On Tuesday, June 5, the mayor of Russian capital, Sergey Sobyanin, announced he would resign in order to be elected in early mayoral elections already in September.

      “I will soon turn to the Russian president with a request to hold elections for Moscow mayor this year,” Sobyanin said during a meeting with the Moscow Public Chamber. Sobyanin is expected to be named “acting mayor” for the time being.

      The new elections will take place on September 8, along with nationwide gubernatorial polls, and Sobyanin, who was appointed mayor in 2010, said he would run to recapture his position.

      Many experts say this is good but rather obvious political strategy, as the election date, right after summer holidays, would give Sobyanin an unfair advantage since other candidates would have very little time to campaign.

      Billionaire businessman-turned-politician Mikhail Prokhorov and prominent opposition activist Alexei Navalny have already announced their intentions to enter a competition with Kremlin-supported Sobyanin.

      Sobyanin was appointed Moscow mayor in 2010 replacing political veteran Yuri Luzhkov who was sacked by then president Dmitry Medvedev. Previously, between 2001 and 2005, he had headed the rich oil producing Tyumen Region.

      The mayoral term of office after the September elections will be five years.