MOSCOW, July 24. Ex-chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee Pavel Zavalny said that he will remain on the committee, and former Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov will take over as chairman of the committee.
“I plan to remain working in the committee, to lead the directions that I led before this directly: the nuclear and gas industry, the issue of security, international activities… When the chairman of the committee, Nikolai Grigorievich Shulginov, comes — and such decisions have been made — we will discuss with him how we will do (the work — ed.),» said he during a meeting of the Energy Committee.
“As for the work in general, there is a balance of interests. I came to the conclusion that only those laws work that take into account the interests of the state, business, society, and the individual. If a business is strangled, it will not pay taxes, and so on … My assessment of work — I have always said — I work correctly either when everyone praises me, or when everyone scolds me: in two cases, the balance of interests is taken into account,” added Zavalny.
State Secretary — Deputy Minister of Energy Anastasia Bondarenko expressed gratitude for the work to the ex-chairman of the committee. “On behalf of the ministry, but, probably, first of all, on my own behalf, I wanted to thank you for your work. Because I came to the position of State Secretary (State Secretary — ed.) with such green status, and grew up in State with you, and I learned a lot from you. The way you look at the problem… You delve into the essence, you don’t bend, but at the same time you look for compromises,” she noted.
The State Duma on Tuesday adopted a resolution on the dismissal of the chairman. Zavalny Energy Committee. He held the post since April 2015.
Zavalny became a State Duma deputy in 2011, and before that he was a deputy of the Duma of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug — Ugra of the 3rd, 4th and 5th convocations. He served as deputy chairman of the regional parliament's commission on budget, finance and economic policy. He worked as General Director of Tyumentransgaz LLC, Gazprom OJSC and Gazprom Transgaz Yugorsk LLC.
Shulginov was Minister of Energy in 2020-2024.