New Moscow mayor may enter office after inauguration

The newly appointed Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin is likely to assume his office right on the day of his inauguration scheduled for Oct. 21, authorities said on Monday.

The Moscow City Duma would hold an extraordinary meeting to consider appointing Sobyanin as the next mayor of Moscow at noon on Thursday, the speaker of the Moscow City Duma Vladimir Platonov said.

"The mayor will assume office after being sworn in at 6 p.m. This will happen at the White Hall at the City Hall at number 13 Tverskaya Street," Platonov was quoted by the Russian media as saying.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last Friday said he had chosen Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin as the next city's mayor. Now the City Duma is to approve Medvedev's choice.

Medvedev has already proposed a number of tasks for the new mayor including tackling corruption and traffic jams, because "too little has been done in this area of late."

The president sacked previous mayor Yuri Luzhkov on Sept. 28 under "loss of confidence."

Source: Xinhua