Moscow’s Mayor-elect Sergei Sobyanin takes office

Moscow’s Mayor-elect Sergei Sobyanin has officially assumed office after taking an oath during the inauguration ceremony, a TASS correspondent reported on Tuesday.

"I swear that while as the Moscow mayor I will observe the Russian constitution, federal laws, the Charter and laws of the city of Moscow and will perform my duties honestly and in good faith and do my best in the interests of the city’s prosperity and wellbeing of its residents," he pronounced the words of the oath and put his signature under it.

After that, he received the mayor’s certificate and the mayoral chain with medallion featuring St. George, the patron of Moscow, killing the dragon.

The ceremony was held in the recently-inaugurated concert hall in the Zaryadye Park in central Moscow.

Mayoral elections were held in Moscow on September 9, the single voting day in Russia. Sobyanin scored the majority of votes (70.17%), with more than 1.58 million Muscovites eligible to vote casting their votes for him.

Under the city laws, members of the Moscow city government are to resign on the day when the mayor-elect takes office but will continue to perform their duties until a new government is formed.