Ilsur Metshin: “It is necessary to go down to the trenches to motivate the staff”

Kazan participates in the “School of Mayors” federal program for the development of the municipal personnel management reserve. The capital of Tatarstan hosts educational module “Economic activity and territorial development”. As part of the training, 80 representatives from different regions of Russia attend municipal infrastructure facilities, workshops, practical classes and open dialogues. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, met with the first participants of the program and told them about the successful practices that have been implemented in the capital of Tatarstan.

The “School of Mayors” program was launched last December by the RANEPA Graduate School of Public Administration and the Russian President’s Administration. In total, 161 people were selected to participate in it. Eighty people from almost all regions of the country came to study in Kazan on 28-31 May.

Ilsur Metshin shared with colleagues his experience as mayor of Kazan and spoke about the way of the capital of Tatarstan as one of the best cities for life and tourism in Russia. In particular, foreign experience was studied – the best specialists were invited to Kazan for consultations after the celebration of the millennium of the city.

“I thought they would tell us to develop oil refining, the IT industry and so on. However, our city is primarily an educational center, because in Soviet times we were leaders in this area. It was planned that the best graduates from all over the country were supposed to come to us, who would stay in the city, start families and move the world for the better. That's how it turned out,”- Ilsur Metshin said.

During the Soviet years, 20-22% of graduates came to Kazan, in the 2000th their number decreased to 3%. After the implementation of the educational reform, the indicator was raised to 38% – these are the figures for the results of 2023 for the number of school graduates who came to enroll in universities in the capital of Tatarstan.

“Of course, when I was engaged in education, I had to imagine the future of Kazan in my mind. I knew that it should become a city, which the best people will choose for life,”- Ilsur Metshin noted. For this purpose, conditions have been created in the capital of Tatarstan for education in various areas: aviation, architecture, IT, design, oil refining, medicine, sports, culture, etc.

Yuri Ivanchenko, First Deputy head of the administration of the Gagarin Municipal District of Sevastopol, shared his observations from visiting Kazan, noting that there are enough young people in the city who do not plan to move to Moscow or St. Petersburg.

“How did you manage to achieve such results?”- he asked the Mayor. Ilsur Metshin replied that the younger generation is given the opportunity to prove themselves at all levels, including in the municipal service.

“We are raising our specialists. These are our guys who came and took place, and are moving on! Many employees from the Mayor's office went to work as managers in the government of the republic. We create conditions for the employees,”- the Mayor said.

The Mayor of Kazan also shared about transport, advertising reforms, the development of the tourism sector and preparations for international events – such as the Universiade and “Games of the Future”.