The 2025 Novgorod Oblast gubernatorial election took place on 12–14 September 2025, on common election day. Acting Governor of Novgorod Oblast Aleksandr Dronov was elected for a full term in office.

Background Agency for Strategic Initiatives general director Andrey Nikitin was appointed acting Governor of Novgorod Oblast in February 2017, replacing two-term governor Sergey Mitin. Nikitin won 2017 election with 67.99% of the vote and was re-elected in 2022 with 77.03%. Nikitin was also mentioned as potential member of Mikhail Mishustin's Second Cabinet in 2024 but did not receive an appointment to the Government of Russia when it was formed in May 2024.

On February 7, 2025, Nikitin unexpectedly announced his resignation as Governor of Novgorod Oblast, with more than two years of his second term left, later that day Nikitin was appointed Deputy Minister of Transport in charge of digital transformation in the agency, replacing Dmitry Bakanov. First Deputy Governor Aleksandr Dronov became acting Governor of Novgorod Oblast after Nikitin's resignation, however, quite unusually President of Russia Vladimir Putin did not appoint an acting governor himself immediately following the vacancy. Dronov was viewed as frontrunner for the nomination but other candidates were allegedly considered, including former Russian-held Government of Zaporozhye Oblast chairman Anton Koltsov and Deputy Prosecutor-General of Russia Andrey Kikot. On March 4, 2025, President Putin held a meeting with Dronov and the next day Aleksandr Dronov was officially appointed acting Governor of Novgorod Oblast. On May 31, 2025, Aleksandr Dronov announced his intention to seek a full term in office.

Candidates In Novgorod Oblast candidates for Governor of Novgorod Oblast can be nominated only by registered political parties. Candidate for Governor of Novgorod Oblast should be a Russian citizen and at least 30 years old. Candidates for Governor of Novgorod Oblast should not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit. Each candidate in order to be registered is required to collect at least 10% of signatures of members and heads of municipalities. Also gubernatorial candidates present 3 candidacies to the Federation Council and election winner later appoints one of the presented candidates.

Declared Candidate name,political partyOccupationStatusRef.Aleksey ChursinovLiberal Democratic Party Member of Novgorod Oblast Duma (2016–present)2022 gubernatorial candidateRegisteredAleksandr DronovUnited Russia Acting Governor of Novgorod Oblast (2025–present)Former First Deputy Governor of Novgorod Oblast (2020–2025)RegisteredNikolay ShvabovichSR–ZP Member of Duma of Veliky Novgorod (2018–present)BusinessmanRegisteredOlga YefimovaCommunist Party Aide to State Duma member Ivan MelnikovFormer Member of Novgorod Oblast Duma (2006–2011, 2016–2021)2003, 2012, 2017 and 2022 gubernatorial candidateRegisteredNikolay ZakharovParty of Pensioners Member of Novgorod Oblast Duma (2024–present)RegisteredViktor ShalyakinYabloko Retired Air Force MajorFailed to qualifyTatyana YakovlevaGreen Alternative Nonprofit directorFailed to qualify

Eliminated at the convention Yury Borovikov (United Russia), Rector of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University (2017–present), former Member of Novgorod Oblast Duma (2020–2021) Vasily Yan (United Russia), Member of Duma of Veliky Novgorod (2023–present), theatre executive

Declined Anna Cherepanova (Yabloko), Member of Duma of Veliky Novgorod (2018–present), 2017 and 2022 gubernatorial candidate

Candidates for Federation Council Incumbent Senator Sergey Mitin (United Russia) was not renominated. Head candidate,political partyCandidates for Federation CouncilStatusAleksandr DronovUnited Russia * Yevgeny Dietrich, former CEO of GTLK (2020–2025), former Minister of Transport of Russia (2018–2020)* Elena Pisareva, Senator from the Novgorod Oblast Duma (2021–present) * Oleg Strygin, Member of Novgorod Oblast Duma (2021–present), manufacturing executiveRegisteredViktor ShalyakinYabloko * Anna Cherepanova, Member of Duma of Veliky Novgorod (2018–present), 2017 and 2022 gubernatorial candidate* Valery Kochnev, surgeon-endoscopist * Yelena Tulina, Member of Trubichino Council of Deputies (2010–2014, 2024–present), Russian and literature teacherFailed to qualify

Finances All sums are in rubles. Financial Report Source Chursinov Dronov Shalyakin Shvabovich Yakovleva Yefimova Zakharov First 45,000 36,065,000 503,000 50,000 22,000 250,000 42,500 Final 640,000 59,065,000 534,000 1,072,000 22,000 1,350,000 6,362,500

Polls Fieldwork datePolling firm Dronov Yefimova Chursinov Shvabovich ZakharovNoneLead14 September 20252025 election62.214.49.56.05.32.647.85–19 August 2025WCIOM64.916.28.94.33.22.548.7

Results

|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! style="text-align:left;" colspan=2| Candidate ! style="text-align:left;"| Party ! width="75"|Votes ! width="30"|% |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Aleksandr Dronov (incumbent) | style="text-align:left;"| United Russia | | 62.19 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Olga Yefimova | style="text-align:left;"| Communist Party | | 14.40 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Aleksey Chursinov | style="text-align:left;"| Liberal Democratic Party | | 9.53 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Nikolay Shvabovich | style="text-align:left;"| A Just Russia – For Truth | | 6.04 |- | style="background-color:"| | style="text-align:left;"| Nikolay Zakharov | style="text-align:left;"| Party of Pensioners | | 5.27 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Valid votes | | 97.44 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Blank ballots | | 2.56 |- style="font-weight:bold" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Total | | 100.00 |- | style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" colspan="6"| |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Turnout | | 37.70 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Registered voters | | 100.00 |- | colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;"| |- style="font-weight:bold" | colspan="4" |Source:

Governor Dronov appointed former Minister of Transport of Russia Yevgeny Dietrich (United Russia) to the Federation Council, replacing incumbent Senator Sergey Mitin (United Russia).

See also 2025 Russian regional elections

References