On October 11, Grigory Yavlinsky visited Kaliningrad so that to support Alexandra Yakovleva, YABLOKO’s candidate in the mayoral elections and head of the party branch in Kaliningrad.

Answering the journalist’s question how Grigory Yavlinsky accesses the chances of a woman going into Russian politics, he answered that he came to support a talented professional rather than a women running against men in the elections. He also added that speaking about professional qualities people should be divided into “talented people and all the other”, rather than men and women. “Alexandra Yakovleva is a talented person, she has talents in many fields”, she was even a Soviet film star but decided to change her brilliant film carrier and went to a university once again for studying state and municipal governing. Yavlinsky noted her experience in management of complex systems (such as large modern airports) and expressed his certainty that this experience would help Yakovleva to manage Kaliningrad and to make it a convenient and modern city, a centre of tourism and investment.

Alexandra Yakovleva was born in Kaliningrad and was one of the most popular actresses in 1980s. In 1993-1997 she was Vice Mayor of Kaliningrad. In 1994-1997 she organised and conducted the Amber Panther Film Festival. She also was CEO in Russia’s most important international airports (Sheremetyevo, Moscow, and Pulkovo, St.Petersburg), Oktyabrskaya Railway, the Leningrad Region, and the Russian Railroads (RZhD). From January 2011 until September 2011 she has been Director General of the Kaliningrad Regional Railways Company. Graduated from The Leningrad Sate Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinema and St.Petersburg Polytechnical University majoring in State and Municipal Governing.

Grigory Yavlinsky’s interview to the First Regional TV channel