the sixth, then of the seventh convocation — and since October 2021 has also served as Chairman of the Council of Legislators of the Volga Federal District.[2] Aleksey Antonov was nominated for the position of head of the United Russia faction in the Legislative Assembly.[3] Olga Shchetinina was proposed by the presidium to be re-vested with the powers of a Senator of the Russian Federation — representative of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region of the eighth convocation; at that point she had held that position for approximately two and a half years.

In the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region, Shchetinina had successively served as head of the United Russia faction, deputy chair of the committee on information policy and regulations, chair of the committee on social affairs, and deputy and first deputy chair of the parliament; in the Federation Council she was a member of the committee on science, education, and culture and served as deputy chair of the commission on the development of creative industries and folk crafts.[4] Shchetinina was born in Gorky; she graduated from the Volgo-Vyatskaya Gosudarstvennoy Sluzhby Academy with a specialization in State and Municipal Administration, and subsequently from the RANEPA; from 2002 she worked in the Nizhny Novgorod regional branch of United Russia, rising from head of the public relations department to head of the regional executive committee.[4][1]

Stanislav Prokopovich was nominated for the position of head of the United Russia deputy group in the City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod — replacing Yevgeny Kostin, who received a mandate as a deputy of the State Duma.[1][3] Aleksandr Kobyakov, who had led the group in the previous convocation as well, was approved as the candidate for head of the party's group in the Council of Deputies of the Vyksa urban district.[3]

The meeting also reviewed the results of the 2026 election campaign. In the elections to the Regional Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region, United Russia received 52.97% of the vote on party lists and won in all 25 single-member constituencies. Following the elections, the factional composition of the eighth-convocation parliament was distributed as follows: 41 deputies from United Russia, 4 from the CPRF, 2 from the LDPR, 2 from New People, and 1 from A Just Russia.[2][5] Andrey Gneushev stated that the party intends to focus on fulfilling voters' mandates and United Russia's People's Program.[1] Evgeniy Lyulin, noting that the composition of the Legislative Assembly had been renewed by more than a third while retaining the professional core of the previous deputy corps, emphasized that the final decision on the nominated candidates rests with the deputies.[1][3] An additional agenda item was the organization of the annual New Year Christmas tree ornament competition "Gorky Toy": the presidium supported its holding and invited deputies at various levels to take part in it.[3]

Next Steps

All personnel decisions taken are being forwarded for approval to the presidium of the General Council of United Russia, after which the nominations are to be submitted to the relevant representative bodies.[1] The first session of the eighth-convocation Legislative Assembly was scheduled for September 29, 2026. The eighth-convocation Legislative Assembly includes at least one combat veteran — this was mentioned at the first session by First Deputy Governor Andrey Gneushev when addressing the deputies; approximately two-thirds of the deputies from the previous convocation continued in the new one.[4] At the first session on September 29, 2026, Lyulin, presenting Shchetinina, noted that in just under three years in the Federation Council she had established herself as one of the country's most active senators and had become known at the federal level; previously she had represented the executive body of state power of Nizhny Novgorod Region in the upper chamber, and the deputies had secured her transfer to the status of a representative from the Legislative Assembly.[4][1]

Sources

  1. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Lyulin for speaker, Shchetinina for senator: NRO "ER" approves candidates for key posts — Nizhny Novgorod News
  2. TASS — On September 29, 2026, at the first session of the Legislative Assembly of the eighth convocation, Evgeniy Lyulin was elected chairman of the regional parliament: his candidacy
  3. Vremya N — United Russia nominates candidates for key posts in the Legislative Assembly and City Duma
  4. Vremya N — Olga Shchetinina was born in Gorky; she graduated from the Volgo-Vyatskaya Gosudarstvennoy Sluzhby Academy with a degree in State and Municipal Administration, and subsequently (archive)
  5. TASS — In the elections to the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region, United Russia received 52.97% of the vote on party lists and won in all 25 single-member constituencies