Politics of Saint Petersburg

[2] The superior executive body is the Saint Petersburg City Administration, led by the governor (mayor before 1996).

The former governor, Valentina Matviyenko was approved according to the new system in December 2006; she moved to another job in Moscow and was replaced on Georgy Poltavchenko in 2011.

Saint Petersburg is also the administrative center of Leningrad Oblast, and of the Northwestern Federal District.

As in other large Russian cities, Saint Petersburg experiences fairly high levels of street crime and bribery.

[6]After the sensational assassinations of City Property Committee Chairman Mikhail Manevich (1997), State Duma deputy Galina Starovoytova (1998), acting City Legislature Speaker Viktor Novosyolov (1999) and a number of prominent businesspeople, Saint Petersburg was dubbed capital of crime in the Russian press.

Mariinsky Palace , the seat of the Assembly
Quarenghi 's original design for the Smolny Institute, the office of the Governor
A typical older house backyard with shared slums