Yuri Vladimirovich Shalabayev (Gorky) is the head of the city of Nizhny Novgorod. From May 6, 2020, he served as acting head of the city, and on October 28, 2020, City Council of head.[1] On September 29, 2025, he was elected head of the city for a second term by decision of the City Duma.[1] Shalabayev graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod State Lobachevsky University with a degree in Finance and Credit, completed retraining at the Volga-Vyatka Academy of Public Administration in Law, and at RANEPA in the field of Public Finance Management.[2] Prior to his appointment as head of the city, Shalabayev worked as Deputy Minister of Finance of Nizhny Novgorod Region, and from late 2019 held the position of Deputy Head of the Administration of Nizhny Novgorod.[2]
Activities as Head of the City
As head of the city, Shalabayev personally presents the Nizhny Novgorod Prize — an annual municipal award for outstanding projects that have made a significant contribution to the development of the city. The award ceremony takes place on the eve of City Day, which is celebrated on the third Saturday of August.[2] Over six years of leading the city, the municipal budget more than doubled — from 37.7 billion to 87.3 billion rubles in revenue, while the debt burden was reduced from 85% to 50%.[3] The city's active participation in national projects during Shalabayev's tenure brought 35 billion rubles in federal funding to Nizhny Novgorod.[3] In 2025, under Shalabayev's leadership, a large-scale project was carried out to merge Nizhny Novgorod and the Kstovsky District into Municipal entity — the so-called "Greater Nizhny."[3]
Sources
- Wikipedia (ru) — Shalabayev, Yuri Vladimirovich (archive)
- Kommersant (Volga Region) — Yuri Shalabayev appointed First Deputy Head of Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — The City in an Era of Change: How Nizhny Novgorod Met the Challenges of Recent Years (archive)