Ivan Ivanov, the Chairman of the Save Pechora Committee, asked four candidates for head of the Komi Republic to express their opinion about major environmental issues in the republic. The public request is available on the SPC’s website, it was sent to acting head of the Komi Republic Vladimir Uyba, Viktor Betekhtin, Sergey Ponomaryov, and Andrey Nikitin.
In particular, Ivanov calls on them to comment on modifying the boundaries of the Yugyd Va National Park and the gold mining project, introducing a bill on banning the use of old oil pipelines, and supporting the projects of building waste incineration plants in Komi. According to the Chairman of the SPC, these answers will help to know the candidates for the election of the head better.
“We want to predict the development of interaction with the future elected head and are indicating the issues to bother them about. Members of the Committee and our supporters are the electorate. We hardly know the candidates. The answers will help us and our supporters plus other voters of the republic to form a conscious position on voting,” said Ivan Ivanov.
Earlier, activists of the Save Pechora Committee refused to meet the acting head of the Komi Republic because of the refusal to register Oleg Mikhailov, the candidate for head of the republic from the Communist Party. According to Ivanov, meeting with Uyba during the pre-election campaign means "creating advantages" for one of the candidates.
On August 15, at a meeting with representatives of the regional political parties, Vladimir Uyba allowed modifying the boundaries of the Yugyd Va National Park and resuming works at the Chudnoye gold deposit.
Former head of the Federal Bio-Medical Agency Vladimir Uyba became the acting head of the Komi Republic in early April 2020 after the resignation of Sergey Gaplikov who could not cope with an outbreak of coronavirus in republican hospitals. The election of the new head of the Komi Republic is scheduled for September 13, 2020. Viktor Betekhtin (Green Alternative Party), Andrey Nikitin (LDPR), and Sergey Ponomaryov (Communist Party of Social Justice) will be Vladimir Uyba's opponents.
