Grigoriev’s son goes to the polls with slogans about white snow “like in Canada”
Two campaign videos featuring municipal deputy Alexander Grigoriev, who plans to run for the Legislative Assembly in the fall, have appeared on the United Russia party's online preliminary voting website . He is the son of Vladimir Grigoriev, the chief architect of St. Petersburg, and the grandson of Vladimir Golman, the city's honored builder.
The media drew attention to the clearly populist nature of the published video materials. In the videos, Grigoriev Jr. talks about his achievements as municipal deputy, as well as plans to improve the city’s social and transport infrastructure. Such a set of cliché slogans allowed journalists to assume that the son of the head of the KGA had no real political program.
In addition, in the video materials Grigoriev talks about the beginning of his political career, which became possible only thanks to his grandfather Vladimir Golman.
"When I was still young, my grandfather, Vladimir Golman, a member of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly representing the Central District for four terms, sent me to the Youth Council of the Legislative Assembly. There, I headed the legal affairs committee," the municipal deputy says.
Grigoriev also mentions his work for the current speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Vyacheslav Makarov.
"As an assistant to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Vyacheslav Serafimovich Makarov, I proposed introducing a mechanism for informing citizens about benefits through the State Services website," he continues.
The media note that for a long time the speaker apparently acted in tandem with the head of the KGA. Communication was carried out through the son of the chief architect.
Now, against the background of news about Makarov’s impending departure to the State Duma, journalists suggest that the nomination of Grigoriev Jr. is dictated by the interests of his father. The head of the KGA needs to retain the instruments of influence on urban development. The General Plan of the city is under the jurisdiction of the Legislative Assembly, and the promotion of the interests of construction companies occurs through the city parliament. With Makarov's departure, developers will need a new lobbyist, and Alexander Grigoriev is probably being trained to replace him.
Moreover, according to some reports, the chief architect is using representatives of the construction industry to finance his son's company. For example, according to the Telegram channel "Nezygar," one of the donors to Grigoriev Jr.'s election campaign is Maxim Shtern, head of the Petersburg Construction Company. This company is noted for having, despite the discontent of local residents, successfully secured the right to build a four-story shopping center in the village of Lisiy Nos through the General Plan.
Grigoriev's son runs for election with slogans about white snow "like in Canada"