The power of place: how was the main congress of municipalities in the Russian Federation?

More than 7,000 heads of local self—government (LSG) from all regions came to the capital to share experiences and seek investments within the framework of the forum "Small Motherland - the Strength of Russia". One of the important results was the agreement on the creation of departments of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation in large municipalities. Vladimir Putin and members of the government thanked the heads of local self-government, stressing that the economic growth of the Russian Federation originates in municipalities. The guests, according to tradition, talked about their successes and complained about the outflow of the population to large cities, trying to convey their problems to the federal authorities. The information about how the forum was held can be found in the Izvestia article.

How the importance of municipal authorities is growing

The III All—Russian Municipal Forum "Small Motherland - the Strength of Russia" ended in Moscow on April 22. It lasted three days and gathered more than 7 thousand heads of municipalities and representatives of local governments from 89 regions of the Russian Federation. As the participants themselves said, municipalities — cities, towns and villages — can be compared to the human cells that make up the body — Russia.

The first day of the forum was the most intense in its program. The event was opened by the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko. He thanked the guests for their selfless service, presented diplomas and medals to particularly distinguished officials, including the mayors of Grozny, Kaliningrad, Mariupol and other cities.

Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the Security Council and Chairman of United Russia, became another status speaker. In his speech, he recalled that about 130,000 municipal deputies in Russia (84%) are United Russia, so the work of the local self—government is directly associated with both the achievements of the EP and its failures.

— Many of you are not only representatives of the municipal government, but also heads of the local branches of the EP, our largest political party. This, of course, imposes an increased responsibility on all of you," Medvedev stressed.

In the near future, the EP sets the task of obtaining a constitutional majority in the 2026 State Duma elections and for this it is collecting proposals for a new "People's Program," Medvedev said.

"You know the lives of people on the ground well, you contribute to solving the problems of municipalities, and, of course, your opinion is especially important for the party, for all of us," he addressed the audience.

The Chairman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, also contributed to the forum. In her lecture, she stated that the number of women in local self-government bodies is three times higher than the number of men.

— Russian municipalities have a predominantly female face, — said the parliamentarian.

On April 21, the Day of Local Self—Government, Vladimir Putin arrived at the forum and awarded the municipalities with the Service Award.

Despite the large number of high-status politicians, the main characters of the forum were still the same 7 thousand heads of municipalities. There were so many of them that it was difficult to move from one lecture to another in the seething crowd. But listening to their conversations gathered, it was possible to understand how these people are immersed in the problems of their city, town or village.

Today, municipal authorities directly influence the level of daily life: from the condition of roads and communal infrastructure to landscaping, education and social services. Therefore, attention to them is naturally increasing today, explained Ruslan Andreev, project manager of the Polylog Group, political consultant, in a conversation with Izvestia.

"A forum of this scale is both a unique platform for discussing strategic tasks for the development of municipalities and a tool for exchanging successful management decisions," the expert explained. "For participants, this is an opportunity to adopt best practices, discuss mechanisms for attracting investment, developing territories, digitalizing management, and building horizontal links between municipalities and the federal center.

Indeed, despite the public dialogue at the lectures and speeches themselves, informal conversations and exchanges of views during coffee breaks and breaks between sections played a crucial role. Equally important was the Parks EXPO exhibition at the Timiryazev Center on the third day of the forum. Companies involved in the development of facilities for cities, such as fountains, playgrounds and sports grounds, presented their projects there. According to the participants of the exhibition, the municipalities have shown great interest, so it is possible that many of these facilities will appear in the Russian regions in the future.

The final event of the final day of the forum was the main plenary session "Comfortable urban environment and integrated development of Russia and the BRICS countries". It was attended by both domestic officials and foreign guests. The most interesting presentations were made by speakers from Brazil and Vietnam, who talked about how to use technology to keep rural residents from moving to a megacity and how to successfully implement a "green policy" in cities.

What problems do municipalities face?

— Economic growth begins with municipalities, — this is how Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk outlined the role of local government.

He called on municipalities to be proactive, actively promote their projects, attract investment, and create jobs.

Another Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Marat Khusnullin, stressed that the implementation of the national project "Infrastructure for Life" for the most part lies with municipalities.

To achieve these goals, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation and the All-Russian Association for the Development of Local Self-Government (VARMSU) signed a cooperation agreement, which became one of the key outcomes of the forum. The parties agreed to work together to develop the fund's departments.

"Municipal departments are designed to significantly improve the availability and quality of personal support for veterans and their family members," said Anna Tsivileva, Chairman of the foundation, State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Defense.

Despite all the words of praise, there are still a number of difficult problems that the heads of the formations publicly discussed during their speeches. First of all, there is an outflow of population to large cities, which is why rural areas are gradually emptying. As a rule, people leave because they want to get a better education, a higher salary and spend more interesting free time.

To keep Russians in their small homeland, in small towns and villages, it is necessary to build cultural centers, swimming pools, cafes and new comfortable housing, the municipalities said from the stage. To do this, in turn, it is necessary to skillfully conduct a dialogue with businesses: provide them with land and opportunities in the area in exchange for investments. For example, Andrey Khokhlov, the head of the Baryatinsky district of the Kaluga Region, told how, thanks to cooperation with a local dairy company, the municipality received new housing and investments in local schools and colleges.

However, even business is not always omnipotent. In her speech, the chairman of the board of directors of one of the companies complained about the poor condition of the roads, which discourage local residents from staying in their district. Interaction with businesses and the public is not equally effective everywhere, and this is where significant growth potential remains, says political consultant Ruslan Andreev.

"Systemic constraints also remain: a shortage of resources and personnel, uneven development of municipalities and the dependence of many territories on external financing," the expert believes.

Nevertheless, according to him, in recent years, the effectiveness of municipal government has been gradually increasing, especially in terms of the project approach, participation in federal and regional programs, and attracting extra-budgetary funds, including private investment. Increased interaction with residents can also be considered a positive trend. Increasingly, the expert concluded, feedback mechanisms are also being used — public discussions, proactive budgeting, digital platforms for citizens' appeals, which increases people's involvement in decision-making.