The Penza Oblast Governor and the Plenipotentiary Representative of the RF President in the Volga Federal District answered questions from journalists at the end of the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, September 28, 2021.
Igor Komarov noted that the results of the election confirmed that many residents really trust the new governor.
"Oleg melnichenko is not a stranger to the region, he spent a significant part of his life here, and the fate of the Penza Oblast does matter to him. He faces many tasks, some of which are set by the President of the Russian Federation. There are short-term ones that are related to the fight against coronavirus, providing clean water, housing, medicine and construction and medium-term ones concerning the growth of income of the population, investments, and economic development. Oleg Melnichenko has all the necessary traits and opportunities to solve them," he said.
The Governor stressed that the primary goal would be to improve the residents' quality of life.
"During the election campaign, we constantly conducted sociological research, so we understand the problems that our residents want to solve," he stated.
According to Oleg Melnichenko, those problems include the modernisation of the healthcare system, the renewal of the rolling stock of public transport in Penza and its agglomeration, as well as the improvement of the housing and communal services system.
He also stressed that special attention would be paid to housing and new educational facilities construction.
In addition, one of the key ideas will be to include Penza Oblast in federal programmes.
"It is important for the Penza Oblast to be present in all federal programmes where funds are allocated to address issues related to education, housing, communal services and construction," Oleg Melnichenko explained.
"I understand that this is quite a difficult task. A lot will depend not only on me, but also on the professionalism of those people who will come to work in the regional government. We will work 24/7 to solve all the problems, because there is little time, and a lot needs to be done," the Penza Oblast Governor summed up.
