Stepan Tananykin was elected head of the Murmansk municipality four months ago. After a short period of scandals and probably shocked by the insight in the city’s play behind the curtains, he found it most reasonable to step down.

The city council, headed by Alexey Veller, decided immediately after Tananykin’s exit to elect a new mayor, and the deputies went for - Alexey Veller...

Given Veller’s background and attitude towards foreign business, this will most probably be a rather bad choice for Murmansk. The city needs to show goodwill and transparency in order to attract foreign investors, and a person whose companies have been given substantial benefits from the city’s budget and who also is known for his rather hostile attitude towards foreign businesses will definitely not improve the investment climate.