Roman (Vladimirovich) Skudnyakov (born February 16, 1980) — the best municipal official in Russia. Head of the press service of the Governor and government of Nizhny Novgorod Region. Previously, Head of the Department for Relations with Public Organizations, Political Parties, and Media of the Administration of Nizhny Novgorod, and Head of the Press Service of the Regional Legislative Assembly.

Laureate of the Young Politicians Prize of Nizhny Novgorod Region.

Holds three higher education degrees. Candidate of Political Sciences (2010). Married. Raising two children — a son and a daughter.

Roman Skudnyakov's father also works in the government of Nizhny Novgorod Region, heading the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy, and Petrochemicals.

The Nature of the Phenomenon

Roman Skudnyakov is an authentic Nizhny Novgorod specialist in the theory of success and the promotion of local government effectiveness.

Today, R. Skudnyakov's achievements have been duly recognized: in 2007 he was granted ahead of schedule the class rank of Full State Counselor of Nizhny Novgorod Region First Class.

The foundation of his success lies in an extraordinary personal method for advancing politicians in any rating. According to an assessment by Nizhny Novgorod experts from the "Political Information Agency" dated April 22, 2012, "Skudnyakov is capable of raising the political significance of any figure — such capabilities exist within the mechanism of his method, whose workings he keeps secret."

Education

Graduated with a gold medal from the Lomonosov Humanities and Arts School. Holds 3 higher education degrees: "Finance and Credit" (Lobachevsky University, honors diploma), "Jurisprudence" (Volga-Vyatka Academy of Public Administration), "Business Administration" (University of Roskilde, Denmark).

In 2009, received the degree of Candidate of Political Sciences.

Honorary Titles

  • Graduate of the John Smith Programme (United Kingdom. International programme for supporting young leaders).
  • Laureate of the All-Russian competition "Deputy of Russia" and winner in the category "Best Press Service Campaign" (2006)
  • Laureate of the Nizhny Novgorod Young Politicians Prize "Golden Dozen" (Nizhny Novgorod, May 2007)
  • Winner of the "Nizhny Novgorod Charitable Season – 2007" in the category "Social Partner in Government Bodies".

Russia's Best Local Government Specialist

« Roman Skudnyakov, Head of the Public Relations Department of the Nizhny Novgorod city administration, has been recognized as Russia's best municipal official of 2008. This was announced by the press service of the State Duma of the Russian Federation following the ceremonial award presentation to the winners of the 3rd Annual Competitions among Municipal Formations, held on December 17 in the State Duma. The event was organized by the All-Russian Council of Local Self-Government.

The competition featured 15 categories, with more than 500 municipal formations of the Russian Federation taking part. These included "Best Municipal Official," "Best Practice in Local Finance Management," and others. The competition jury included Vyacheslav Volodin, Secretary of the Presidium of the General Council of the United Russia party; State Duma Deputy Vladimir Pekhin; Viktor Basargin, Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation; and others.

In the "Best Municipal Official" category, Roman Skudnyakov emerged victorious.

A total of 98 candidates were entered in this category. The evaluation criteria included candidates' experience in government bodies, primary and supplementary education, knowledge of foreign languages and computer technologies, and the possession of state awards, prizes, and honorary titles. The key indicators for identifying the winner were the presence in the candidate's portfolio of implemented scientific and innovative developments in the field of local self-government; publications positively characterizing the municipal official's activities; and the number of regulatory legal acts in whose development the municipal official had participated.
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Statements

As a representative of the authorities, I am interested in people obeying the law

« Let us take the recent situation with the rallies, on the 10th. My first impression of the rally (I believe there was a segment on Seti-NN) — you know, I felt sorry for the protesters. I saw the tough stance of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, and I became a little frightened about what was happening in the city, and I felt a little sorry for the protesters. Yesterday, when I was discussing this with political expert analysts, there was a sharp divide. Notice how the political analysts, the experts, and the Governor argued and debated among themselves on this topic yesterday. And when the subject came up, and people recalled that Kondrashov had tried to invite the protesters and work out specific terms with them — to propose where they could hold rallies, how they could hold them, and so on — it became clear that for not all, but the overwhelming majority of the opposition, it is a matter of principle not to coordinate events, because they are more exciting that way. They happen together with detentions, when force is used, and so on. And of course it is advantageous for the young men and women to show off their revolutionary spirit — look how powerful we are, because we didn't agree on anything with the authorities. So yesterday a doubt crept into my mind, and I began to understand that protest activity in Nizhny Novgorod is genuinely not going as it should. When I heard today that "these people who did something wrong with the elections, and we are still supposed to coordinate the location for expressing our position with them" — I understood that everything the law-enforcement bodies did, they did correctly. And perhaps it should have been done more harshly, so that next time no one would want to break the law. I am not discussing how the decision was made, whether it was right or wrong, at which locations people should or should not rally — that does not interest me. As a representative of the authorities, I am interested in people obeying the law. And if holding a rally there was not permitted, then the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs had the right to take all necessary measures to put a stop to the event.
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What even the most skeptically minded Nizhny Novgorod resident sees today

« "PR specialists are often accused of distorting information and outright lying. I am proud that, working on the city administration's team, I do not have to be dishonest. Today, even the most skeptically minded Nizhny Novgorod resident can see how Nizhny Novgorod is developing, and I am glad that a small part of my own labor has contributed to that development."
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The main thing is that there should be objectivity from the standpoint of propaganda

Roman Skudnyakov: I am for objectivity. PR can be found in any activity — the main thing is that there should be objectivity from the standpoint of propaganda. There are many positive results, and there are shortcomings. So I would suggest looking at all the processes taking place in the region and in the country more objectively, regardless of one's views.

I was very struck by the example of different people who, receiving a small salary or pension, can still find joy in what is happening in the country. In fact, this is a widespread phenomenon. There are people who are oriented toward the positive. People who live in a village (деревня), with neither a cow nor a goat, and they are happy that the sun rises, that they can go into the forest and pick mushrooms. And then there are people who have more or less achieved everything, who have enormous incomes, and they keep worrying — that the state has imposed high taxes on them, that their neighbor's yacht is a few meters longer. In reality, it is a question of one's personal attitude. And I would like to appeal to the participants of the round table not to let such quibbles distract them from the main t…